Thanks man! I really do try to improve all of the time and I take a lot of pride in my work. Brown Dog - I'm just absolutely blown away. 3/8 dia is really reall small but what would be worse there i would think is the wall thickness, that could get ya good if not being carefull. Thats some good stuff man! Have you ever tried doing the cut and weld a beer can trick? I gotta give that a try one of these days, see if I can tack it without blowing a hole GoJeep - In all honesty, if your still using the trusty ol flip down and your plenty happy with that I'd say there isn't much reason or need to change? I personally like a standard flip down myself, you can throw a gold lense in, which I also think is much nicer, the veiwing area is much larger, you never have to worry about getting flashed, and it's cheaper. I just like/need the auto darkening cuz I tend to get stuck with really fidly farty jobs where I gotta hold something with one hand tack it with the other while working the foot pedal with your elbow. WelderSeries - Not a lefty but I used to be completely ambidextrious (spelling check?) so it helps quite a bit. I dont have much of a problem with switching hands in most any position. Very very nice welds by the way! I could only get em looking like that with stainless. For some reason I cant get the same results with mild steel. Edit - Almost forgot about the stick out. In some cases I need to get close to an inch of stick out, though I could get away with a half to 3/4 inch, no problem. Some of the joints are at a 40 degree angle ( acute measure) Just such a pain to get it looking nice and not burning the crap out of the metal. It's really bad when some chromoly comes around, makes ya cringe.
Hey all! I'm back with some more pictures We all like pictures... In the mix of pictures there is a oval chromoly tube with a sleeve welded into it. Question for the masters here as I'm completely new to the material. I've heard that you have to be very careful not to overheat chromoly as it will be prone to cracking, which I've bought into that as it's a very hard metal to begin with. Now the weld that I have pictured, doesn't it look to be a bit on the hot side? I turned me amps down pretty low and worked with a fairly slow speed. Tried turning it up and going faster to reduce the heat put into it well it didn't work too well being a fairly thin guage, and I just melted the edge of the sleeve. Turned into a corner weld rather than a small fillet. School me guys cuz this was just a test piece, the job following will be a structural one, being a chassis for a Ferrari from the early 60's. Dont wanna be screwin that up.... Anyways, enjoy! Questions, comments, critisism, and concerns are welcome
Here is the chromoly tube I was talking about. And those long mig welds on the 10mm plate... 3phase... that was a learning curve! Never again...
Hey Solid, nice work. You'll wanna practice on your aluminum stops, that crater will be susceptible to crack. It's an easy mistake to make, something I've had to work on. Come off the pedal slow, add more filler at the end, break the arc off to the side...soon it will be second nature.
I completely agree with your statement about,codes and certifying. During the last year or so I have been doing ALLOT of research about welding processes,codes,symbols,techniques etc. There is a huge difference between a "weld" and a "weld" that is done to super stringent procedures and tolerances.
Thank you for your reply......In your opinion... What is the best "field" to get into, even an apprentice program etc??
I really think that spending a day with some of you incredible welders would prove to be more worthwhile and informative than spending a year in a welding class.
So hard to say. I lucked into my situation, welding wasn't on my radar. That's an area where a CC with a strong program will be extremely beneficial, the networking can be invaluable.
Thanks man! I appreciate it and it really does mean a lot comming from you. This was about my 4th little aluminum project I've ever done, didn't quite expect things to go as well as they did I tried reducing the crater as much as I could, but it was so hot at that point that it wasn't working out as you can see. Letting off the arc to the side does sound like a good idea though, I'll have to give it a go next time some ally comes around. Any tips for a pre-heat/tacking? I tried many different ways and sometimes I just couldn't get it to flow when tacking those bits at the tip and other times it would go like a dream. Personally I think it had to do with the cleanlieness of the material.
Cleanliness, differences in material thickness, joint type....all can effect getting the aluminum to wet together. Take you're time, get the puddle to start on one side, then the other, then together. I'd check your torch angle too. If you're at an edge, make sure you have the tungsten point back towards the joint and not towards the edge.
I'm gonna have to go with cleanliness... Everything you've mentioned I had pretty well covered and used nothing more than a bit of spirit wipe before welding. Might have to get some acid brushes. Way back when I first tried aluminum I gave the metal a bit of a shake down with one of those and it worked out well. Also those bits that I just posted were laser cut and it isn't the cleanest of cut especially if they used oxygen rather than nitrogen... Any suggestion for the chromoly? That the real ball ache for me, havn't had the time to do any research on it, and that project is comming up pretty soon.
Lots of info on cm out there, everyone has there way it's "supposed" to be done. I know when I helped certify a cm process at Chrysler we did it many different ways(different pre-post heats temps, no pre heat, no post heat, different rods, ect., ect., ect.) and they all passed minimum requirements of strength and ductility during destructive testing. But that was for a specific joint and a certain size, it's not gonna be like that across the board. In general applications you'll see guys use a mild steel rod with no need for post heat.....as long as the cm wasn't heat treated previously.
Well we ran off all that chromoly and it seemed to turn out quite well with steel fill rod. Took it slow to get some heat in to the whole piece and went on with it. Guess only time will tell if it cracks or not. Think I've finally figured it out with the mild steel, though I cant quite get much color into it. Gotta work on that a bit yet... But anyways heres a couple...
What is that spot at 9 o'clock or so,,,, I get the same thing i think when I stop ...when I stop I hold the torch their for post purge,,,,
Freakin amazin.....I will try that ....how did you know that I do come straight up with my hand and foot...?
You betcha, one of those things you learn as you go. It's pretty easy to see in a pic, in that one(if I had to guess) he went back and added the rod to fill the crater and jumped off it quick. Some guys twirl the tungsten out of the puddle as the ease off, if at all possible I like to ease off and break the arc to the side.
Heres some samples of my doings. I usually work with stainless/ duplex materials. These are Duplex, Stainless, And Mild Steels using a Miller Syncro 250 Mild Steel Duplex (2209) Magnetic Stainless 316 Stainless And jdustu, your stuff is amazing, I would be interested in watching some videos of you working the torch if you ever get the opportunity...
The Jalopy Journal
