Bass, being the boat header guy? That Bass can weld for sure, i have welded on some of thier headers (repairs) and they actually get PC7 behind thier weld! How that is done is beyond me, imagine welding stainless steel with contaminants in the seam of the weld - on purpose -and laying down perfect beads going around a tube. I've gone bind in one eye so i now have an excuse for some imperfections -gasp!- when i had perfect vision i was just a poor welder.
Boy are you correct on Bassett headers - I think that is who you're talking about! I have a set of Bassett 417 Donovan chrome zoomie boat headers -- they are works or art and Paul Bassett is one heck of a nice guy if you ever call them. I bought them just so I can start the motor with them on!
Josh, you're a welding nut bar. Crazy! Lincoln 255 Square Wave (with the digital controls) from something like 15 years ago? I pulse with a foot pedal and a small gas cup. These are some recent parts...
Not the most incredible in the world, but here are a few brackets I put together for the last car I built. I'm using an old Idealarc TIG 300/300 that was built about 15 years before I was born.
OK, now that's what I wanted to know! But here's my problem, hopefully you can help: when I TIG, I was taught to use minimum stick out of the electrode, maybe 1/4" or so. While I can produce a nice-looking weld, it's not even close to some of the welds I see here. Now I'm thinking that's because I can't see much of the puddle, I actually find myself looking only at the front end of the puddle because I have the cup so close and minimum amperage ( for better control) on the pedal. So now I'm wondering if more stick-out would help? How much is too much? I don't think I'm in any danger of losing my sheilding gas and I assume that's the whole point of such a small stick-out. Thanks again!
This is something I would be interested in knowing myself. I've got a gas lens on my torch, but nobody (not even the MFG) says how much stick-out is too much. The consensus seems to be that stick-out should be "minimized", but that's not really what I asked. So how about it, gents (I'm looking at you guys here, Bass and jdustu)? What kind of stick-out can you get away with? I'd like to know that info for gas lenses and standard shields ('cause sometimes that gas lens cup is just too damned big to fit where it needs to).
This is not as elaborate as the stuff Stinkbug just posted (nice work!), but it is hot rod related. These are parts of some motor mounts I made for an unboxed '32 frame with a '57 283. I do use a gas lens by the way. I know my stuff isn't perfect...but I try to improve everytime I pick up the torch. There's some seriously great stuff on this thread...some of you guys make me embarrassed to post my welding. -Brian
The stick out on the tungsten can vary. There are rules of thumb, but I just do whatever works. This is just another one of those things that welders argue about..."this is how you do it" "no, no, THIS is how you do it!" It depends on your tungsten size, the cup size, the cup type, the joint, the gas flow, the material....and so on and so forth. It's all about reading the situation and adjusting accordingly. Is the puddle not smooth or is it full of porosity, is my tungsten discoloring, is the arc erratic, is my bead dull?...just a few things that could be caused by the wrong gas flow, tungsten stick out, arc length, angle, bad gas, machine settings.... No kidding...lol
I can't really post pics of the stuff I do at work...but here is a practice piece I did when I was stressed out last night. How I relax lol
Hey Dallas, its Neil from over on Pirate. What heat setting are you using with your Idealarc on these pieces?
I'm not really a pipe welder, but it's fun to mess with every now and then. I don't think much looks cooler than tigged pipe. Some of the guys that do pipe welding for a living lay down some of the sickest welds...mine just have a cold. Couple of fillets I did last night for practice.
Bass...would like to know your process on making a weld look like that,i learned how to walk the cup in votech but cant seem to make that type of weld,lots of heat,low pulse setting?what size filler rod and tungstun do you guys think is the best for sheetmetal,1/8,3/16,thanks,you guys should be proud of what you do.
they use mig for all of the chromealoy at work, and we also have some incredible tig welders, it's too bad so many got laid off, airplane welding is a real art, and at one point they had one hell of a weld department, we had guys who had been with the company welding for 40 years, a good friend of mine who runs the weld shop and one other welder are all thats left. airplane welds look just as nice as those good looking welds but also have to be strong. we have one woman who does nothing but tig and only comes in sometimes, best tig welds i've seen in my life.
Having a pal that welds weapon components for a living that also was a professional welder helps when you weld 304 st. st VOE mufflers! Check these out! Tom
Re: stickout with a gas lens, maybe check some of the guys who build Ti bicycle frames. They have the electrode way out, and I mean like 1/2" or more. Guess it doesn't really matter as long as gas flow is sufficient to keep everything covered.
My "Incredible" welds Welding computer case metal to a rusted out car body using a stick welder. They aren't pretty at all but they hold.
If you are having trouble seeing the pudule 'CK Welding" sells clear pyrex cups & the gas lens to go with them in a veriety of sizes. The largest is used for Ti welding. These are for DC tig only as AC deposits on the cup & ruins it. Electrode extension is dependent on conditions of the weld For instance on a fillet where the gas can trap itself more extension is used & some times in odd positions where extension is needed the gas flow may be raised. Using a gas lens allows better coverage of the gas & is the prefered method for thin materials.
Many titanium builders use a large lens and nozzle which allows them to stick the tungsten out there a ways. Where I works sells a cup for titanium welding. It's inside diameter is 24mm.
This is a wheel off a bulldozer track that needed a couple low spots raised. I put two 1/8" rods together and did a little free hand weave all the way around on the top and bottom.
its hard to follow jdustu but heres my contribution.. root pass on 1/4" plate.. i weld all AL at school so i jump at the chance to weld some ms whenever i can ..
I think somebody asked about stick welding a while back. Last night I found out my GMAW-P plates passed X-ray, so I messed around with this bad boy at school today: It's so freaking smooth. I did a 1" thick plate with a K joint using 5/32" 8018 electrodes. It's hard to see in the pic, but the root pass came through the back side really nicely. I need to get a bigger shop so I can start collecting some of these machines The back of the root: front finished back finished Pretty happy with it considering I don't stick weld much. I forgot how much fun it is. Especially compared to spray transfer pulse welding lol
Those pics suck, but one plate's edge on the front and back was beveled, and then the other plate is flat. It's a k joint. Plates were 1" thick, and it was X-rayed not bent. It was mil spec, not AWS, although they are similar....and it passed.
The Jalopy Journal
