Thanks, Jeff2016. For me, titanium is the best. Problem is that the coupons/scraps are just too expensive for much practice/learning. So, next best is aluminum, and that's what I use the most. .065 is much less forgiving than .125, but the .065 is free at school- so that's what I use the most. Latel...

Still trying to have fun with welding.

First try weaving a butt weld.



First try weaving a butt braze.

Still practicing hands & foot pedal control.



Slowly getting better.

Started messing around with the frequency control. Need more practice to figure it out. Been mostly trying to lay beads with consistency. Slowly improving. Still have to try fun stuff, once in a while. First try weaving a weld. Need to tighten up the dimes, they're hardly overlapping. The double and...

Haven't had much cool stuff to post lately. Trying to figure out some better technique. Did some padding on aluminum sheets last night. The sheets are 1.5" x 6" and I covered at least 7 sheets. I was looking at the beads at the end of the night, and realized I welded over 25 feet of alumin...

Thanks, cj. Will definitely take your advice. Should mention, I was just using the purge fixture to hold the coupons, not actually purging with argon. I think the reason the instructors are big on penetration is because most students are focused on certification. I guess it takes a strong weld to pa...

Getting back to basics. Started doing some aluminum butt welds, focusing on penetration. Have a long way to go, but improving slowly. Was able to go non-stop, start to finish, on about half the beads- that's new. Still have to stop and re-start sometimes to adjust my torch hand, or the filler rod. G...

Heated the blade to that bright salmon color with a rosebud tip, and quenched in oil. Not sure what type of oil was in the quench tank, but it was very light and clean, like vegetable oil. https://i.postimg.cc/B6ykXycG/20220919-192336-0.jpg File skates over the blade, and makes a nice high-pitched s...

Yeah, you're right. I was practicing TIG brazing beads for a while, but lost some technique when I had almost a month off. When my beads on this look janky, I've been using the TIG torch like am O/A torch. Been running the torch a second time over the beads and smoothing out the bronze. Thus, no dim...

Dug out a washer and bolt from my scraps for the skull crusher. Not a traditional skull crusher, but cool for my prison shank style. https://i.postimg.cc/Yq54G1SG/20220914-142846.jpg Came out okay, but I realized it's too long, and could get stuck in a zombie skull. :mrgreen: https://i.postimg.cc/qv...

Yeah. When I lower the shield, I turn the rechargeable light on, and the fan off. Before I raise the shield, light goes off and fan goes on. Light is awesome, but don't look at it without protection. It's super bright! Husky 1500 Lumen LED Rechargeable. Highly recommend it. https://i.postimg.cc/yNC7...

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. Had a 2 week break between quarters at school. Didn't even touch my home torch over the school break. This is the fan I've been using. Works great! https://i.postimg.cc/0N79cwz0/ryobi-jobsite-fans-pcf02kn-64-600.jpg New semester started, but only had 2 classes whe...

Thanks, tweake. Will post some of the fuel tank drawings. Been around 100F degrees every day. By the time I get to school, I'm too hot to weld. Takes me over an hour to cool down. Messed around with a sculpture for a while. Ended up grinding the harness struts too short, and started on new ones. Onl...

Thanks, tweake. The 2 metal sculptures are fun because I don't expect them to look good. I do expect to learn something about TIG brazing, though. Sometimes, when I light up on the tips of these little rods, they just disappear. Then, I have to bridge the gap with bronze filler, which is way more ch...

Burner frame for the hot air balloon, and a third hand which I simply hold with a vise-grip. I rest the magnetic cricket on the vise grip so the small piece being held is grounded. https://i.postimg.cc/sxV5R4jX/20220703-222211.jpg Made a jig to hold up the burner frame while I TIG braze the struts t...

If you look at the last pic of aluminum practice, there's no cleaning/brushing off the oxide layer. Takes longer than welding, so I was skipping it. Didn't realize how important it is. On tonight's aluminum, I scrubbed everything. Wasn't going for good looking beads. Just wanted to work on penetrati...

Time to start working on penetration. Ran a bunch of beads on 1/16 inch steel with the home torch. Cranked up the amps. Did these non-stop, so the metal got very hot. Got penetration, but have a way to go, before making good dime stacks on the back of the weld. Usually, if I get good penetration, th...

Some aluminum practice. Not cleaned up.

So with those rods I TIG brazed, I applied the bronze on top and let it flow all around and onto the bottom. I was curious if I could control the flow, so I did a little experiment. I placed a 1/16 inch rod onto an unwelded corner joint. Then applied silicone bronze to one side without letting it fl...

Thanks, tweake. Okay, so back to where I was. Trying out some brazing on very small parts. These ER70 rods measure 0.059". Tried to add enough silicone bronze filler to flow completely around the rods. Without melting or burning the rods, of course. Already posted a pic of the setup. https://i....

Been pretty quiet because I had some scary shit happen. As if the terminal cancer isn't enough. About 3 weeks ago I was waiting outside for class to start. The sky was overcast. No visible clouds, just solid gray sky around 5pm. I look up at the sky and my entire visual field, both eyes, is complete...

Problem with the Miller Dynasty 400 at school. Couldn't get over about 8cfh when on AC. No matter how much I open the argon valve. No problems with DC-. Instructor couldn't fix it. Had to go to a shitty booth. Hope I can figure out how to do a factory RESET by tomorrow night, so I can get back to my...

Tried brazing the 1/16" filler rods. One was okay. One got brittle, and broke after welding. Need more practice. Deleted the finished pics by accident, then lost the pieces, as well. https://i.postimg.cc/k5wbz1Lm/20220524-030903.jpg Now have ideas for 2 sculptures. Not sure if either one will w...

Really appreciate the support from you guys. Sure hope I can keep rolling for a while. Haven't been posting as much as I want to, either. Forgot to post my first attempt at welding titanium. Used 2mm grade 2 titanium, 1/16" grade 1 filler rod, 3/32 2% Lanth tungsten, 20 CFH argon, 1/2" cup...

cj737 wrote: ↑Thu May 19, 2022 8:24 am If you really want a challenge, weld some 0.023 MIG wire together with your TIG torch

Maybe I'll get there.

Both of this weeks challenges relate to the metal sculpture.

Realized I havent posted pics of my titanium practice. Will do, soon.