- image003.jpg (45.92 KiB) Viewed 1886 times
slowly learning, getting better.
- Radishfever
-
Guide
-
Posts:
-
Joined:Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:43 pm
-
Location:Cape Cod, MA
When you weld end caps on stainless do you have to back purge?
Looks like a good bead from a novice perspective by the way[emoji106]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Looks like a good bead from a novice perspective by the way[emoji106]
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Learning is the best part of life and the most painful
Pretty nice work there, Tweake!
I’ve made and used a few simple purge jigs from ally angle stock to fit inside and to fit outside corners on stainless. At times I prefer to run the bead in the inside as it makes finishing the outside radius a bit easier. You always get full penetration anyway.but polishing down that extra filler is tedious and puts more heat into the sheet material.
I did a countertop project a few months back with those two jigs, purging, and polishing. They came up damn near flawless with the inside technique (used 0.035 wire to avoid interior buildup) and got a very tight fit-up.
I’ve made and used a few simple purge jigs from ally angle stock to fit inside and to fit outside corners on stainless. At times I prefer to run the bead in the inside as it makes finishing the outside radius a bit easier. You always get full penetration anyway.but polishing down that extra filler is tedious and puts more heat into the sheet material.
I did a countertop project a few months back with those two jigs, purging, and polishing. They came up damn near flawless with the inside technique (used 0.035 wire to avoid interior buildup) and got a very tight fit-up.
thanks for the nice comments. 
however keep in mind this is IG style, ie its the best weld of the day.
its autonomous weld with good fit up. that allowed the use of both hands. but in saying that the project is bigger than my tiny table so very little room to rest on, its a big old 26 torch. 1/16th tungsten ground to a very fine point (which really helps a lot) and using pulse (which helps in lowering heat). unfortunately my machine will not run pulse and the pedal at the same time. so having to use the torch switch which is molded into the torch and way back from where i like to grip, hence two hands makes it so much easier.
unfortunately my bandsaw has suddenly decided to cut all over the place, so some of the cuts are way out, but i only have one more piece to cut so i'll do that with good old hacksaw. it also means the fit up is not good on some of it and i have to fill gaps. those welds are not pretty.
none of this is actually back purged.
yeah i know, but gas is expensive. i only have a small tank and i have to run into the city to get more and purging chews loads of gas.
i checked on the machines that this bracket is going to mount onto and they are not back purged anyway.
btw the trained rat measured on the wrong side and ended up being 2' out. so i have a few packers to weld in.
however keep in mind this is IG style, ie its the best weld of the day.
its autonomous weld with good fit up. that allowed the use of both hands. but in saying that the project is bigger than my tiny table so very little room to rest on, its a big old 26 torch. 1/16th tungsten ground to a very fine point (which really helps a lot) and using pulse (which helps in lowering heat). unfortunately my machine will not run pulse and the pedal at the same time. so having to use the torch switch which is molded into the torch and way back from where i like to grip, hence two hands makes it so much easier.
unfortunately my bandsaw has suddenly decided to cut all over the place, so some of the cuts are way out, but i only have one more piece to cut so i'll do that with good old hacksaw. it also means the fit up is not good on some of it and i have to fill gaps. those welds are not pretty.
none of this is actually back purged.
yeah i know, but gas is expensive. i only have a small tank and i have to run into the city to get more and purging chews loads of gas.
i checked on the machines that this bracket is going to mount onto and they are not back purged anyway.
btw the trained rat measured on the wrong side and ended up being 2' out. so i have a few packers to weld in.
tweak it until it breaks
- Radishfever
-
Guide
-
Posts:
-
Joined:Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:43 pm
-
Location:Cape Cod, MA
It doesn't bother me that your trying to save gas. I ended up getting a dual flow meter because I thought it might come in handy to use back purging stainless on some smaller projects around the homestead. But I'm a total green horn and have only welded carbon steel. You are much advanced than me.
Argon around these parts is $85 for 125cf
South of Boston, MA
Argon around these parts is $85 for 125cf
South of Boston, MA
Learning is the best part of life and the most painful
i assume your 125cf is quite a tall bottle (just going by google). my one here is half the height and cost 2.5x as much.Radishfever wrote:It doesn't bother me that your trying to save gas. I ended up getting a dual flow meter because I thought it might come in handy to use back purging stainless on some smaller projects around the homestead. But I'm a total green horn and have only welded carbon steel. You are much advanced than me.
Argon around these parts is $85 for 125cf
South of Boston, MA
i did about 6-7 welds with purge on 1.5" and 2" tube fittings and that used half a tank.
dual gauges comes in handy even if its just hooking the mig to the tig gas bottle.
i would not say more advanced, my experience is over a wide range of materials and processes which has the big downside of not getting enough practise on any one of them. by sticking to one material or process you gain a lot more experience and skill, so your probably better than me.
tweak it until it breaks
- Radishfever
-
Guide
-
Posts:
-
Joined:Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:43 pm
-
Location:Cape Cod, MA
My 125cf cylinder is 7” diameter and 42” tall to the neck area.
