tig welding an old mitutoyo caliper
Posted: Tue Apr 15, 2014 11:17 pm
hi guys, wanted to share a little job i did today for a friend. i`m sure it`s a no brainer for experienced tig welders but as you may know i am relatively new to tig (not to welding)...
sorry i don`t post much and mainly lurk here, but my job involves much non-exciting repetitive welding (mostly stick) and until i have my shop running somewhat boring is the order of the day...
so... a machinist friend of mine came with an old mitutoyo caliper (was his grandfather`s) that he dropped into his shop concrete floor and snapped one of the "inside" jaws, asking if i could weld a piece of stainless (the broken bit wasn`t found).
i told him i haven`t done this before and i couldn`t guarantee him the success of the weld, blah blah, because i was afraid to ruin something with emotional value but he said it was his favorite and wanted repaired.
in the body of the caliper says "stainless hardened", checked and is non magnetic, but it is so light, i really don`t have a clue if calipers are minimal castings or machined forms and the "hardened" part had me wondering but well, my friend said try it anyways and so i did.
tig welded with 308L, 1.6 rod, 1.6 tungsten (sharp), dc with my very basic machine, beveled the piece and the caliper, tacked with 20 amps, welded at maybe 35 amps both sides. in order not to get oxides on the bead once i flipped the part to weld the other side, i grabbed a piece of hot rolled steel that had a 20mm hole in it, taped the bottom of the hole and shot several times the hole with argon hoping to fill it and remove oxigen. it worked ok. i handed the caliper yesterday to my friend and he said he would shape and adjust the jaw to get accurate readings. i will come back to his shop in a week or two and if the caliper is ready i`ll post some pics
note: as somebody may remember from earlier posts i shoot with my crappy phone, well this time "he" decided to put himself in black and white mode and i`m pissed as hell you can`t see the beautiful colors of the stainless weld i got... i`m dedicating every $ to my shop and a camera is not on the list... yet
cheers.
pete
sorry i don`t post much and mainly lurk here, but my job involves much non-exciting repetitive welding (mostly stick) and until i have my shop running somewhat boring is the order of the day...
so... a machinist friend of mine came with an old mitutoyo caliper (was his grandfather`s) that he dropped into his shop concrete floor and snapped one of the "inside" jaws, asking if i could weld a piece of stainless (the broken bit wasn`t found).
i told him i haven`t done this before and i couldn`t guarantee him the success of the weld, blah blah, because i was afraid to ruin something with emotional value but he said it was his favorite and wanted repaired.
in the body of the caliper says "stainless hardened", checked and is non magnetic, but it is so light, i really don`t have a clue if calipers are minimal castings or machined forms and the "hardened" part had me wondering but well, my friend said try it anyways and so i did.
tig welded with 308L, 1.6 rod, 1.6 tungsten (sharp), dc with my very basic machine, beveled the piece and the caliper, tacked with 20 amps, welded at maybe 35 amps both sides. in order not to get oxides on the bead once i flipped the part to weld the other side, i grabbed a piece of hot rolled steel that had a 20mm hole in it, taped the bottom of the hole and shot several times the hole with argon hoping to fill it and remove oxigen. it worked ok. i handed the caliper yesterday to my friend and he said he would shape and adjust the jaw to get accurate readings. i will come back to his shop in a week or two and if the caliper is ready i`ll post some pics
note: as somebody may remember from earlier posts i shoot with my crappy phone, well this time "he" decided to put himself in black and white mode and i`m pissed as hell you can`t see the beautiful colors of the stainless weld i got... i`m dedicating every $ to my shop and a camera is not on the list... yet
cheers.
pete