Wicked!

Johnny449, I have nowhere near the experience of cj737 or the other super-experienced aluminum members on this forum (and I'm sure they will respond to your questions), but I have the following to offer: a. I finally settled on a fairly "blunt" tungsten. I use super a sharp grind for steel...

Hey Arno, Thanks a lot for your input. Certainly a fascinating subject. I did a little research myself and found a pretty interesting and scientific approach to it. It was put together by a German engineer. Lots of theory and a bunch of practical. Here's a link in case anyone is interested: https://...

Fair enough.

Question: Does clamping only minimize the distortion effect rather than nullify it? Even though I clamped it to my larger piece of angle iron dead straight and allowed it to air-cool, it still came out warped.

Jon

From a larger sheet, I plasma cut two pieces of 11ga diamond plate both 1-1/2" x 48". I'm replacing some missing stair nosing on a steel staircase. So far so good, even though the cuts were a little wavy. I flap-disced all the edges to get rid of the roughness. It was at that point that I ...

MIke and bap - Thanks for the input. As it isn't a critical item, I'm going to go with what I have to hand, namely that 70S-6. I think I'll preheat with propane or MAPP gas. Again, that's what I can get my hands on on short notice so it will have to do. When you say peening, what exactly is my proce...

I'm going to be welding some new cast iron to mild steel. I have 70S-6 available to me as well as R60. I also have some stainless steel rod (308L). I'm going to TIG weld it. Should I pre-heat? Weld a few inches and let it cool? Dunk it in a bucket of water as soon as I finish welding? What should I ...

LOL!

Hey - is there a prize for the 40,000th post on this particular forum???

I think we're 3 or 4 away...

Jon

Olivero, Thanks a lot. Here are some details: I weld with a fairly old Lincoln PT185. It's a transformer-based machine. I weld, pretty much always, with a blue 3/32" tungsten. I grind sharp for metal and fairly blunt for AL. Seems to work for me. Similarly, I weld always with pure Ar no matter ...

Olivero - Yeah, it's holding. Probably for ever. Thanks for your pointers though. Very helpful. One day. I'll post a weld that's strong AND good to look at!

Until then -

Jon

Is it correct that if my steel is still red-hot when I finish my bead that I've traveled too slow? Meaning most of the bead is still red-hot, not just the tag end where I ended off? And will steel that has gotten red-hot and moved out of the Argon cloud go dull? Is that a symptom of overheating stee...

Good advice, cj.

THKS again!

Jon

Some excellent points, I must say. I would have never guessed - but that's why I posted. Angle of torch and too slow with too much filler are both right, now that I think about it. I wasn't sliding my hand along the table. I was attempting to move the torch with my fingers and yes - the angle kept s...

Man - I've never seen a tungsten ground like that! Looks awesome. Are you welding steel with that or aluminum? And what are your thoughts on different angles for different materials?

I'm going to grind myself a tungsten like that and see how it goes...

Jon

Thought so... Seems that this rule works on aluminum as well. I was having a similar problem with those aluminum frames that I've been welding. I actually ran out of 3/32" rod and all I had left was 1/16". I switched - instant difference, no sticking in the puddle and plenty of rod to get ...

Hey - can I suggest that you "blunt" your tungsten a little. From my experience a sharp grind like that is good for steel, stainless, etc. When I get to aluminum I make the tungsten quite blunt and it seems to help me direct the heat better. I think cj737 suggested this and it worked for m...

Please see photo attached. Why does the bead look "stretched" toward the left of the weld? It seems to even out and start to look like something normal on the very right, even though this too could use some work. What's up with the "stretch"? It's 1/8" steel, 3/32" lant...

I'm welding some 1/8" steel with 3/32" lanth electrodes and 3/32" 70S-6 rod. I'm running a PT 185 transformer based machine at 160Amps max and 15-20CFH pure Argon. I'm having some trouble with my rod sticking in the puddle. From my perspective behind the hood, the puddle looks plenty ...

tG - Thanks. That helps. Funny - I get better "mole hills" (I like that, I'll take it!) when I'm fillet welding than when I'm butt welding. And you're right, a slight change in technique gets me a better weld profile. And steel, for me, is so damn sticky. Way stickier than aluminum. With s...

I've noticed when TIG welding aluminum that my beads are usually proud, meaning, they sit higher than the base metal. I TIG welded some mild steel yesterday, 1/8" thick with 70S-6 and no matter how much rod I applied, the welds came out flush with the surface. It was a good bead, that is it loo...

If the hole that you're filling is in a tube and there's no place for the heated gas/air in that tube to escape, remember to drill a small hole to release pressure or that weld might just blow out. Happened to me just yesterday which is why I mention it...

Jon

You sound a bit like I did a couple of years ago. Here's a few things that I've learned the hard way that might help you: 1. I don't know how big your practice pieces are. But if they're small (like 4" x 4") and you're pounding them non-stop with your torch then they're going to overheat. ...

LOL!

Yeah - it was a loose connection to the clamp itself.

Man, that thing got hot!