The what I welded today (/whenever) thread (pics please) - Page 123

Spartan · Mon Jun 22, 2020 4:05 pm

2" reduction on some threaded control arms that were incorrect lengths. Just a handful to do. The parts are much bigger than what is pictured, and quite clumsy, so a bit of a chore.

And I did fill that little crater at the end...woops.

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DavidR8 · Mon Jun 22, 2020 11:58 pm

Just wanted to say that as a newbie, seeing all your good work is inspiring and also daunting!

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Spartan · Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:00 am

DavidR8 wrote:Just wanted to say that as a newbie, seeing all your good work is inspiring and also daunting!

Thanks for the kind words. Get you some razor blades to practice on as you're learning. IMO, it's the ultimate way to try and master heat control, and all other aspects of laying down a good TIG bead. It forces you to either do it well or destroy the part...not a lot of in between. Great practice tool.

BugHunter · Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:03 pm

Just for fun I took some pics today of some window frames I was welding up. These are particularly difficult because of all the variation in thickness. Most of you will laugh at what they look like because they are not Instagram level weld. Just trust me when I tell you this is not as easy as it looks. The number of thickness changes, the requirement to not burn the edges away, and the amount of heat you have to apply to a part that goes thick and thin in a matter of 1/8 of an inch, I'm telling you it is tricky.

And you should see it when there is aluminum mesh in the frame, pressed in place and sinking all the heat out like nothing you have ever seen sink heat from a part.

You start on a 16 gauge aluminum Corner that has an opening between the two parts. You can't burn away the corner. Then you have to weld the main framework using filler rod and then do a Fusion weld on the corner. All of that has to blend together. You use three different settings on the welder for the three areas. Anywhere from 70 amps on the 16 gauge flange up to 155 amps full pedal on the face. The fusion weld outside corner is easy all except for where you have to blend into the 16 gauge flange.

The 16 gauge part must be done in two steps because you have to start in the center and work toward the point at the outside, then you go back and work the other direction toward the thicker Fusion outside corner. Otherwise you can melt the corner away or burn holes through which is no good.

BugHunter · Tue Jun 23, 2020 10:10 pm

When I post from my phone the pictures post in reverse order so that's not so great. The last picture or I guess the first picture in the list, that shows the view from the inside where you are not welding. You can see that the thickness varies by 300% multiple times as you go across the surface. That's over a course of one inch and don't think that you can just gloss that over. Here is a picture of the cross section that you are welding. Minus the corner clip of course.

Spartan · Tue Jun 23, 2020 11:11 pm

Looks like a tough weld indeed! I hate extrusions like that. Also looks like you're handling it quite well. Keep the pics coming.

DavidR8 · Tue Jun 23, 2020 11:15 pm

Wow! Having lit an arc on aluminum exactly once I have no basis of experience but that looks like it would be extremely challenging.
Respect!

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BillE.Dee · Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:12 am

nice work buggy. Have you given any thought to some type of backing plate. I know the shape of the extrusion is difficult to fit, but, anything might be of help. Just tossing a thought

LtBadd · Wed Jun 24, 2020 6:36 am

sometimes you just have to rely on the force, great job!

BugHunter · Wed Jun 24, 2020 10:31 am

BillE.Dee wrote:nice work buggy. Have you given any thought to some type of backing plate. I know the shape of the extrusion is difficult to fit, but, anything might be of help. Just tossing a thought

Backing for where? I do the .0625" part laying flat on the steel welding table. That's all the heat-sink I get. The other parts are pretty well immune to burning through, and the fact is, I'm actually short on heat in areas, not over heat. It takes a good bit of pedal variation to get a consistent looking weld, and even then, 'consistent' is relative to 'awful'

The two are not that far apart.

That top part for instance, I run that from the inside corner to the outside corner. Set to 155A, you start off lighting up on the inside corner, and that area is actually fairly thin, so it forms a puddle pretty quick and you're on your way. It's so thin there you have to be careful about the hot-start undercutting the corner. You're only running about 1/3 pedal. Then you no sooner dab one time and 1/8" later you're foot is to the floor and you almost require more than 155A to continue because of that thicker material underneath sinking the heat away. It even has 'fins' if you look at it, so it's not just thicker, it's got additional surface area carrying away heat, then that ends and you're back to a thinner part, then back to thicker again, then tapering off for the outside corner. All in a 1" span...

Spartan · Sun Jun 28, 2020 5:58 pm

A little Sunday welding for myself. Smallish welding/utility table to add to the shop made completely out of scrap, which is a very satisfying price tag. Quicky job for sure, so nothing pretty or fancy. Top is 1/4" thick steel plate (48"x32"), and legs are 1/4" thick, 2" angle iron. Legs welded directly to the top with stringers on three sides and an angle iron stiffener welded lengthwise across the bottom of the top along the center for a bit more rigidity. The legs were quite rusty, so they got a coat of paint. It was actually A LOT more grinding prep than it was cutting or welding

She weighed in at 170 lbs when done.

