New Toy

[kbnit]

After years of dragging torches around by hand, I succumbed to the lazy side. Here's my newest project. It's an 8 axis robot manipulating a 400 amp programmable cold wire feed Tig welder. Learning the programming was the definition of teaching an old dog new tricks, but darn, does she make some pretty welds.

So far, I've welded 1" plate, 3/8" plate, done some autogenous fusion on stainless, and I'm currently working out the parameters for welding .030" thick sheet in a butt joint. Getting the wire feed to handle .020" wire is proving quite the challenge. As my leadman said, it's like pushing cooked spaghetti in a straight line.

So far it's really working out, one of the jobs that used to take us 24 hours to complete is now done in less than 4.

[David R]

What a toy! Does it make dimes?

Looks like its more than I could handle.

David

[DSW]

An 8 axis robot manipulating a 400 amp programmable cold wire feed Tig welder is a project? Build me one if you have parts left over! Must be nice to have one for the home shop. Just the other day I was thinking..." boy I need to tig some 1" plate, wish I had a 400 amp roboitcally controlled tig machine in the garage" Now all you need to do is link it to the cnc plasma and watch soaps all day.

In all seiousness, neat toy, I'd love to see it run. I want your tool budget or even 2% of it.

[chopper5]

WOW ok im better now lets see the welds

[nosleepno]

Thats a cool toy.

Originally Posted by chopper5

WOW ok im better now lets see the welds

Thats what I was thinking

[rusty ripple]

i'll be impressed when i see it weld the Styrofoam cup to the set of allen wrenches across what appears to be an 8 inch gap.

[Mandau]

He... he... now pls supply us the link of the producer and the weld test... thanks

[kbnit]

Here's the welds. Still trying to make it do dimes, seems to want to make everything a mirror.

[Wildcat]

Holy crap that's a purdy weld.

[kbnit]

DSW - I've got a quicktime video of it running, but since my son is off in the Navy, I don't have anyone to show me how to link to it.....

Yeah, I know, I can program a robot, but I can't upload a video.......

[zapster]

Feel free to bring it to the next class..

...zap!

[DSW]

That's OK. The welds themselves so what it can do. Very nice.

[chopper5]

yea it can run a nice bead,but how is at fit up and coffee drinking

[kbnit]

Zap - Not sure I could get it in the car, pretty sure if I did, it would want to drive.

Chopper - Coffee makes it nervous. After I saw HAL in 2001 A Space Oddessy, I'm worried about making it nervous

It sucks at fitup, doesn't like it when the joints aren't where I told it they were. Good thing I've got the best fitup man in Arizona here, I'd be sunk without him.

[MoonRise]

Dang, that's a s-m-o-o-t-h weld bead!

Yeah, without a vision system or other 'smarts', the robot will dutifully do -exactly- what it was programmed to do. Even or when that doesn't make any sense, like if the seam or parts aren't exactly where it was told they were supposed to be.

No coffee for the robot, that leaves more for you. As long as the caffeine jitter doesn't make you double-type, it's OK. Not like when you have to actually HOLD the torch and the filler and dance the pedal at the same time, after 3 cups of liquid wake-up, eh?

[kbnit]

I've found that 3 or 4 cups of coffee, once the hand gets shakin', actually improves my weave.....trouble is getting the left hand to shake in sync with the right hand while I'm adding filler

[DSW]

I'm sure like most new guys on the job, after it's been there a while it will feel it can just sit there and do nothing. Probably like most guys, it will also not care how much you scream and yell at it, it will get back to work when it's darn well ready and not a moment before! With my luck it would want breaks for 30 weight, or damand higher voltage or it won't go back to work.

[chopper5]

Originally Posted by DSW

I'm sure like most new guys on the job, after it's been there a while it will feel it can just sit there and do nothing. Probably like most guys, it will also not care how much you scream and yell at it, it will get back to work when it's darn well ready and not a moment before! With my luck it would want breaks for 30 weight, or damand higher voltage or it won't go back to work.

and threaten to sue if you tighten its nuts

[Me!]

WOW!

Exactaly how do you show it the weld path, placement of work?
Can you "show it" the work location by moving the head?

[kbnit]

Me!

Since they figured that I had to use it, they made it really simple. There's a control pendant, and you steer the torch to where you want it to start. Then you tell it to turn on the torch. Then you move along the joint, teaching it points as you go. Same thing with points on an arc. When you get to the end, you hit the button that says to turn off the weld. Then you tell it to remember. It writes a program copying the movements you just made, and as long as you use tooling to put the part in the same place every time, the robot will move to those places and run the program you taught it.