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Re: TIG Noob

Thanks! It was fun to be able to have an idea on a whim and put something together with stuff laying around that hopefully makes the event even more fun for the youth and kids.

Re: TIG Noob

Those look great and nice progression!

Re: TIG Noob

Finished in time for racing tonight.

Attachment 1731413

Re: TIG Noob

Finished a couple projects this last weekend. Got the shelter tucked into its space next to the chicken coop and greenhouse and got the roof on it as well, though I don't have a pic of that yet. Another project is getting drivetrain put together on the go kart. Need to mount the intermediary shaft with the CVT and sprocket. Any ideas how to make it adjustable for correct length for the CVT belt and the chain tension simultaneously? I think I'll make the motor mount hinge and the shaft mount hinge so I can get correct chain tension then get correct CVT belt length.
Attachment 1731374

Also made some pinewood derby - sorry, "pinecar derby" (since this is unsanctioned by BSA or whatever they're called now) - trophies out of some crap wrenches and other scrap laying around. I still need to write "1st Place Overall" on both then clear coat the walnut bases. It was a fun, quick project that our church youth group and primary kids will hopefully enjoy (only had time to make a 1st place trophy for each group). Sorry if this pic is rotated, or if you can see them at all with all the mess in the background .

Attachment 1731375

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by BD55

I can't figure out why some of my photos get rotated and some don't

I've brought this up before. If you use a phone (especially an iPhone) to take the pictures and the phone is held vertically, it will appear rotated 90* on this forum. Some software can't differentiate between portrait and landscape on phone pictures and default to landscape. Some webs hosts have plugins to correct for it, but not all. The funny thing is my cheap little website/blog has that plugin....lol

Re: TIG Noob

Finished up the welding portion. Now need to pull apart and paint and get some roofing panels.
Attachment 1730238
I can't figure out why some of my photos get rotated and some don't

Re: TIG Noob

Those welds will hold...no question!

Re: TIG Noob

This is what I'm trying to put together as a shelter. Got the three frames done and 4 out of 16 horizontal supports that will bolt the three frames together.
Attachment 1730076

4 of 16 horizontal supports - I'm hoping with each having two bolts on each end and using 16 of them there will be plenty of lateral rigidity.
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Feeling a little more confident with my welding. I think I'm still not getting enough filler down occasionally and have some undercutting at times, but with each joint fully welded it should be forgiving enough. I think this was one of my best welds of the bunch.
Attachment 1730078

I picked up some galvanizing paint from Ace to cover the joints. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? My friend says he just uses regular silver paint to match the galvanization.

Re: TIG Noob

Started working on a shelter for the kids' bikes and our little 2 seater go kart that's been out in the elements. This will help get the kids' bikes out of my garage and protect the poor little go kart. It will go right behind the gates in front of our greenhouse and will measure 8' deep x 10' wide.

1x1x16 ga galvanized tubing. First frame out of 3 is done - what a pain to grind off the galvanization though! After talking with a friend, he recommended using muriatic acid to remove the galvanization from the outside and inside of the joints, and luckily I haven't finished all the welding before getting that tip.
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Daughter wanted to watch and help; it's always fun when the kiddos want to learn and help out.
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Attachment 1729762
I had her tie her hair back after that first cut, though she liked to keep as far from the saw as possible.

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by BD55

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like I need look into a better solution than distilled water.

Got it all cleaned up and flushed it out. I was surprised how quiet it is. Quieter than the Dialarc's fan for sure. I'm pleased with the quality of this unit and I'm looking forward to trying out water cooling since just my short foray into aluminum showed me how fast the torch can heat up to an uncomfortable temperature.

Looks nice!

Most of the Procon pumps have a screen/filter under a large brass nut...in case you weren't aware of that. The screens tend to be pretty expensive for such a small thing if you buy them from the welding supply places, but not if you get them from companies who sell to the soda fountain side of things. I've been buying them off eBay and they work perfectly....get two and you'll split the shipping and have a spare for around what just one will cost from a welding shop.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174297593775

Re: TIG Noob

Thanks for the responses! Sounds like I need look into a better solution than distilled water.

