Welding Tips and Tricks

I was given some 4943 to try, and I finally got a good opportunity to use it! I apologize that I did not have time to photograph the steps as I progressed through this, but I will get a "finished product" picture (such as it is) tomorrow as well as some "keep it from happening again" pictures as time allows.

I had to repair a (leaking) crack in a 2" 3003 pipe. It was cracked right at the pipe-side of the throat of a fillet of a vacuum weld where the pipe penetrated the vessel. This meant I had to control my heat very carefully so I didn't allow a molten puddle to be sucked into the vessel and break vacuum. I ground the crack out beyond it's ends, and tapered it, leaving me a 1/4" open root in a schedule 40 3003 pipe. The relatively low melt temperature and excellent wetting-out of the 4943 made this (while slow) relatively easy to accomplish. I have to say I'm quite impressed. I was using a SW250DX at 175A max with a thumb control while standing on a 4" pipe. 3/32 pure tungsten, #8 on a gas lens (-20 torch) and rarely more than 3/4 of the 175 I'd set.

Tomorrow, I'll find out how much shrinkage I'm going to have to deal with when I reattach the stainless flange to the aluminum flange for leak check, and then I'll be adding a "working" doubler and a gusset to support the aluminum flange and pipe to prevent this from recurring.

Steve S

Steve,

Why 3003?

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

3003 because it's not prone to harden in repeated extreme temperature cycles. That's the only reasonable explanation beyond pure "economy" that makes sense.

Steve

Here's a photo that shows why I'm pleased with the results from 4943... This doubler is 1/4" 5053, welded to an unknown alloy (likely 5053, possibly 6061) of an unknown thickness (presumed to be at least 3/8").

This is a lap weld (4F in the feature), done with 1/8" pure tungsten with a SW250DX with the balance set at "9" at about 210A.

Also, a shout out to Gerald at LSCustoms (username LSCustoms, coincidentally...) for sharing the 4943 rod with me so I could give it a go.

Tomorrow it gets a workout with a less experienced weldor on some 11 gauge 5053.

Steve S

Steve is that YOUR weld Wow!

Otto Nobedder wrote:Here's a photo that shows why I'm pleased with the results from 4943... This doubler is 1/4" 5053, welded to an unknown alloy (likely 5053, possibly 6061) of an unknown thickness (presumed to be at least 3/8").

This is a lap weld (4F in the feature), done with 1/8" pure tungsten with a SW250DX with the balance set at "9" at about 210A.

4943.jpg

Oh that's niiice

exnailpounder wrote:Steve is that YOUR weld Wow!

I have good days, every now and then... Depends on how shaky my hands are. The first pass was not so sweet. I was trying hard not to cut much from the edge of the 1/4" while welding to the heavy side, so it was a bit funky looking. Round two gave me the chance to redeem myself.

Steve S

MinnesotaDave wrote:

Otto Nobedder wrote:Here's a photo that shows why I'm pleased with the results from 4943... This doubler is 1/4" 5053, welded to an unknown alloy (likely 5053, possibly 6061) of an unknown thickness (presumed to be at least 3/8").

This is a lap weld (4F in the feature), done with 1/8" pure tungsten with a SW250DX with the balance set at "9" at about 210A.

4943.jpg

Oh that's niiice

Thanks, Dave,

I'm a harsh critic of myself, yet I'm quite pleased with that result.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:

MinnesotaDave wrote:
Oh that's niiice

Thanks, Dave,

I'm a harsh critic of myself, yet I'm quite pleased with that result.

Steve S

Harsh self critic, I know that feeling well

Otto Nobedder wrote:

exnailpounder wrote:Steve is that YOUR weld Wow!

I have good days, every now and then... Depends on how shaky my hands are. The first pass was not so sweet. I was trying hard not to cut much from the edge of the 1/4" while welding to the heavy side, so it was a bit funky looking. Round two gave me the chance to redeem myself.

Steve S

That is definitely a beauty. I knew you were talented but that is WELD PORN.

Do the talk
and
Show the walk
Nice....

That is some beautiful work Steve! I love my 4943! I haven't noticed unusual distortion but my beads are not that long. It also files out nicer than the 6061 I welded too, kinda like a soft steel vs. gummy aluminum.