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LtBadd · Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:05 pm

Looks good and the price was right

Spartan · Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:42 pm

After I weighed it and tried to pick it up, I asked my girl if I could pick her up too to see which weighed more, her or the table, and now I have to go find my own dinner, apparently.

Thatkid2diesel · Sun Jun 28, 2020 8:58 pm

Spartan wrote:After I weighed it and tried to pick it up, I asked my girl if I could pick her up too to see which weighed more, her or the table, and now I have to go find my own dinner, apparently.

Hahaha. That's funny. Do you have a guess which was heavier? Lol

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VA-Sawyer · Sun Jun 28, 2020 11:41 pm

"Stupid is, as stupid does". Lucky you don't need stitches!

I'm going to stop, before I need stitches.

BillE.Dee · Mon Jun 29, 2020 5:12 am

The table looks great and will be useful without doubt...even if it's for supper. Just don't buy beer.

Spartan · Sat Jul 04, 2020 1:10 am

More tables/benches. You'd think I'd fire up that new Ironman, but I'm a TIG welder at heart.

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sbaker56 · Sat Jul 04, 2020 1:39 am

I have to be honest, I would not have the patience for that

that and id be too excited to try the new machine.

I just burned some 3/32 excalibur stubs for restart practice I was given in class to take home. When I ran out I burned some Hobart 7018 to fill up the rest of the plate. Edit: Absolutely no idea why it insists on flipping the picture, the original is right side up and I've even tried cropping it.

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BillE.Dee · Sat Jul 04, 2020 6:38 am

nice work Spartan. Have you been able to notice a difference in time between your tig work and using a mig machine in that type of work and is the time and result substantial?
sbaker, you are closing in ,,, be patient and pay attention to the way you're moving. do some practice by moving the amps, just a bit and run beads side by side so you can "see" the difference.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY AND INDEPENDENCE DAY to everyone...remain vigilant and safe.
gramps.

Spartan · Sat Jul 04, 2020 10:39 am

BillE.Dee wrote:nice work Spartan. Have you been able to notice a difference in time between your tig work and using a mig machine in that type of work and is the time and result substantial?
sbaker, you are closing in ,,, be patient and pay attention to the way you're moving. do some practice by moving the amps, just a bit and run beads side by side so you can "see" the difference.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY AND INDEPENDENCE DAY to everyone...remain vigilant and safe.
gramps.

Hey BillE.Dee. For me, MIG is MUCH faster and MUCH easier if having to work on something that is on/near the floor. TIG is no fun for me when having to sit/lay/kneel on the floor. But if the part is up on a table, MIG is still a bit faster, but not nearly as enjoyable. Of course, MIG can be more forgiving on prep time also, but I'm anal about prep anyway, to it doesn't save me anytime in that regard. But MIG is certainly the more efficient process for that type of work.

BillE.Dee · Sat Jul 04, 2020 4:54 pm

thanks spartan. I can TRULY understand the part about the project being on the table. I did a cart repair for a neighbor and had to get on the ground. Took me 3 hours to get back up. My wife thought I was taking a nap

Spartan · Fri Jul 10, 2020 11:09 pm

Another small parts welding table. My MIG hand is coming back. Slowly. Been years. But it's 4x faster than TIG by my watch. This was one where I did not clean the mill scale. I started cleaning the mill scale... wasn't too happy with how those toes were whetting in

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TraditionalToolworks · Sat Jul 11, 2020 12:38 am

Spartan wrote:But it's 4x faster than TIG by my watch.

That means it's possible that it's 40x faster than MY tig.

Looks good, I'm no expert but it does seem you could turn the amps up a tad to wet into the base plate.

Spartan · Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:13 am

TraditionalToolworks wrote:
Spartan wrote:But it's 4x faster than TIG by my watch.
That means it's possible that it's 40x faster than MY tig.

Looks good, I'm no expert but it does seem you could turn the amps up a tad to wet into the base plate.

Completely agree. Turned up the voltage a bit for the other run in the pic which is on the left, better whetting, but still not great. Lesson learned: Grind the mill scale first. I did that for the table I made after that one and it all went much better, but didn't take any pics. That one is still sitting half-done on that same reference table, so I'll try to get some pics of that one when I'm back in the shop sometime this weekend.

TraditionalToolworks · Sat Jul 11, 2020 1:30 am

Spartan wrote:Grind the mill scale first.

I think you have your answer on the mill scale right there. It is the way you would do it for yourself.

Teach those guys working for you to properly clean the mill scale and that will save you time and grief in the end, IMO.

Curious, did you use the new Hobart for that? I'm guessing so...how do you like it? I thought it looked like a pretty nice box. Doesn't Miller own Hobart these days?