[Mrkil]

We had someone come in for a one off stainless countertop. Bein the only guy in the shop that knows how to tig it fell on me.





And now I know why I love red tungstens the most. All they had was one green one and it was a bit to big for 20 gauge
I remembered that I had a red 1/16 in my tool bag and was much happier with the outcome.

[TamJeff]

Nice

[Otto Nobedder]

That's extra nice,

Because you got to show off a skill they didn't even hire you for! If not for you, they'd have had to farm it out or refuse the job!

The work looks really nice, too. Remember this when your "probationary" period is up and it's time for them to up your money...

Steve S

[Otto Nobedder]

If they hand you another TIG job, give 'em a shopping list of basic consumables & parts to have on hand!

Steve S

[Mrkil]

Well another tig job came in on Thursday. I gave them a list and he got it for me. Unfortunately he ordered very little filler rod. Trying to keep costs down lol
It was 5 ss surrounds for a yogurt shop



And today we got an order for a ss railing


Still enjoying the vids. They really help me perfect my technique. I still find I run to hot more often then not.
The more I do the better I get though.

[Otto Nobedder]

More nice looking work! At this rate, they'll start marketing your skills for their shop, and you'll end up doing mostly TIG work.

Somewhere between the time you start doing TIG for them regularly, and when they hire another TIG welder, would be a great time to talk about a raise...

Steve S

[weldin mike 27]

Hey,

If you are going to do alot of polished s/s in the area that is in the pic, consider making a wooden cover for that steel bench, out of mdf or craft wood. to prevent scratching and cross contamination of your work.

Mick

[Mrkil]

That piece will actually be powder coated. Not sure why they wanted stainless if they where going to do that but hey it's their money....
I wouldn't do any high quality stuff on that table. The crazy thing is that they don't even have anything for cleaning the ss with. The supervisor wouldn't even get me stainsheild gas to mig the yogurt machine surrounds. He had me use argosheild, which really isn't meant for ss.
He said ahh whatever.....

[weldin mike 27]

Hey,

Sounds like lots of fun, better buy a helmet for when you are beating your head against the wall.

Mick

[blaz]

Work has begun on a rear bumper for my blazer.


Here are a couple of pics. Not my prettiest welds but I am willing to share so others know that every weld isn't a perfect dime stack.

[Otto Nobedder]

Here's a little weld I did yesterday (well, two, actually, but I'm pointing out the one on the right of the valve... the other side was done on the bench...

GEDC0920.JPG (182.69 KiB) Viewed 3218 times

I post it not for what it is, but for the jacked-up place I had to do it, half in the mirror...

GEDC0921.JPG (205.63 KiB) Viewed 3218 times

Steve S

[TamJeff]

That piece will actually be powder coated. Not sure why they wanted stainless if they where going to do that but hey it's their money....

I can think of one reason offhand, and it is dependent on the possibility of galvanic corrosion with regard to dissimilar metals, at least in corrosive environments. I have seen aluminum that was powder coated and then the coating being compromised for having used stainless steel fasteners. No matter how careful you are, even with drilling fastener holes over sized to allow for the fasteners not chipping the coating, it still happens. Powder coating is really not all that great a protective coating in corrosive environments.

[TamJeff]

Here's a little weld I did yesterday (well, two, actually, but I'm pointing out the one on the right of the valve... the other side was done on the bench...
Steve S

That's great work. I was thinking about your mirror jobs Friday as I was reaching around from behind a structure with the filler while looking thru the front of it. I had no less than 14" of rod past my hand and i was watching the end of the filler shake and then magically stop shaking right as soon as I was ready to hit the puddle.

[Otto Nobedder]

What a difference a day makes, when you don't weld every day!

Here's the weld I did the end of Thursday:

GEDC0911.JPG (159.22 KiB) Viewed 3158 times

Note the ragged steps and undercut... On the side I did right-handed, no less. I did not have time to fix this until the next day.

Here, on the other hand, it the first weld of Friday, the opposite side of the valve:

GEDC0909.JPG (163.79 KiB) Viewed 3158 times

The left-hand work looks little different from the right.

This was all bench work, mind you, so Thurday's weld was no harder.

Here it is in context... Stub-outs on a check-valve:

GEDC0910.JPG (184.99 KiB) Viewed 3158 times

I've not yet fixed Thursday's weld (on the left).

