Welding STICKY

[Windsor396]

This is probably the most informative thread I have ever read (not all). I am going to have to buy the welders bible and a new welder. When I get home from this hell hole....
Thanks to all

[TexasTwins]

Iraq isn't that bad. I'm dreading another fucking year in garrison

[Windsor396]

at least in garrison I can drink and go whereever I want without having the approval of a very disfunctional Security Force and GOVT..

I am BORED!!!!!

[TexasTwins]

Lots of welding videos on youtube, from what I saw when tig welding you make a puddle and push it with the rod to make the stack of times look.

[SC-G2715]

Afternoon all, love the welding subject and have gotten alot of info reading the other threads so maybe my .02
 will give some body a little help. Lets go to cast iron con ventional wisdom is that you have 2 methods, heat the part or do it slowly..
 whatever that means..LOL I recently welded a flange on a cast slant 6 manifold  that I used the heat it up method...
 this in it self is a chore , lotta guys using barb -qs ..Sorry that aint hot enough for a flange that is going to heat cycle many times.
 you need at least 700 f  ...and you need to "candle it" meaning reheat and allow to cool, some and reheat..We all heard that part tho this is where the easy hot rod mentality comes in..propane weed burner , cheap and controlable with HUGE area...
 Fact ..cast is garbage material but if its thick it does a lot of good things for us..You will never know what kinda alloys it has
 so learn from it..I learned this from the guys that build the turn of the century PUTT PUTT flywheel motors after all they have to repair everything and this method works...stay away from high tech nickel stuff sorry guys but its a differant compisition and will
NOT expand and contract @ the same rate causing cracks..so lets use something close to the cast iron, makes sense right?
 I have heated to 900f and mig welded while using RUSTY bailing wire as an add filler dozens of time with 95 pecent success.
 yeah the trick is because the part is very hot you cant rest your hand on it to steady the torch handle and if it needs mulitple passes
 you need to reheat and if you wishh to beautify the welds after, reheat and crank up the tig with a .125 red tungsten and
use a cresent shape pass..beware tho the tig will allow it to COOL to fast while you are reflowing those MIg welds so Stop and reheat cant get it TOO hot with the weed burner..cooling is in a step manner reheat ,give a few, reheat (slowly tapering off the heat) Coming down to 300 is the critical part then just wrap it in welding blanket or thick leather or NOW the BB-Q
 it would take 20- 30 minutes after welding to get to this temp maybe reheat entire part 6-8 times until finally 300 f...
 Oh straight argon DC neg ..cast tries to PUSH away the wire filler out of the gun because the cast has ALOT of crushed CHrysler Imperials trying to escape thats were the bailing wire helps to fill the craters just lay it donw and mow over it with the MIG..
 use the on and off trigger method..burn a big spot with the torch stationary let off move alittle burn again keeping th trigger time consistant will make it more pleasing to the eye..we are talking USED Part here , USED exaust manifold..new parts would be differant
 Just hoping to remind guys that Micheangelo JUST had a hammer and chisel...its you spirit and inventiveness that make yours
  Special!...D.Minder

                                             

[daniel6718]

good read

[97tntcobra]

im new to tigging so take it easy on my lol! i have been messing with aluminum and can lay a pretty good bead down but when i try to tig some aluminum pipe together it just pushes the edges away from each other and wont let me get a bead started . What am i doing wrong?

[Supe]

Clean the tube profusely with a stainless steel wire brush, including the edges to be butted up.  Wipe down with acetone.  Hold a tighter arc, I can almost guarantee that your long arcing it (most common beginner mistake).  If they still want to push apart, touch the filler to the gap, and bump the amps up with the pedal so the filler wets out.  Once that initial tack is there, it's easier to work from.

[97tntcobra]

Clean the tube profusely with a stainless steel wire brush, including the edges to be butted up.  Wipe down with acetone.  Hold a tighter arc, I can almost guarantee that your long arcing it (most common beginner mistake).  If they still want to push apart, touch the filler to the gap, and bump the amps up with the pedal so the filler wets out.  Once that initial tack is there, it's easier to work from.

thank you. i dont think im cleaning good enough! what size electrode and filler rod to get that nice wide aluminum bead on aluminum pipe?

[Supe]

Always use the smallest tungsten and filler that you can get away with.  1/16 doesn't always hold up as well on AC, so you may need to try 3/32 tungsten and 1/16 filler. 

[RealQuick]

What are you guys doing to make your welds look rainbowish with color (on stainless material). I am using 304SS with 308L and the beads look just like I am welding mild steel?

[SpoolinLX]

the "rainbow" color has to do with the heat of the weld,  Most likely you are running way to hot.  Stainless is very picky.

[Ironworker]

Yeah, He stated it goldish colors is on the hot side

[RealQuick]

Tried 35-40Amps... still silverish welds.

[SpoolinLX]

Gasflow??  there are far better tig welders on here than me maybe they will chime in. 

[Bent6]

the "rainbow" color has to do with the heat of the weld,  Most likely you are running way to hot.  Stainless is very picky.

The rainbow color is a reaction caused by atmosphere getting to the weld or heat effected zone. He may be getting the metal too hot creating a HAZ larger than the shielding gas can cover. A gas lens goes a long way towards minimizing color change in the HAZ on stainless welds. Sometimes trailering gas is used to limit discoloration. Stainless welds can be made with little discoloration. I'd say any discoloration of the bead of the bead means gas coverage needs to be addressed. A little discoloration in the HAZ is normal even with a gas lens, but it's much less than with a conventional collet body.

[Supe]

Tried 35-40Amps... still silverish welds.

You WANT silverish welds.  That's the indicator that you've got adequate gas coverage for the heat and travel speed being used. 

[dug]

When welding aluminum tubing (16ga) with my tig-do I want to bevel the edges on both pipes or would you just but them up flush with no bevel?

[10secgoal]

Nah, I don't butt.

[dug]

so how much of a bevel do you put on your tube then? like a 1/4" back from the edge? 1/8"?

[10secgoal]

Sorry, meant I don't on aluminum for butting.
Put them flush, no butt. Easier to get the tack down with AL also.

[dug]

Ok gotcha. yeah I was thinking it would be easier for welding purposes but I thought maybe beveling would allow for more penetration? I'll try it un-beveled though.

[10secgoal]

Not really needed on something that thin.

[dug]

alright thanks for the info. I tried welding some of that 16ga aluminum pipe and it looked like dogshit. It looked better a couple weeks ago before I read some more tips. It didnt want to really lay a defined bead, they call just kinda blobbed together for some reason. I had it real clean, the gas at 12CFH, the tip was at a point more or less so it wasnt all balled. I've heard you can do it both ways, would it be easier if the tip was balled up on the electrode?

[10secgoal]

Yeah, you can do it both ways. It balls back because of the amount of heat in the tungsten. Lowering your balance (more cleaning) will do this, it puts more heat in the tungsten also. High heat with small tungsten, same thing. The bigger the ball, the less accurate the arc will be. Shouldn't really need less than 70 on balance to be enough cleaning. Try 70-75 amps or so, and you will have to about floor it to tack it. I use 1/16 tungsten, 3/32 rod on that stuff. 3/32 tungsten will also work.