Welding 101

[88silhouette]

good write up rob

[mr_rbman]

Hi guys

As suggested a basic understanding of welding ideals in all shapes and forms.

http://www.millerwelds.com/education/library.html

has an extensive range of PDF's on the how too's, and settings and direction for TIG/MIG and Stick welding in their library.

A good read if you are about to learn any of the types of welding, i have read through all of them most recentyl TIG welding pdfs as im in the process of learning the TIG

Please post any links or info regarding making welding easier and neater.

Chris

haha, i work for this company and didn't even know we had anything like this on our site!

welding is one of them things that practice really makes perfect! Also you get what you pay for with machines!

[Craved]

Working nights put TAFE courses out for me - but then again, everytime i've looked there are no courses other than for apprentices

[Dj laBBy]

Working nights put TAFE courses out for me - but then again, everytime i've looked there are no courses other than for apprentices

Yah i can imagine, they are screaming for teachers. My old instructor on base is working for them and his offsider too. One at mount druitt, not sure the other one.

I think the hardest thing for me to do it is that i have a new kid at home, so won't see him as much, but hey, the extra bucks come in handy.

[Craved]

made myself a breakthrough lastnight with my Alloy welding .. now i can actually run a neat bead for 300mm or so now .. just gotta work on my cleaning of the metal.

im using scrap bits atm to practice so they are farily dirty and impregnated with crap on the cuts.

Thinners good enough for cleaning before welding alloy? other than hitting it with a SS wire brush what else can be done.

[ylwgtr2]

made myself a breakthrough lastnight with my Alloy welding .. now i can actually run a neat bead for 300mm or so now .. just gotta work on my cleaning of the metal.

im using scrap bits atm to practice so they are farily dirty and impregnated with crap on the cuts.

Thinners good enough for cleaning before welding alloy? other than hitting it with a SS wire brush what else can be done.

We normally use prepsol after "V"ing the crack out or if its two peices of new ally just prepsol is fine....clean your filler rods

with prepsol also

[Beer Baron]

well I can't even weld my left nut to my thigh, but craved if you find somewhere that does night or even weekend welding courses in sydney (pref northside) I'd be keen to come too. like you I've looked at tafe but had no joy.

[Craved]

We normally use prepsol after "V"ing the crack out or if its two peices of new ally just prepsol is fine....clean your filler rods

with prepsol also

Never actually seen prepsol for sale anywhere .. i have looked for it at my local auto paint suppliers but they didnt really have it displayed anywhere.

well I can't even weld my left nut to my thigh, but craved if you find somewhere that does night or even weekend welding courses in sydney (pref northside) I'd be keen to come too. like you I've looked at tafe but had no joy.

yeah will do mate, doubt they would run on weekends though.

[Beer Baron]

try autoparts stores for the prepsol.

[Dj laBBy]

Hey, I use acetone (it dries really fast) to clean the ally. Don't really need to though unless its critical work, just make sure you have a nice clean tip. Thats one of the biggest things for getting crap in the weld. Most of the time the AC frequency electically cleans the metal. As oxide(yes found on all ally, even clean stuff) melts at around 2000'c or there abouts, whereas the parent metal melts at a lot lower temp, the change in frequency actually in one of a better words removes the oxide. As long as you aren't using metal straight from outside thats been there for ages, your right. Just get it hot, have clean, dry filler rods and electrodes and you should be right.

If your having troubles trying to hold the hand piece, wrap the lead around your arm, so that your arm is supporting the weight, either that or your hand is holding it, which is stronger?? Sure you can sling it over your shoulder, but you get better control and can run the weld along better if its over your arm.

Try and also rest your torch end on the job. Yah, put a thick weld glove underneath so the heat doesn't penertrate, then just slide your hand along the job. Helps keep your hand stable and that gives you a better more uniform weld. Don't rush ally. The more heat the better until it gets to the point where it falls away, but hopefully by this stage you should've worked that out by now. Remember if it looks like mercury, thats molten. This is where foot controls really come into it, as you use heaps of heat to get it up to temp, then bring it back and vary as needed. Really this is where experience comes into play. Just don't get frustrated, be calm and relaxed.

Hmmm i should do some private lessons on how to weld. hehe

Craved, do you have a TIG at home or work??

I don't really know what the go is with tafe welding courses, i can find out in a couple of weeks when i see one of the board teachers. I would've thought there were night courses. Oh well. Hopefully i can find out some info.

Robb

[Craved]

Hey, I use acetone (it dries really fast) to clean the ally. Don't really need to though unless its critical work, just make sure you have a nice clean tip. Thats one of the biggest things for getting crap in the weld. Most of the time the AC frequency electically cleans the metal. As oxide(yes found on all ally, even clean stuff) melts at around 2000'c or there abouts, whereas the parent metal melts at a lot lower temp, the change in frequency actually in one of a better words removes the oxide. As long as you aren't using metal straight from outside thats been there for ages, your right. Just get it hot, have clean, dry filler rods and electrodes and you should be right.

