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Chapter 4 - the bit that I really don't want to show...... my welding...

It is some time since last I used this Tig on steel.... I got into all sorts of strife welding aluminium and packed it all away with my head spinning. I have since read an awful lot more, and believe I have answers for some of it... not quite ready to revisit the class-room.

Which brings us to where we are with steel in this excercise..... and 1.0 mm a that.. quite thin.

My first weld attempt didn't go well... I saw the "hole" almost as soon as it developed.... I tried a second spot weld next to it and did exactly the same, only this time making the first hole bigger by including the second one.
I then realised that I had released the trigger to commence the weld upslope without realising... and the current had got into the metal before I was ready for it....



I went back to "peak" settings and dropped it down from 35A to 30A... and tried again. This time I was ready, and "pooled" up a neat little spot weld.. I was happy with this.






After making that third little weld, I ran a string of them a bit further along the joint... and managed to "stack some dimes" in the process...
I did not use any rod filler with this joint... it was not needed... the "pool" simply flowed along the joint and the two sheets fused together nicely.



pic....







I turned the joint over and took a pic to show penetration on the reverse side.. it's not as good as I'd like, but I can assure you - I can't break the two sheets apart.... they are soundly welded... just a little bit more penetration may have produced a better weld on the other side as well - but, I'm happy with these.... maybe, that 35A was the correct peak setting...






As I have profusely stated on every occasion, I am not a welder... I'm shocking at it... but, I get by...

I might go and have another play - but, I have other commitments to another forum to make this afternoon....
Seems, it took a lot of setting up to do these couple of welds... only to dismantle it all again and pack it away for the day....


This is how I remember welding in the repair section I fabricated to the little Corona... it didn't need much filler added once the small welds were ground down... this is the world of Tig... and I hope all the previous information and confusing parameters now afford justification....
I will learn to weld much better.. with time and considerable experience... aluminium is another subject and challenge entirely - my ultimate aim is to be able to weld ali with confidence...



Until next....

frats,
Rosco

Wrongway Roger wrote: Fri Apr 10, 2020 11:31 am Hi guys,
I'm well into the rebuild of the ute.
I wish I had a TIG welder as the MIG and oxy are doing the job but for sheet metal way to much heat.
The copper heat sink is working as is the stitch method.

I will be following this topic with a view to purchase a TIG welder down the track, pending the Minister of Finance's approval.
Cheers,
Roger

G'day Roger,

I had a TIG (200AMP, 15 AMP supply jobby) and sold it to fund a DHC2000/Henrob/Dillon/Cobra oxy acetylene kit (with "the lot") as I also do a lot of welding outside. I wished I'd kept the TIG though!

Anyhow, if you can get your paws on a DHC2000 it will definitely breathe new life into your oxy set. It handles thin stuff like a dream and works under a carport/in the paddock too.

My first (forced) attempt at TIG welding was when working in a machine shop doing jobbing work. I was given a job that required a (continuous 150mm long) fillet weld on stainless steel 20mm thick! Post machining was required of course so I could clean it all up but oh boy it was a learning curve. The amps and heat output was phenomenal.

Numbers on the left are wire speed, letters on right increases the heat so I guess voltage? Generally they correspond A-1, B-2, C-3 etc, with a tweak here and there if wire is stunning or burning back. Gas steady at 12. I used to let the captured gas out of the line when I turned the bottle off but tend to leave it now and the liner holds the pressure for weeks. I got in to the h a bit now of turning the tap on full or off, as in between is allegedly more pro e to leak via the cock stem.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

Errol62 wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 4:35 pm Numbers on the left are wire speed, letters on right increases the heat so I guess voltage?

Thanks Clay - I had them the wrong way around...... yes, I believe right knob is voltage.... as I remember, wire speed is definitely amps.
The Mig I have caters for dumb-ass handymen... on the drop down side lid, it has a reference guide for differing thickness of metals.... life saver for dumb-ass me....

I'm slowly making a chart up for Tig... today's effort will most definitely be logged for 1.0 mm plate.. and, as you will soon read - I had a bash at 1.2 mm to 1.7 mm after another go at 1.0 mm.... with reasonable results.

frats,
Rosco

Ok, chapter 5 ... and the machine is now packed away.

I cleaned up another pair of sheets to repeat the above welding.... I was pretty happy with the first attempt, and after an hour - decided to have another go at it to ensure it wasn't a fluke...

The pieces came from the same sheet... only this time, I made them a bit longer - so that I could gain more experience with "stacking dimes" in succession.
As with the first attempt - I burned through the start and also the finish.. I tried adding filler rod into both ends - the results you can see leave a lot to be desired... I really struggle with this filler rod thing.... the little doover for feeding the rod worked fine, but I bent the rod.. and it "stalled"... my finger got very hot when I realised how close the glove was to the weld.... my eyes were following the end of the rod - not my hand.

I actually think I achieved close to a perfect weld with some of this second go.... you can see that the "dimes" have almost fused into the two sheets and there is very little to suggest it is not a single sheet of metal ..... at left, prior to burning through approaching the end.
Also, I cranked up the peak weld amps back to 35 to get better penetration.

Ok - so, here we go... second attempt...









And, here is the rear of the weld... the penetration is better.







And a look at the sheet from the end....









and the side...








Looking back a bit closer to the weld - I was happy with these "stacked dimes"..









I wrote down all my notes and then set about looking for some thicker metal.
I found a rusted sheet of 1.2 mm and another at 1.7 mm.

Looking at my notes for thicker metal, I changed the collet set and electrode to a 1.6 mm and cranked up the peak amps to 60, and the base amps to 20.... cleaned up the joining faces and let it "rip"....
See for yourself how you think I went... I'm much better with thicker metal - but, it is now comforting to know that I can do thin 1.0 mm sheet if needed.... I learned this time not to release the trigger until I was ready to start making those "dimes"... and not to feed rod into the weld pool unless it was needed... I'll have to work on feeding rod... I'm really struggling with this....
I seem to either bring it in too strong or too late.... maybe next time, I'll just add a tiny drop of it into the pool and pull the rod out as soon at it drops... not try to incorporate the rod into the weld as in a Mig run along a joint....







and the rear...










Ok, that should bring this session to a close - as promised... I will rejoin the thread when I have to actually do some welding... not just playing.
I need to learn to do angled joints and fillet joints yet with this machine/process.

I'm hoping when Simon reads all of this, he can make suggestions as to how better I can produce these welds... and how to rectify my issue with burning holes at the start and end of the joint... I had an awful lot of stray arcs going on when I neared the end... the holes at the start were quite easy to explain... I probably should have started the weld a little along the joint and worked backwards towards the edge..... next time.

frats,
Rosco

You can dump all those electrodes and just get some 2% Lanthanated. They will weld everything, Arc starts really easy and really stable, no arc wandering and hold point really well.