Beer Can Welding Challenge - Page 4

exnailpounder · Sun Jan 08, 2017 10:35 am

motox wrote:maybe drinking two cans of soda instead of two beers
might be some of the answer ....
nice looking weld.
craig

Maybe that's been my problem all along. Why didn't I think of that

C. Livingstone · Sun Jan 08, 2017 4:40 pm

I don't know..., that "partially produced with genetic engineering" is a little creepy seeming as an ingredient.

I mean, I suppose it's no secret that most corn (and therefor the syrup) produced in N.A. is GMO.

But as a homebrewer, I know that barley is not a GMO crop. But I'm doing sparkling hard apple cider lately.

But, maybe I'll find some cans somewhere and try the challenge before too long.

Keith_J · Sun Jan 08, 2017 5:32 pm

dunkster wrote:ok, I'll play

....since my sh!t is starting to look somewhat presentable.

You are too hard on yourself...that is some good looking weld considering the material.

I had plenty of ferrous GTAW time when I first tried aluminum. Followed the Dynasty recommended settings and right out of the gate it was great.

Mind you, no welding school. I learned SMAW and GMAW in high school plus self taught oxyfuel and 2 weeks of GTAW in college.

One of these days I will get around to the beverage can challenge.

exnailpounder · Sun Jan 08, 2017 8:10 pm

C. Livingstone wrote:I don't know..., that "partially produced with genetic engineering" is a little creepy seeming as an ingredient.

I mean, I suppose it's no secret that most corn (and therefor the syrup) produced in N.A. is GMO.

But as a homebrewer, I know that barley is not a GMO crop. But I'm doing sparkling hard apple cider lately.

But, maybe I'll find some cans somewhere and try the challenge before too long.

Go look on the side of the road. Cans everywhere. I seem to have noticed that a few regular contributers here have failed to show their entries into THE BEER CAN CHALLENGE. Being too busy isn't an excuse. Everyone finds time to come here and post...

Ryan_82 · Sun Jan 08, 2017 10:29 pm

exnailpounder wrote: Go look on the side of the road. Cans everywhere. I seem to have noticed that a few regular contributers here have failed to show their entries into THE BEER CAN CHALLENGE. Being too busy isn't an excuse. Everyone finds time to come here and post...

I'm not a regular yet but this looks interesting. I'll ask my teacher this week if I can give it a try. I'm not sure we have the right filler wire on hand.

Has anyone tried to just do a fusion weld?

:edit: Looks great dunkster!

C. Livingstone · Sun Jan 08, 2017 10:37 pm

No,

I'm not going to go looking along roadsides for beer cans to take this welding challenge with.

Besides, I'm still a new contributing forum member here.

You're going to have to wait till I get around to going and buying some pop or beer.

LtBadd · Sun Jan 08, 2017 10:52 pm

C. Livingstone wrote: buying some pop or beer.

pop? are you from the north?

MosquitoMoto · Sun Jan 08, 2017 10:58 pm

I've not welded anything fit to post up yet.

But I've welded plenty that I can recycle! Here is Australia we are paid 10 cents per empty can at recycling depots. I suffered some interesting looks from the recycling guy over the weekend as he sorted through some badly welded cans, and finally the question "Do you think I should count this as one can or two?"

Kym

Sun Jan 08, 2017 11:00 pm

Ryan_82 wrote: I'm not a regular yet but this looks interesting. I'll ask my teacher this week if I can give it a try. I'm not sure we have the right filler wire on hand.

Has anyone tried to just do a fusion weld?

:edit: Looks great dunkster!

One of the secrets to this, as I understand it, is to light up on the filler wire and wet it to the cans, otherwise most welders will just blow out the cans.

I'm one of the "regulars" referred to above. I've not attempted this one.

Steve S

AndersK · Mon Jan 09, 2017 3:58 am

exnailpounder wrote:I seem to have noticed that a few regular contributers here have failed to show their entries into THE BEER CAN CHALLENGE. Being too busy isn't an excuse.

I plea guilty to that charge.
To my defence I'm a good 30 hour flight away from my tools

Might give it a try, never did before.

exnailpounder · Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:36 am

I'm just joking with you guys. I am very slow with work right now and bored out of my mind so I thought I might take my frustration out on everyone

I know we all have better things to do.....well maybe you guys do but not me...dammit.

C. Livingstone · Mon Jan 09, 2017 12:32 pm

Yeah,

No sweat, exnailpounder.

Your fun prompting is motivational!

My retorts can be a little curt, but with some subtle sarcasm and dry humor mixed in, I think.

C. Livingstone · Mon Jan 09, 2017 12:36 pm

Yeah,

It's funny, I used to refer to everything as "a Coke", coming from the West Coast of North America.

Later I used the term "soda" a lot.

Now it seems to be "pop".

LtBadd wrote:
C. Livingstone wrote: buying some pop or beer.
pop? are you from the north?