I'm still waiting on my local supplier to find me a 10lbs box of 3/32. I got 10lbs of 1/8 but it's not as easy to do short/small welds with on 1/8 and 1/16 material. Even then it still works great, just gotta be more careful and fast with the filler dip. It worked great on some very clean cast Al too which welded up so effortlessly. The local shop has never even heard of it but they're a good company with Hobart connections so hopefully my order will be satisfied soon. This reminds me I need to call them for an update

Looks pretty damn good Steve, I love how 4943 flows...

In retrospect, I missed an opportunity. This doubler has four sides, plus the two welds for the brace attached to it. I could have done some of it in 4043 and some of it in 5356 as well, just to have a real side-by-side of the different fillers on identical base materials with identical prep and settings, and even the same weather conditions. The filler would have been the only variable.

Next time, I suppose.

Thank you all for the compliments! I'll emphasize this was a particularly good day. I do not hold myself to that standard for appearance, or I would be disappointed far too often. I've learned to accept inconsistencies in a weld when they only affect appearance and not performance.

Steve S

Steve! Knowing seasons experts like you and Jody saying it doesn't always look pretty is inspiring to us n00bs because you might remember how frustrating it is and that complex to be 100% perfect that you start with. I guess one day you just settle.

Thank you!

One question... Was my experiment more practical than I thought by mixing 4943 and 5356 on that cast Al foot peg? If so what are you thoughts on when this is a good idea?

entity-unknown wrote:Steve! Knowing seasons experts like you and Jody saying it doesn't always look pretty is inspiring to us n00bs because you might remember how frustrating it is and that complex to be 100% perfect that you start with. I guess one day you just settle.

Thank you!

One question... Was my experiment more practical than I thought by mixing 4943 and 5356 on that cast Al foot peg? If so what are you thoughts on when this is a good idea?

Don't EVER "settle" for anything less than perfection. None of us can make perfect welds every time but I try and it sure pisses me off when I can't. I might be my own worst enemy because I am so critical of my work but I would rather be mind-fucked that way rather than just saying "that's good enough" and just hot gluing stuff together. Just because Jody says you can't make it perfect every time, don't use it as an excuse to not try.....signed...DAD

Ha no I hear you. I try to make them my best but I don't cry in my whiskey when the day is done and it's not perfect. The most important thing to me is structural integrity with the strive for perfection

Still curious about the mixing of 5356 & 4X43. Is there a practical reason to do this or is it just an experiment? I can't remember the guy's name but a very well known seasoned welder that's been a teacher and metalurgist for years that hits up all the FabCons said to fix a Low Boy 10Ton trailer break at the neck you needed a root pass with the 110whatever stick then 7018 with stringers, not a weave. Of course the concept was all related to stick since the story comes before MIG was really a thing I believe.
Still I took appreciation in the structural integrity and the idea that the stronger material must be used for only the first pass, and then to handle I believe shrinkage better but still achieve a good fill, the 7018 was next for the final stringer beads with multiple passes.

exnailpounder wrote: Don't EVER "settle" for anything less than perfection. None of us can make perfect welds every time but I try and it sure pisses me off when I can't. I might be my own worst enemy because I am so critical of my work but I would rather be mind-fucked that way rather than just saying "that's good enough" and just hot gluing stuff together. Just because Jody says you can't make it perfect every time, don't use it as an excuse to not try.....signed...DAD

I'm reminded of a Vince Lombardi quote, which I'm sure I'm paraphrasing...

"Perfection is impossible, but if you strive for perfection, excellence is attainable."

Steve S

entity-unknown wrote:...One question... Was my experiment more practical than I thought by mixing 4943 and 5356 on that cast Al foot peg? If so what are you thoughts on when this is a good idea?

I have some thoughts on that, but I'm too tired to organize them tonight. I'll digest them tonight, and perhaps I'll have a coherent response tomorrow.

Steve S

steve
is a SW250DX a transformer machine?
craig

motox wrote:steve
is a SW250DX a transformer machine?
craig

Yes, Ours are. I'm not sure about the latest model, as my buddy tells me his SW200 is an inverter.

Steve S