Got it all cleaned up and flushed it out. I was surprised how quiet it is. Quieter than the Dialarc's fan for sure. I'm pleased with the quality of this unit and I'm looking forward to trying out water cooling since just my short foray into aluminum showed me how fast the torch can heat up to an uncomfortable temperature.
Attachment 1729595

Re: TIG Noob

20 series is more than fine, and definitely no to tap water. The tap water won't hurt the tank, but the radiator has copper, which is a different set of concerns. Tap water has all sorts of stuff in it and you can wind up with cavitation eating at tubing (mostly at bends and joints), buildup of minerals, and slime/sludge/algae. I'm using this stuff from Cantesco which is good to way below any temps I might see here if the power goes out. They have versions rated for higher minimum temps that cost a bit less as well.

https://www.amazon.com/CANTESCO-CF3-...830566&sr=8-31

Re: TIG Noob

Yes, 20 series torch is what you want. Everybody and their uncles have them.

You don't want to use tap water, and I personally will not use distilled water as the water goes looking for minerals. I use reverse osmosis water myself and soluble oil. I will be changing to water wetter from the auto parts store soon as I don't have to worry about freezing.

Re: TIG Noob

Picked up a water cooler for a great deal the other day - I'm looking forward to getting it all set up and getting a nice torch to go with it. From my understanding, a 20 style torch is the way to go for general all around stuff. Any realistic difference between CK, Weldcraft (the only two brands I'm aware of that are "good"), or other?

It's a Bernard SS - not sure which model, but it has a Procon pump and is really well made. I think all the Bernard models are the same except for the coolant tank capacity?? I was thinking building a cooler would be a fun project, but when I found this one for $90 locally, I couldn't pass it up. I'm going to flush it out and give it a good once over, but it should be in good shape. The guy was selling it only because his Syncrowave 250 crapped out and he was going another direction, so it was just in use within the last couple weeks. Reading the documentation, it sounds like you can use tap water since it's stainless (not sure what all is stainless on it), but other things I read say that's a big no-no due to conductivity of tap water, hard water, etc. etc. I'm just going to use distilled water for the time being.

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Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by G-ManBart

That's certainly not a terrible start on aluminum....so don't feel bad!

I would drop the gas down to the 10-15 cfh range for a #6 cup. I'm certainly not an expert, bus some of those beads look like too much torch angle so it's pushing the puddle away from you...maybe one of the pros will clarify or correct me on that.

One thing with aluminum is that since it builds heat so quickly (and it travels quickly as well) you will struggle running multiple beads on the same piece...it will get too hot and then the puddle won't cool and freeze when you add filler. That will also mess with your settings as well. I like to keep three or four coupons and rotate them and I have a thick piece of aluminum (.75" or 1") that I set them on to act as sort of a heat sink.

Thanks! And yes - it would get very hot after every run, so I would dunk it in water before starting the next bead (hence the cracking in some of the beads). I do need to get some more regular coupons for practice rather than random scraps and junk I have around.

Re: TIG Noob

That's certainly not a terrible start on aluminum....so don't feel bad!

I would drop the gas down to the 10-15 cfh range for a #6 cup. I'm certainly not an expert, bus some of those beads look like too much torch angle so it's pushing the puddle away from you...maybe one of the pros will clarify or correct me on that.

One thing with aluminum is that since it builds heat so quickly (and it travels quickly as well) you will struggle running multiple beads on the same piece...it will get too hot and then the puddle won't cool and freeze when you add filler. That will also mess with your settings as well. I like to keep three or four coupons and rotate them and I have a thick piece of aluminum (.75" or 1") that I set them on to act as sort of a heat sink.

Re: TIG Noob

Gave aluminum a second shot yesterday (first time was a mess (not that this one isn't ) - too high amps, not clean enough, not enough postflow, etc.). This time I noticed the heat seems to be tricky to dial in, I don't know. I couldn't find a sweet spot to put my full pedal amperage. Too high, and I could back off, but then I lose resolution at the very bottom range of the pedal when tapering off and swirling to prevent crater cracks. I'm going to experiment some more to see what I can improve. I think on a good amount of these runs I got decent penetration without blowing out the back (like the first time I tried) and the toes seem to be wetted out too, though inconsistent. There were a couple runs that felt really good and it was cool seeing the puddle fill with the rod then cool as you move along.