LtBadd · Mon Jan 09, 2017 8:46 pm

C. Livingstone wrote:Yeah,

It's funny, I used to refer to everything as "a Coke", coming from the West Coast of North America.

Later I used the term "soda" a lot.

Now it seems to be "pop".

LtBadd wrote:
C. Livingstone wrote: buying some pop or beer.
pop? are you from the north?

Well I'm a yankee and moved to Texas and got teased about that, and other things...

motox · Tue Jan 10, 2017 7:27 am

Jeff
i'm going to use the same excuse i used for the razor blade weld.
i couldn't found 1/8" razor blades nor can i find beer cans made
out of .065 aluminum.
craig

GreinTime · Tue Jan 10, 2017 10:57 am

LtBadd wrote:
C. Livingstone wrote: buying some pop or beer.
pop? are you from the north?

It's pop. Get over it, like meow! It's also said creek (with a long E sound), and it's correctly spelled washed (and pronounced like that) while we're on the subject of colloquial misnomers and bad pronunciation!

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

sedanman · Tue Jan 10, 2017 11:03 am

Just undertook this endeavor today. Quite fun and frustrating at the same time. I am out of coupons but l am certain my neighbors will be able to supply all l could need. This looks better in person than it does on camera. This is one of the better results. Warts and all, right?

C. Livingstone · Tue Jan 10, 2017 11:14 am

Hey,

Not bad, Sedanman.

Yeah, I found a few beer cans last night and started dabbling with them, and it certainly was tricky, at least for me.

I'll probably go to the store today for some nice new cans and get back to this.

electrode · Tue Jan 10, 2017 11:39 am

LtBadd wrote:
Well I'm a yankee and moved to Texas and got teased about that, and other things...

I too, am a yankee and when I moved to Texas I called it soda and got teased because they called it pop.

Edit: My wife corrected me and she is the one from Texas. They called it "soda water".

C. Livingstone · Tue Jan 10, 2017 12:04 pm

Well,

What the heck do most Texans like to call it?

Soda-pop? Carbonated beverage? Ha, ha, ha...

electrode wrote:
LtBadd wrote:
Well I'm a yankee and moved to Texas and got teased about that, and other things...
I too, am a yankee and when I moved to Texas I called it soda and got teased because they called it pop.

dunkster · Tue Jan 10, 2017 7:13 pm

Steve, Craig, Keith and Ryan, thank you gents.

Thankfully this did not require pics from both sides of the can

. I am thoroughly convinced that the thickness varies in this area of the bottom as you go around it. Some places it just up and vaporizes away. Anyone else notice that?

Think this will be my new go to exercise for shaking the cobb webs off, being as I go so long without lighting up.

Rupes · Tue Jan 10, 2017 10:58 pm

I was experimenting with lighting up on flat bar and moving it over to the edge of 2 pieces of strip I had cut from a can, just stacked on one another.

I had a play with it. I could keep a low amp arc going provided I bumped the frequency way up and kept the arc gap around 1mm, once the arc got too wide the hf kicked in took a big bite out of the edge. Could just about get a fusion weld on the edge of the two strips though.

Rupes · Thu Jan 12, 2017 4:36 am

Ok... Excuse time ....

Lets see, well I only had 2 cans, and there is only so much ginger beer I can drink. All my real bear comes in bottles

Seriously though, what a pain in the arse this is. I did a root pass (looked shite), several fill passes for practice and to clean up the root pass (they looked shite too), then tried to clean it up again and ended up with this big dodgy cap which I did at about 100 amps and weaving side to side to cover the width of the beads below.

Really need to light up on the filler and get it to melt itself in. I ground the electrode to a point and put a flat on the end. Bumped the frequency way up hoping to tighten up the arc somewhat. I only have 2.4mm rod on hand, probably would have been better with 1.6mm as the 2.4mm takes a bit too much heat to wet in. Or simply practice a lot more.

Ryan_82 · Thu Jan 12, 2017 12:54 pm

Not bad Rupes. I like how you made it flush like a pipe weld. I'll probably do the same thing. I think I might give this a shot next week. I was too busy catching up on other stuff this one.

C. Livingstone · Thu Jan 12, 2017 1:09 pm

Yeah,

I bought an 8-pack of small, 7.5oz Coke cans, since I envisioned myself having to drink the soda faster than I thought I might master the task.

But those little cans had a short lip where the red color was real close to the joint, which may have added to a contamination of the puddle problem. So I drank the first two, but then dumped the rest as I quickly burned through them and about 20 CF of Argon. Ha, ha, ha... But I did start to have a little luck with an "Advanced Pulse" or Mix/TIG feature on my machine, which I've otherwise never used for anything.

I might get back to this before too long, as a neighbor consumes a lot of soda and has plenty of normal, already empty cans.

Wheeeeeee, this welding stuff is fun!!!!!!!!!!

Rupes wrote:Ok... Excuse time ....

Lets see, well I only had 2 cans, and there is only so much ginger beer I can drink. All my real bear comes in bottles