Sorry to hear your argon is so expensive.
My welding experience is limited to about a dozen projects. Walk behind mower deck restore, metal-lumber rack that attaches to bike rack on car, some brackets to mount fans around a compressor, an extension onto a portable cement mixer a few shop tools and small stuff.
Most of that was with self shielded flux core. Which funny enough I actually got to like it. Except it’s messy as all hell. After one year of that I got a tig machine. Only had it two weeks and very excited to have that option in my shop. I’m not making anything anybody can get hurt from if I goof. Mostly it will be used for practical household stuff.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sorry to hear your argon is so expensive.
My welding experience is limited to about a dozen projects. Walk behind mower deck restore, metal-lumber rack that attaches to bike rack on car, some brackets to mount fans around a compressor, an extension onto a portable cement mixer a few shop tools and small stuff.
Most of that was with self shielded flux core. Which funny enough I actually got to like it. Except it’s messy as all hell. After one year of that I got a tig machine. Only had it two weeks and very excited to have that option in my shop. I’m not making anything anybody can get hurt from if I goof. Mostly it will be used for practical household stuff.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Learning is the best part of life and the most painful
my cyinder is about 7" dia and 21" tall, so roughly half the size.Radishfever wrote:My 125cf cylinder is 7” diameter and 42” tall to the neck area.
Sorry to hear your argon is so expensive.
My welding experience is limited to about a dozen projects. Walk behind mower deck restore, metal-lumber rack that attaches to bike rack on car, some brackets to mount fans around a compressor, an extension onto a portable cement mixer a few shop tools and small stuff.
Most of that was with self shielded flux core. Which funny enough I actually got to like it. Except it’s messy as all hell. After one year of that I got a tig machine. Only had it two weeks and very excited to have that option in my shop. I’m not making anything anybody can get hurt from if I goof. Mostly it will be used for practical household stuff.
NZ is kinda expensive, which is why i get gear in from the USA. support jody and get cheaper gear, win-win
tweak it until it breaks
- Radishfever
-
Guide
-
Posts:
-
Joined:Wed Aug 21, 2019 5:43 pm
-
Location:Cape Cod, MA
Yep,
First thing I ordered after my machine and cylinder was a double pack Tig Finger. Ordered it through Amazon but it said it was the real product and the review comments seemed to suggest that also.
Have made a bunch of purchases this last year on tooling for working metal in my mostly wood shop/mechanic shop/garage
Ended up getting some great gear from the smaller manufactures like Certi-Flat, SWAG Offroad, Rogue Fabrication and many others. Top quality gear at affordable prices.
Here are a few pictures of the rack I built for the top of our bicycle rack. It's made from carbon steel and while making this I wished I had the tig welder. This project was when I realized just how bad I wanted to be able to weld clean. Also figured it would be much easier working with small pieces like welding small rod together.
I put a small 2' step ladder behind the driver and passenger seat. Then the lift gate stays open and material like pipe or lumber can sit on the ladder in the car and the top of the bike rack on the outside. I have carried 8/10' ---1 1/4" schedule 40 pipe over thirty miles with no problem using this rack. The lift gate gets tied to the rack also.
My welds are those of a total amateur. I already recognize this and am working towards improving. This is a comment for any haters.
First thing I ordered after my machine and cylinder was a double pack Tig Finger. Ordered it through Amazon but it said it was the real product and the review comments seemed to suggest that also.
Have made a bunch of purchases this last year on tooling for working metal in my mostly wood shop/mechanic shop/garage
Ended up getting some great gear from the smaller manufactures like Certi-Flat, SWAG Offroad, Rogue Fabrication and many others. Top quality gear at affordable prices.
Here are a few pictures of the rack I built for the top of our bicycle rack. It's made from carbon steel and while making this I wished I had the tig welder. This project was when I realized just how bad I wanted to be able to weld clean. Also figured it would be much easier working with small pieces like welding small rod together.
I put a small 2' step ladder behind the driver and passenger seat. Then the lift gate stays open and material like pipe or lumber can sit on the ladder in the car and the top of the bike rack on the outside. I have carried 8/10' ---1 1/4" schedule 40 pipe over thirty miles with no problem using this rack. The lift gate gets tied to the rack also.
My welds are those of a total amateur. I already recognize this and am working towards improving. This is a comment for any haters.
