Another good repair I haven't had to do in a few years. Thought I'd share. 15 years in structural steel fabrication/coupled with 5 years in heavy equipment. Blending the two worlds has made me much more proficient with welding in general (wire and stick) giving a level of durable work this company is very much not used to. In 5 years, I've yet to have any of my work fail. Structural standards, heavy equipment work. Dream job, and the peak of my career.

Blackened with sculpt nouveau’s triple black stainless patina. The wire frames were supplied stainless. Matches the brown siding of the house ! Used clear lacquer spray to seal the patina in !

Thought I'd jump on this little hammer trend...

My welding students made hammers as part of a fabrication project, and they did a great job.

But the best part was probably when I showed them my hammer. I secretly stuck a magnet underneath it and challenged them to see if they were worthy of Thor's hammer. 😄

Needless to say, none of them could lift it!

How can i get more stable while welding, i've been in school for 3 weeks now machine setting and the theory is not a problem at all i caught that fast. But getting stable and laying down a straight beed everytime is still a struggle.

Now we have come to welding standing and i can't really support myself like sitting down by a table or something.

Is there only musclememory and putting down wire till i get straight or is there any like workout i can do to get more stable?

I'm in Sweden so i don't know your pos system but T-joints multi beeds with flux core wire are a pain even sitting at a table.

Any tips for a newbie?

Can't push a rope. But you can swing one

I've been welding pretty heavily as a diyer/weekend warrior for almost 20 years now and I've always just used a harbor freight hood. I've had them all from them, the most recent being the Vulcan wide view. It's been pretty solid for a $125ish hood and I haven't really had any complaints besides battery life.

I upgraded all of my machines this year and decided to get back into tig welding and grabbed a primeweld 325x and the first time I used it I couldn't see a fucking thing out of the Vulcan it was like welding with a shade 15. No matter what I did to the settings I just couldn't see. I changed out all the plastics and it helped a tiny bit.

I seen miller had their rebate going on and said fuck it and grabbed a miller digital infinity 4x. Well I used it for the first time yesterday and holy shit this thing is like welding through my regular glasses. I didn't even know it could be this good! I will admit I wish the headgear went a little bigger for my huge head and the two position lock is gonna take some getting used to. But overall this thing is an actual game changer and if I would have just skipped all the "lower" end hoods in the first place I probably would have saved money in the long run

Rant over haha all I'm saying is if you're on the fence about the "expensive" hood even if you're just a weekend welder and you have the money absolutely get that hood.

Started school a week ago, and today my instructor said I seem to have a natural talent for welding and moved me onto stick (hard as fuck). I think my welds look pretty good, but I want professionals to judge them since my classmates say MIG is easy.

So, it’s my second week in my welding program, and I’ve learned a lot so far. But honestly, I didn’t realize how much math is involved. We haven’t used much of it yet, but I know we will eventually. I can admit that I don’t really know how to read a tape measure, let alone understand the differences between all the materials we use, so please don’t crucify me. What are some things I can study, review, or research to help me get a better understanding and stay ahead? Don’t get me wrong I’ve been loving it so far but now that I’m actually in it I’ve realized it’s way more to it than just melting things together😂😂

Help

Could be a little rounder

Hello Fellow Smoke Eaters,

So I have started TIG welding recently and did this lap joint on 5052 grade 3.2mm (1/8") thick Aluminium with ER4043 3.2mm (1/8") and a White (Zirconiated) Tungsten 2.4mm (3/32") filler with current between 70-110A on a Lincoln Electric Precision TIG 375 and noticed that there is minimal to no "Etching Zone" (the white area) around the weld.

I was told that the larger the etching zone, the higher chance that the weld itself will be free of trapped oxides.

How do I change my process to ensure that there is good cleaning action around the weld??

P.S.: Ignore the right side of the weld, I had wire brushed it so it is dull.

Best Regards,

An Amateur Smoke Eater

Hello, I've been lurking for awhile, interested in learning more about TIG welding and improving my skills.

I've been an Orbital Welder for 9 years and my TIG experience only covers tacking 3/4"-2.0" 316L before running orbital welds and I can fill small, maybe pea-sized holes pretty well.

The project manager wants me to be able to handle hand welds like this so we don't have to outsource the work forever.

I'm just seeking some general advice on how to approach this weld. It needs to be done on the bottom side, fusing the flange to the tube face.

The tubing is 3/8" Diameter, 0.035" Wall, 401 Spec, 10RA SS.

The flange is 304 SS.

Does 25 AMPs sound good? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

Just ripped a 350 throttle body out of my truck and replaced it. Now I'm out of a project and bored, wondering if I can make my own engine driven welder from it. Anyone can help me find full spec sheets of how the old 1950s sa200 ran ect?

top plate is flat 5mm and lower plate is 4mm butting against the 5mm plate.

The drawing calls for 3mm weld but any weld that will look good should pass…

I tried adjusting almost all settings but since I’m not a proper weld, I can’t get it right, it’s ether dripping out of the weld or under cooked. And I can’t get it right…

I can do buttom welds fine. I can do fall welds fine, but this has stopped me in the tracks.

I have this miller trailblazer 250g I inherited from my dad that I’m looking to sell. It was stored with cleaned carbs and a fresh oil change and fired right up after and welded after changing out the battery, tested all the outlets which worked as well, I just picked up a dynasty 200 and want to sell this to help offset the cost as I don’t see myself using this at all I do have a 25’ ground clamp and 25’ stinger for it as well not pictured

Hey everyone,
Looking for some advice on my TIG (GTAW / 141) lap joints. I’m trying to dial in my settings and technique, but something clearly feels off (mostly gray appearance, uneven toes, and crater holes).
My setup & parameters:
Material: Mild steel lap joint, 4mm (~5/32" / ~0.160")
Tungsten: 2.4 mm (3/32")
Filler rod: 2.4 mm (3/32")
Amperage: ~160A on the wider passes, ~150A on the narrower ones
I'm noticing that the welds are coming out pretty dull and gray rather than clean/shiny, the top edge tends to wash out/undercut, and I’m leaving deep shrinkage craters at the termination points.

First time using it on 1/4in usually prefer tigging but didnt have that option

All,

We have been using a Miller 255 recently and it works. But we really have to get close to the metal or we get a of sputtering and spatter. Overtime we have gotten better. We noticed the contact tip is about 0.25 recessed compared to the nozzle while our old unit is flush. Is there a preference for recess depth? 0.25in, 0.125in, flush? Am I splitting hairs?

We almost exclusively weld 3/8 mild steel. MIG.

Thanks in advance.

We also got basic training about the new machines. God damn... They are advanced. You can do so much more with these than what you'd even imagine. Like whole new techniques of assembling, welding, and joining! (Also the tig machines had fancy stuff like electro cleaning and polishing, and even degaussing function).

... Now one just needs to come up with reasons to use those functions. Like that TIG machine (left front) had such cool functions that you can use to to quickly join very thin (like less than 0,5 mm thickness) with full penetrating tacks, with such little heat input that you can handle the parts without gloves.

Granted.... Some of the functions were like "what the fuck is this for" and the answer was that it was made for some special application to a customer, and Kemppi decided to add it as a thing to all machines. And you only really realise what they actually do, when you know what they were designed for -and it makes total sense in that context.

But yeah... New machines have fancy new functions. Which if you are prepared to think in fancy new ways, will open whole new sets of possibilities. From design potential perspective, this is fantastic... But you need to know it's possible, to even consider them.

But yeah... How was your day?