Attachment 1728427
(the brown spots on the welds are reflections from the wood)

- ~.100 thick al (I don't think it's 6061; 3000 series maybe?)
- ~ somewhere around 110 amps full pedal
- Bumped up my postflow time and flow because the first time I tried Al I oxidized the crap out of the tungsten - now around 20 sec and the electrode is staying nice and clean
- AC 40-165 range selection, %dial around 50-60%; HF continuous;
- And obviously with a Dialarc HF-P I don't have balance, background, freq, pulse, etc. So 50/50 balance and 50-60 Hz.
- 3/32 pure tungsten
- 1/16 4043 filler
- ~ 15-20 cfh through #6 lens

With Al, if your gas flow is too low is it more likely to oxidize the electrode or make crappy weld or both? I bumped up my flow and postflow, but I'd like to optimize to not waste gas - so I'm wondering if I just need to bump up postflow but can keep flow around 10-15 cfh with this lens rather than 15-20 (I expect the answer is "it depends"). I'm going to play around with this some more, though I figured as a noob it'd be better to eliminate gas coverage as a variable as I hobble along the start.

In retrospect, I think the first time I did Al I didn't have the material clean enough vs not enough gas flow. I think I'm going to try moving my flow back down and keeping the longer postflow to protect the electrode.

Sorry for the rambling; I plan to use this thread as sort of a welding journal for stuff I learn and general settings and materials used with the added bonus of advice and insights from those more experienced; TIA!

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by G-ManBart

That was likely in reference to something like a Miller Thunderbolt where you crank a lever which raises and lowers the shunt to adjust output.

Yes. Actually, my old Hobart Stickmate 235/160.

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by Kelvin

Regarding the buzzing ... I seem to recall reading that there's a "shunt" inside transformer welders that often has some kind of adjustment that can help silence the buzzing...maybe? Also seem to recall something about putting grease on the shunt?

Maybe someone else will have a better memory than me. That, or maybe Google "welder buzzing" and "shunt."

That was likely in reference to something like a Miller Thunderbolt where you crank a lever which raises and lowers the shunt to adjust output.

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by BD55

So it's not much of a buzzing - more of a rattling, like there's a resonant frequency ...

Well, if you can stop or attenuate the buzzing in the iron core, presumably the harmonic rattling will stop or be reduced, too. Might also look at tightening and Loctiting any loose screws in the case.

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by Kelvin

Regarding the buzzing ... I seem to recall reading that there's a "shunt" inside transformer welders that often has some kind of adjustment that can help silence the buzzing...maybe? Also seem to recall something about putting grease on the shunt?

Maybe someone else will have a better memory than me. That, or maybe Google "welder buzzing" and "shunt."

So it's not much of a buzzing - more of a rattling, like there's a resonant frequency a loose panel is vibrating at. But that reminds me I should take a look in the manual and see if there's anything in there about what you're talking about.

Re: TIG Noob

Regarding the buzzing ... I seem to recall reading that there's a "shunt" inside transformer welders that often has some kind of adjustment that can help silence the buzzing...maybe? Also seem to recall something about putting grease on the shunt?

Maybe someone else will have a better memory than me. That, or maybe Google "welder buzzing" and "shunt."

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by G-ManBart

Yes. The process really should matter at all. It's probably more likely to run into the problem running TIG using a foot pedal because you cover lots of amperage ranges per weld compared with stick.

Thanks! Yep, exactly this ^^^. When getting on it with the foot pedal. I will take a glance for any loose panels, but if that's the way the machine sounds normally, no biggie - I just didn't want to not attend to something that may/may not be an issue and assume it was normal.

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by BD55

Thanks for the input. Would this be regardless of TIG or stick process?

Yes. The process really should matter at all. It's probably more likely to run into the problem running TIG using a foot pedal because you cover lots of amperage ranges per weld compared with stick.

Re: TIG Noob

Originally Posted by M J D

Absolutely. The buzz box welders will rattle and hum like crazy at higher amps. Even more so if you stick a rod. Nothing to worry about unless you see something arcing

Thanks for the input. Would this be regardless of TIG or stick process?