My new toy
02-16-2008
#11
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Re: My new toy
I had been looking for one of these for a few years. And all were about $900+ and NOT water cooled torch. This was 3 miles from my house and only $800!
03-03-2008
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Well i finally found some EXTRA cash and got some argon and tungsten....
This is my first mild steel welds.... Top 5 beads are without filler
And here are a few more after maybe 20 minutes of practice...
First question is concerning starting the ARC. It seems that sometimes the high frequency start works fine and will bridge the gap. Other times it seems like i need to scratch start. And I've checked the contact point gap and is with in specs (.010" as i recall). I have the HF adjusted to max and still isn't constant on the HF starts. Any suggestions / advise is welcome.
This is my first mild steel welds.... Top 5 beads are without filler
And here are a few more after maybe 20 minutes of practice...
First question is concerning starting the ARC. It seems that sometimes the high frequency start works fine and will bridge the gap. Other times it seems like i need to scratch start. And I've checked the contact point gap and is with in specs (.010" as i recall). I have the HF adjusted to max and still isn't constant on the HF starts. Any suggestions / advise is welcome.
03-03-2008
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Re: My new toy
Tom, stop. That's way too much welder for you. You just wheel it over to the corner of your garage, put a cover over it, and I'll pick it up in September when I move back to the states. Really. I'm doing this for you. I don't need a nice Miller TIG like that, but I want to do you a favor.
03-03-2008
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lol...... I've tried some aluminum but only did beads minus filler and that was a totaly new experince. I want to get some scrap stainless and practice on it a bit. I need a bigger garage thats for sure. Every time i get something newin the garage that means there is something thats getting tossed out ! lol. Gunna be doing the turbo install on sons car in the next few weeks and building a downpipe and and oil pan drain
03-03-2008
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If your able to weld aluminum then your HF should be working fine, you have to have that to weld aluminum. Sometimes the HF wont work on steel, if the torch is to far from the metal, or if you have a bad ground, but if you can weld aluminum fine than you should be good to go
03-03-2008
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Looks like those welds in the first pic are a lil too hot. You can tell by the elongation of the puddle. Practice with fillet welds instead of flat welds at first too. Usually if you tack an L together you have a place to ride the cup on, making it easier to learn what things need to look like without having to focus as much on steadying the torch. Make sure to use filler wire all the time. there are a few exceptions but for the most part there isnt a whole lotta strength in fused welds, especially with aluminum. There is a very fine line with steel and stainless as far as heat goes. cut it back untill it doesnt look dark and dirty. Hot rolled steel usually doesnt look quite as pretty as cold rolled but you can still get that nice rainbow coloring if its clean. If its blue after it cools, usually that means you could use just a lil more heat. Stainless and steel weld very much the same. If you practice on clean steel its much cheaper than stainless. Clean metal and good grounds are key to good welds. The quality of a weld joint relies on weld prep just as much as the skill of the person holding the torch, if not, more. The machine you are using is probably a little fussy with DC starts, the newer machines are much easier to use. I can start my arc with sub 10 amp output without the arc dancing around. Makes welding 16-18ga stainless a lot easier when the machine runs steady at 20 amps haha. I actually didnt do very well with that stuff until recently. We just had a big job and I had so much to weld I really honed in on those friggin microscopic welds, hehe. Even the veterans have welds they could use more practice on. Its all a matter of experience, the more you do, the better you get.
Last edited by 02fpcivic; 03-03-2008 at 07:27 PM.
03-03-2008
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Thanks for the input. I need to find some scrap SS to practice on also. Im going to try and practice 20-30 minutes a nite.
03-03-2008
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You'll be doing ok in no time, just don't get frustrated and give up. Just like modding these damn 7thgens, determination separates the men from the boys.
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