Steve S

[Otto Nobedder]

Here's a li'l more context, and a silver-braze I said I'd post...

The valve is re-used, and was originally TIG-brazed with silicon-bronze, making the de-brazing/salvaging of the valve the most challenging part. At the top of the image is the check-valve from the last post.

GEDC0913.JPG (177.49 KiB) Viewed 3136 times

Steve S

[TamJeff]

I do the same thing. But then when I look at it the next day among 20 other welds, it seems to go away or it fixes itself somehow. Those welds look pretty damn good to me!

I did some today and I was going to put the interchangeable sub-assemblies to where the best half of the welds were facing out. When I went to do so, there was no real apparent best side. Turns out that I was nitpicking some really minute details. This time of the year I have to have fans blowing on me. Between that and everyone's propensity to make even the most unimportant (pleasure boats, really are not very important) jobs an emergency, screw em. They get what they get. Holiday's coming up and there is a line of 'last minute' folks that "need" their boats by Friday. There's gonna be a lot of 'one chance to get it right, or else you're stuck with it' welds this week. They better hope I am on my game.

[Otto Nobedder]

True.

I'll pick a weld to death when I finish it, yet the next day, it looks pretty good. The problem I had on that check valve was seeing two side-by-side I'd done the same way. In the pic where I showed both sides of the valve, I intentionally took the pic before fixing the weld I wasn't happy with, and while I might accept the poorer weld on it's own, seeing the contrast made me fix the first weld.

I know, I know... I've said it before. We like to call ourselves craftsmen, so we tend to be our own worst critics. OTOH, the only way to improve is to set your standard higher than you currently achieve.

A fellow on another forum used the signature line, "Perfection is impossible, but if you strive for perfection, excellence is attainable."

Steve S

[Oddjob83]

one of my first TIG projects was making this gate for my boss's deck. also my father in law.

1 1/4 Square tube outer and 1x1x1/16 square tube inner. the decorative piece was bought and some home decoration place and added after. I made the mistake at the time of sealing every tube. then a couple years later a few of the tubes bulged and cracked at their seems. so i had to drill holes in the bottom.

[Otto Nobedder]

That's nice work! The decorative iron is a nice touch, and that's a great fit on the deadbolt.

Years ago I did a stint in a fab shop building handrails and bannisters along similar lines, but it was all MIG work for production. We never put weep holes in any of the tubing, either. I'm guessing, since it was MIG, the volume of gas used would purge the tubes while welding, but, then, I never saw any of this stuff after it was installed.

Since it was MIG work, the layout and jig-building was more interesting than the actual weldout.

I haven't built anything with a decorative aspect in years...

Steve S

[countryboy1127]

Heres a small casting platform i built . Its 1 1/2 sch 40.

20130830_222633_resized.jpg (207.89 KiB) Viewed 3258 times

20130830_222633_resized.jpg (207.89 KiB) Viewed 3258 times

[TamJeff]

Good on ya. Miters are my least favorite thing to cut and weld. Trying to keep it lined up in the saw just so for those pieces that have a miter at each end. Some days, I am just not in the mood for them. My boss thinks they are easier than using bends. Something about bending pipe has them thinking that's the hard part. He always says. . ."it's just a couple miter joints. . ." What he seems to forget is I can't ground to the body of the pipe in most situations. I have to clamp an R11 right on the miter itself without letting it scratch the pipe outside of the weld zone. The only way you can ground to them has the clamps spreading the joint apart so you can't tell if it's gong to be exact until you get one side tacked.

[TamJeff]

one of my first TIG projects was making this gate for my boss's deck. also my father in law.

That's a nice neat job. 4" centers is a measurement not soon to be forgotten after one of those projects.

[countryboy1127]

Tamjeff I didn't get the option of building the entire project or I wouldve bent the pipe instead of using 45s, I only got paid to weld it . I haven't had a chance to weld any anodized yet is any different than regular aluminum pipe

[TamJeff]

Tamjeff I didn't get the option of building the entire project or I wouldve bent the pipe instead of using 45s, I only got paid to weld it . I haven't had a chance to weld any anodized yet is any different than regular aluminum pipe

Anodized is night and day different from mill finish pipe. You essentially have to forget everything you learned about welding aluminum other than the universal things like penetration and such, and other welders will make fun of you for welding funny.

[countryboy1127]

Great another learning curve when I haven't even got standard mill pipe down yet lol