If your having troubles trying to hold the hand piece, wrap the lead around your arm, so that your arm is supporting the weight, either that or your hand is holding it, which is stronger?? Sure you can sling it over your shoulder, but you get better control and can run the weld along better if its over your arm.

Try and also rest your torch end on the job. Yah, put a thick weld glove underneath so the heat doesn't penertrate, then just slide your hand along the job. Helps keep your hand stable and that gives you a better more uniform weld. Don't rush ally. The more heat the better until it gets to the point where it falls away, but hopefully by this stage you should've worked that out by now. Remember if it looks like mercury, thats molten. This is where foot controls really come into it, as you use heaps of heat to get it up to temp, then bring it back and vary as needed. Really this is where experience comes into play. Just don't get frustrated, be calm and relaxed.

Hmmm i should do some private lessons on how to weld. hehe

Craved, do you have a TIG at home or work??

I don't really know what the go is with tafe welding courses, i can find out in a couple of weeks when i see one of the board teachers. I would've thought there were night courses. Oh well. Hopefully i can find out some info.

Robb

Mate i have a TIG at home, its a mates that i've been given for a few months. I work in IT at night

i have made up a suuport for the lead, im using a U bend support made for the return line from a washing machine, this is suspended from teh roof by an oky strap to hold the line up off me and support the weight so its easier to control.

i rest the nozzle on the job for SS as the torch angle can be closer to parrallel to the job, alloy doesnt really allow that from what i have tried. i think perhaps i am holding the handle too far from the job as well. might have a look at extending the tungsten past the nozzle end by 5mm or so. its about 10mm out for SS.

also got sick of being (sun)burnt all the time, so i went and got some pigskin leather TIGing gloves - SOOOOOOO much better.

[Dj laBBy]

Mate sounds like your on the right path. Glad you got some gloves, the sunburn is worse than anything the sun can give out and much quicker to get burnt. Yah the pig skin the way to go, good feel with the torch and that.

I never rest my torch on the job, i mean shroud. The tungsten should be about 7mm or so, depending on electrode size, but you will work it out as you do it. Make sure the gas is between 10-15lt/min, no more as it can blow/react with the arc, less and you will get O2 contamination, make sure you are well protected(obviously). Remember DC tig(ms ss) you normally drop a electrode size, usually 1.6mm, and 2.4 for ally.

Hope that helps.

Sounds like you have got a nice machine. I wish i could afford a welder at home. I have a basic stick machine and oxy kit and that has gotten me out of trouble many a time, even made my 3.5" ex at home, tacked with stick, welded with oxy, works a treat, but have the luxury to use all the machines at work. gotta love that.

Mate every one is different with tig, all have their prefered ways, but there's some ideas that work for me.

[Craved]

Yeah its an AC/DC TIG ..

variable Freq and Amps . digi display, upslope and downslope adjustment, pre and aft gas supply time adjustments plus a how lot of stuff i havent worked out yet on it

[mr_rbman]

Yeah its an AC/DC TIG ..

variable Freq and Amps . digi display, upslope and downslope adjustment, pre and aft gas supply time adjustments plus a how lot of stuff i havent worked out yet on it

what brand of machine you usin?

[Craved]

Its a Kempii

like this one

http://www.rapidwelding.com/item--Kemppi-M...0--6162000.html

except the backing on it is black not white (around the dials)

[deant1]

If you want to buy your own tig welder you don't need to worry about getting a foot pedal because you won't ever need it if you're only welding steels.

However if you need to do some aluminium work or softer alloys then you will need a foot controller as the metal heats up very quick and can flatten your weld, hence you need to be able to adjust the amps your pumping on the fly with the pedal.

Oh and don;t forget you'll need a welder that will do both AC and DC if you decide you'll be using aluminium aswell $$$$$

Edited May 6, 2007 by deant1

[Baconer]

Hey this is a weird question but here goes

I work on a farm doing general farm work and the business is looking at expanding their production so there will be an absolute shitload (hundreds if not thousands of hours) of welding to be done. I've done some smaller welding jobs for the farm and have not been able to find one position that doesnt kill my back/ neck after 6 hours of welding. Its basically welding lots of shelving racks while sitting/ squatting on the floor.

So basically i was just wondering if there were any tips and tricks you guys have for positioning yourself to weld while on the floor or whether i need to man up and just deal with it

thanks for any help

[Craved]

without knowing the size or complexity of the welding jobs, i would suggest welding up a new steel table with a steel top on which to weld, they allow you to stand or sit, and act as the earth so you dont need to move the earth line around.

[T04GTR]

sik. im scared to see how many bad habbits ive formed hehe

[Baconer]

without knowing the size or complexity of the welding jobs, i would suggest welding up a new steel table with a steel top on which to weld, they allow you to stand or sit, and act as the earth so you dont need to move the earth line around.

Whoops forgot to check the thread for replies. Yea tables are out of the question as we are welding large shelving racks and movable ladders so need a comfortable sitting position, think i just need to man up a bit