Welding Tips and Tricks

I thought I would share my homemade purge plugs, they aren't expensive or hard to make and they seem to work great. What I did was I bought the drain plugs from home depot, jb weld steel stick, air compressor baffle bolts(if that's what they are called I can't remember), some 1/4 inch stainless instrument tubing, 1/4 stainless compression fitting to 1/4 npt fitting, one 1/4 or 5/16 coupler but I can't remember what size I used, and quick connect air hose fittings. I don't know if they are really needed but when I was learning to tig stainless I was told when you are purging the pipe you don't want gas just pouring out that's why I used the baffle bolts or whatever they are called. And I threaded the stainless tubing to match the threads on the coupler nuts I used on one side then a stainless compression fitting on the other. Just remove the bolt and wingnut from the plug keep the seals though then you will jb weld the coupler but to the bottom piece of the plug take your compression fitting with the tube that has been threaded for the nut reinstall the seals onto the top of the plug in between it and the compression nut then just thread it together and install the baffle on the coupler but and voila you have a adjustable purge plugs that seals perfect. You could always do something different to them I just made them like that cause it's what I had in my scrap bin. And when you are installing them to a pipe or tube just hand tighten them to close to the same size Id then put it in and hand tighten them from the fitting on the top the gasket will grab and keep the bottom from spinning then I just snug them up with a wrench and ready to go. If anyone needs any help making them just message me, but I will put all the pictures of them disassembled but it should be no problem once you see them

Looks good!

they are compressed air exhaust mufflers.
one thing to watch is that the plug can handle the heat. usually not to bad on the longer bits, but doing short bits you can cook the plugs.

I was wondering the same thing, tweake. There has to be a way to keep the heat away from the seal.

Ya I doubt they can handle the heat of something like pie cuts but I've done a few 2 inch and 1 3/4 inch 90° without any issue but I also do the welds in sections and let them cool down all the way before I start the weld again. I would like to make some really nice ones that are more heat resistant I just like how thes are adjustable so I don't have to have every size known to man lol.

pegleg1488 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:31 pm Ya I doubt they can handle the heat of something like pie cuts but I've done a few 2 inch and 1 3/4 inch 90° without any issue but I also do the welds in sections and let them cool down all the way before I start the weld again. I would like to make some really nice ones that are more heat resistant I just like how thes are adjustable so I don't have to have every size known to man lol.

it certainly would be handy to have adjustable ones. one reason i havn't bought any is you need to buy a set to cover different sizes.
i still just use foil as i tend to do a lot of short bits and don't care if i fry the foil.

be interesting to see what others use.

tweake wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:55 pm

pegleg1488 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:31 pm Ya I doubt they can handle the heat of something like pie cuts but I've done a few 2 inch and 1 3/4 inch 90° without any issue but I also do the welds in sections and let them cool down all the way before I start the weld again. I would like to make some really nice ones that are more heat resistant I just like how thes are adjustable so I don't have to have every size known to man lol.

it certainly would be handy to have adjustable ones. one reason i havn't bought any is you need to buy a set to cover different sizes.
i still just use foil as i tend to do a lot of short bits and don't care if i fry the foil.

be interesting to see what others use.

Ya I only have 3 and it will do 1 1/2 to 4 inch but ya I was using the same aluminum foil but mine would always tear cause I would forget to remove the hose before I turned the pipe

tweake wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:55 pm

pegleg1488 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 10:31 pm Ya I doubt they can handle the heat of something like pie cuts but I've done a few 2 inch and 1 3/4 inch 90° without any issue but I also do the welds in sections and let them cool down all the way before I start the weld again. I would like to make some really nice ones that are more heat resistant I just like how thes are adjustable so I don't have to have every size known to man lol.

it certainly would be handy to have adjustable ones. one reason i havn't bought any is you need to buy a set to cover different sizes.
i still just use foil as i tend to do a lot of short bits and don't care if i fry the foil.

be interesting to see what others use.

Ya I only have 3 and it will do 1 1/2 to 4 inch but ya I was using the same aluminum foil but mine would always tear cause I would forget to remove the hose before I turned the pipe

i do a ball of foil around the hose.
however i have to clamp/tie the hose so it doesn't fall out. usually no problem turning the work.
i wonder how well compressed air union/swivel would work with argon. that would allow the hose to turn when using a purge plug.

one thing i do not like about many purge plugs is the gas outlet is often central. i prefer the foil cover with holes around the edge so the argon flows along the metal not in the centre of the pipe.

tweake wrote: ↑Fri Jul 21, 2023 6:28 pm i do a ball of foil around the hose.
however i have to clamp/tie the hose so it doesn't fall out. usually no problem turning the work.
i wonder how well compressed air union/swivel would work with argon. that would allow the hose to turn when using a purge plug.

one thing i do not like about many purge plugs is the gas outlet is often central. i prefer the foil cover with holes around the edge so the argon flows along the metal not in the centre of the pipe.

I use air compressor hose quick connects on my purge plugs and I don't think ive has a issue with them leaking or anything, the swivels would be a good idea thanks I didn't think of that now I'll have to change mine out for some

Has anyone tried re-purposing a sand blasting cabinet to weld small parts inside? Flood the compartment with Argon and weld away

stefuel wrote: ↑Mon Feb 19, 2024 7:30 pm Has anyone tried re-purposing a sand blasting cabinet to weld small parts inside? Flood the compartment with Argon and weld away

That’s a lot of argon to fill and keep filled that cabinet. Plus, you’d have to air seal it pretty well for it to be worthwhile. Then you’d have to work out getting your TiG torch inside and air sealed. Can’t imagine it would be worth it unless you were working on very high end pieces that required an argon chamber for welding qualification.