Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi All, we have a trek bicycle laying around that had a broken/rusted piece of tubing from the inside out and is in the bulk garbage pile so I decided to give it a shot and see if I can fix it.

The damaged area.


Damaged area prepped


It opened up like a beer can when I hit it with the torch, melted away like a burning paper receipt which shocked the crap out of me. I was going to quit and put it back in the garbage pile but decided not too because I wouldn't learn anything if I just gave up, now how do i close the hole.


I lowered the current to 55amps and went from 3/32 rod to 1/16th which helped quite a bit, I really wasn't prepared for how thin the metal was from the corrosion. I've only been welding for 1 week and really felt this was way beyond me at this stage, I stepped back and accessed the situation and figured If go back far enough where the steel is much thicker I can start building it up from there so that is what I did but had to do it very slowly letting it cool down frequently so I wouldn't blow though the pipe again. I hope I did the right thing.

The finished product, I know I have to practice my grinding skills too. So after 3hrs of work she is back in the bulk garbage pile. Please any and all advice and criticism welcome.
ttp://s961.photobucket.com/user/InfernoST/media/IMG_0187_zpstaoyx8co.jpg.html][/URL]

Thanks for looking.

If you have to you can go up in filler size to a 5/32 and use it like a patch. I.e. Weld the filler to the edge without totally melting the rod. Or cut a patch to fit inside.

That whole section is bulged meaning its got rust all the way round. Best thing would be cut a 3" or 4" section of tube out and weld a new piece in. Could be chrome moly.

Coldman wrote:That whole section is bulged meaning its got rust all the way round. Best thing would be cut a 3" or 4" section of tube out and weld a new piece in. Could be chrome moly.

This was just for practicing, the entire bike is in super bad shape that is why it's back in the bulk garbage pile for next week. Maybe the best thing for me to do is cut it up with a sawzall so no one takes out of the garbage and try to use it The frame is chrome moly. I may swipe the rims for some aluminum bead practice

looking at the bulge and crack best guess is it
filled with water and froze. plenty of rust on inside
of tube.

Hey Keith.

That is just like the kinda project I would have taken on not long ago. My version was to make a motorcycle race stand out of an old steel tube office chair.

The similarities I see are that neither of us were prepared for the level of corrosion inside the tube (mine wasn't quite do bad) and in my case, the smaller I made the hole as I built up material, the more it created a venturi type effect that sucked in air, messed up my argon flow and affected my shielding.

Stuff like this is never a waste of time, you always learn something. Be sure to write down your thoughts and your settings, I promise you'll learn faster by doing this.



Kym

MosquitoMoto wrote:Hey Keith.

That is just like the kinda project I would have taken on not long ago. My version was to make a motorcycle race stand out of an old steel tube office chair.

The similarities I see are that neither of us were prepared for the level of corrosion inside the tube (mine wasn't quite do bad) and in my case, the smaller I made the hole as I built up material, the more it created a venturi type effect that sucked in air, messed up my argon flow and affected my shielding.

Stuff like this is never a waste of time, you always learn something. Be sure to write down your thoughts and your settings, I promise you'll learn faster by doing this.



Kym

Kym
I am writing everything down and don't consider anything a waste of time at this stage I just get a little nervous at this point having very little experience under my belt.

Excellent!

I now have over 50 entries in my 'log book', each including general notes, settings and photos.

Weld nerd? Me?



Kym

I am a beginner in need of much practice. If that was my bike, I would put the sawsall to it ... then weld it all back together. Then I would saw it back up and weld something else from it ... maybe a laid back tricycle or maybe a stand for hanging flowers. Could be good practice for welding, grinding, and painting. As I've been told practice, practice, and practice.