Tig welding panel

More of an art than a science - discuss metalworking and welding here.



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 5:00 am
I too like to try to fusion weld my panels but its bloody hard, my unit is simple (like myself!!) and don't have a foot pedal, its just stop or go,
I would think that taking the time to get a tight panel fit and fusion welding would be quicker than grinding back the filler rod (and creating more heat into the panel) wouldn't it??
krem



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:36 pm
yes, that would be the most important item, fit would have to be perfectly tight, it can be done, you`d have to have some practice metal to set your amps and travel speed, ...you just don`t have the advantage of being able to back off the pedal if it gets to hot



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 11:35 am
Yes, fusion welding does require a good fit. Since I'm not an experienced welder I'm trying to find my best way of welding sheet metal, and did have a little exposure to oxy-acetylene welding years ago, so I tried it again with a little smith torch.

These are just some practice coupons with a perfectly straight edge for a good fit.
As you can see I got it too hot, so the weld sank, causing a cavity on the seam.


Image



And of course the bottom has a bead even though I didn't use a filler rod.


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I was able to plannish it and get it straightened back out.


Image



But the tig just has a lot less distortion, so I think I will stick to it and try to get the hang of welding at a much higher amperage and traveling at 2 feet per minute. No time for filler rod, so the seam has to be tight. The guy says that technique will produce very little distortion, and others have taken his suggestions and had similar results. Just not sure if my eyes are good enough and hands steady enough.



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 6:08 pm
make sure your tungsten is sharpened to a point , that will help pin point the heat , if you travel to fast, or to much heat, you will get the undercut appearance



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 6:30 pm
Yeah, I keep a sharp point, my problem is holding too far back and the eyes aren't what they used to be.



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PostPosted: Sun Feb 16, 2014 11:31 am
Im burning through, sinking weld, just try running bead results in a Hole when current is removed????? can be running a nice tiny dry bead let of foot control boom Hole.

Keep doing it Have to be very genital on foot control turned machine down more below 50 amps right at about 40-45 hard to tell with my machine turned down that low it doesn't have any gauges for Volts or Current but their is a kit available for them from miller may have to order them for my own sanity.

I will spend all day today runnin beads but I think I have the machine set up wrong. wish I had some one around that was a welder I would love to learn a lot more about it.

By the way discovered even when I don't touch the tip to the metal while welding if my current gets to hi it seams like Im melting my Tungston at low this low contaminating my Tungston and it doesnt weld good sharpen it up and all is ok again.

Im using 1/16 tungston 2% therorated # 5 cup # 4 cup helped, still hot burning

By the way Im using Chem sharp by Anchor to sharpen my Tungstun Works like Magic really like it dont have to mess with grinders and its fast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSSaJ-Ke7as
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 10:57 am
I went to the next size up Tungsten from 1/16 to 3/32? and a #5 Cup, Kept burning up the 1/16 stuff.
The Bigger Tungsten actually helped some not burning up the Tungsten as bad. I am having problems Keeping the tip down on the metal I keep picking it up to far I think thats when I'm burning up my Tungsten

The Chem Sharp works good, And Yes a clean sharp tip helps a great deal.

Im getting a lot of stuff built up on my Cup why? to hot? or is that a result of picking up the tip to hi?

Still playing with laying beads practicing I lay and run a bead with just parent metal all day no filler rod as soon as I lay filler rod tho I have all sorts of problems. so today Im gonna play run beads all day again.

By the way Im set at 15 for gas flow thats about right right? do I need to play with flow if I change the CUPS?
Dennis B.
A&P Mechanic, FCC General radio Telephone Operator
Line Maintenance A&P Mechanic and MOC Tech specialist.



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:11 pm
Doright, without seeing your set up or machine its sorta hard to make a suggestion, anyways you shouldn't be getting any crud on the cup at all, does your machine have a high freq start ? if not then you have to scratch start , if you touch the tungsten to the metal when welding it will contaminate it and you have to clean it and not just the tip but all the way up, and you can`t hold the tungsten to far away , just enough that your not touching the puddle also some machines don`t have a very low amp start, mine starts as low as 4 amps my old tig was 10 or more and make sure your on dc neg, on dc pos the current runs from your work piece to the tungsten and it will destroy it, 12-15 with pure argon for your gas, don`t use argon/co2 mix it needs to be a inert gas, a pure gas, the 3/32 is working better cause its use more amps to heat it and less going into the work... again without seeing your set up its hard to pin point your problems



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:17 pm
The gas lens helped me a lot Dennis, although I still have my problems with vision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pnvYszBfZg

I use .040 tungsten and see no reason for going bigger, its just more to take off when sharpening IMO. 040 is good to about 70 amps, and 1/16 is good to 100 amps and I know you are not welding sheet metal at over 100 amps. You may be burning too much off the tungsten while sharpening it in the chem sharp



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PostPosted: Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:41 pm
yeah ...try youtube for how to`s... basic tig...that way you can see what the basic set up looks like. if you don`t want to spend money on more tungsten, you can use a larger tungsten 1/16 or 3/32 you just have to make sure you put a LONG TAPER TO A POINT on it, 70 amps is pushing it with .040 [ more like 40-50 amps ] but since your not production welding you can get away with it
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