- Attachments
-
- Rack.jpg (87.36 KiB) Viewed 1750 times
-
- Bike Rack Modification.jpg (73.02 KiB) Viewed 1780 times
-
- Bike Rack Modification-3.jpg (76.73 KiB) Viewed 1780 times
Last edited by Radishfever on Thu Sep 05, 2019 11:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Learning is the best part of life and the most painful
i'm being demoted to half trained rat.
found the bracket i made didn't fit, tho good thing i took it in to test it before finishing it.
also found i managed to cut the 350mm pieces to 320mm, both of them, which means the shelf part is to short.
so i've run home with my tail between my legs.
the shelf is not a big issue but now have cut the bracket apart and tacked it in hopefully the right place.
now to test.
found the bracket i made didn't fit, tho good thing i took it in to test it before finishing it.
also found i managed to cut the 350mm pieces to 320mm, both of them, which means the shelf part is to short.
so i've run home with my tail between my legs.
the shelf is not a big issue but now have cut the bracket apart and tacked it in hopefully the right place.
now to test.
tweak it until it breaks
VA-Sawyer wrote:So, the rat can weld, just can't measure.
thats the trouble its in inches !
speaking of which, its kinda nice when utube vids include imperial and metric measurements. real handy for us over the sea.
tweak it until it breaks
Yep, we started to make the move to metric system about 45 years ago in this country. They put up road signs that had distances in miles and Kilometers. I guess it confused too many folks, because after a few years, the signs just had miles and the move to metric was dropped.
I spent my later teenage years living in Germany while my dad was stationed there. I have no problem thinking in either system.
Were you guys always metric? If not, when and how was the changeover done?
I spent my later teenage years living in Germany while my dad was stationed there. I have no problem thinking in either system.
Were you guys always metric? If not, when and how was the changeover done?
No sense dying with unused welding rod, so light 'em up!
VA-Sawyer wrote:Yep, we started to make the move to metric system about 45 years ago in this country. They put up road signs that had distances in miles and Kilometers. I guess it confused too many folks, because after a few years, the signs just had miles and the move to metric was dropped.
I spent my later teenage years living in Germany while my dad was stationed there. I have no problem thinking in either system.
Were you guys always metric? If not, when and how was the changeover done?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metricati ... ew_Zealand
ok i had to look that up.
however many things still use imperial as common use but for legal reasons also have to metric sizes.
i've worked at a sawmill and building so using inches is still common use, tho not fractions of inches.
a lot of old cars around so still have imperial spanners etc.
tweak it until it breaks
Sounds like what Canadian farmers have to deal with. Everything is 50/50 metric/imp. Cars are and trucks, speed limits are km, but farming equipment is all miles. Obviously you can switch it with a button now but al the equipment is still designed for certain mphs being mostly from the states. Anything liquid is bought in litres, applied in gals/acre..the grain elevators use kgs, the American potato buyers use lbs or hundredweights....etc etc
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I found that link to be an interesting read. I wished we had continued with the conversion. I spent a little time in a machine shop back then, and can remember everyone was against it. None of the machines had metric scales. All measuring tools were in inches only, etc. I think we might be the last holdout using Imperial.
No sense dying with unused welding rod, so light 'em up!
These days it's a pretty moot point anyway.
Imperial has been officially (re)defined to be based on metric and the US (government) is in this way 'metric', so for instance an inch is now officially 25.4 mm and looking at various US goods the use of fractions (apart from wrenches) seems to be getting less and less in favor of decimal point notation. The use of fractions was the biggest difference IMHO but no machinist these days works in 123/256th-of-an-inch and such
Any US company doing business outside the US is already making/doing pretty much everything in metric (or more precisely 'SI units') and just making sure some packaging size fits with the expectations of the different world-customers. So a can of soda in the US is made and labeled as the 'well known' to US customers 12 fl. oz while in the rest of the world it's usually plain-ole-330ml.
In the ends it's much more cost efficient for companies to be able to buy and sell parts with partners all over the world in the same dimension 'language'.
In reality the current imperial system in the US is not much more than metric-with-a-conversion-factor underneath.
Does it matter? Nah... Is it interesting or can it be annoying? Sure! Will it ever publicly be switched over/recalculated in the US? Unlikely unless there's some major economic advantage that overrules any emotional attachment to the 'old system' and makes the significant cost of re-doing a whole boat-load of infrastructure markings viable.
Bye, Arno.
Imperial has been officially (re)defined to be based on metric and the US (government) is in this way 'metric', so for instance an inch is now officially 25.4 mm and looking at various US goods the use of fractions (apart from wrenches) seems to be getting less and less in favor of decimal point notation. The use of fractions was the biggest difference IMHO but no machinist these days works in 123/256th-of-an-inch and such
Any US company doing business outside the US is already making/doing pretty much everything in metric (or more precisely 'SI units') and just making sure some packaging size fits with the expectations of the different world-customers. So a can of soda in the US is made and labeled as the 'well known' to US customers 12 fl. oz while in the rest of the world it's usually plain-ole-330ml.
In the ends it's much more cost efficient for companies to be able to buy and sell parts with partners all over the world in the same dimension 'language'.
In reality the current imperial system in the US is not much more than metric-with-a-conversion-factor underneath.
Does it matter? Nah... Is it interesting or can it be annoying? Sure! Will it ever publicly be switched over/recalculated in the US? Unlikely unless there's some major economic advantage that overrules any emotional attachment to the 'old system' and makes the significant cost of re-doing a whole boat-load of infrastructure markings viable.
Bye, Arno.