Welding thread

G_YamTech_314

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I don't know how many welders we have on this here forum, so if a thread already exists please send me there. I just wanted to show you guys what 4 months of experience has given me in welding 6061 aluminum.

I've come a long way from where I began. Keep in mind, this is 4 months of LIFE experience welding anything at all.

Snapchat-916331298.jpg
Snapchat-761383257.jpg
 
I don't know how many welders we have on this here forum, so if a thread already exists please send me there. I just wanted to show you guys what 4 months of experience has given me in welding 6061 aluminum.

I've come a long way from where I began. Keep in mind, this is 4 months of LIFE experience welding anything at all.

View attachment 170001 View attachment 170002

Congratulations on your new vocation. I was a welder for ten years in my younger days ( heavy equipment repair, pipe welding, building truck beds etc. ) It was good steady employment and I enjoyed the work. I never had the opportunity to work with aluminum full time, but it’s nice work, it’s cooler with no nasty cloud of smoke around your head all day. Keep it up, practice makes perfect! :)
 
Congratulations on your new vocation. I was a welder for ten years in my younger days ( heavy equipment repair, pipe welding, building truck beds etc. ) It was good steady employment and I enjoyed the work. I never had the opportunity to work with aluminum full time, but it’s nice work, it’s cooler with no nasty cloud of smoke around your head all day. Keep it up, practice makes perfect! :)
It's honestly a quite enjoyable field, however, my bosses are dicks and I don't get the opportunity to weld frequently. When I do it's only 10% of my day, and takes seconds. They like to rush the process and it's stressful. Thinking of going back to school and developing my future to be more than a laborer. Idk... The road is long, but I'm moving fast down that road, so who knows where it will take me. It's never a bad skill to have, that's for sure.
 
Metal work ends up almost being addicting for me. Started a couple years ago and it's been one of the more enjoyable parts of my job ever since. Great being able to just screw around and make pretty much whatever you want out of metal too. Aluminum was tough to figure out trying to work it out mostly alone after hours.
 
I don't know how many welders we have on this here forum, so if a thread already exists please send me there. I just wanted to show you guys what 4 months of experience has given me in welding 6061 aluminum.

I've come a long way from where I began. Keep in mind, this is 4 months of LIFE experience welding anything at all.

View attachment 170001 View attachment 170002

Hi YamTech
here's a welding site:- No words can explain this! None that can be printed here anyways.
You cab sign up there and post
Well, that link went stale. Try Googling welders web or welding web
 
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Edit: Could it be that PT is an abbreviated form of one of the Standards??

My searching suggests the PT is the same as the JIS pipe thread. Therefore the PT will often interchange BSP. So I suggest play it safe.


I have been considering setting up my AC/DC gasless MIG for gas. I have noticed great bargains for regulators and flowmeters from China via Ebay. But just a word of warning, these generally have PT threads which do not seem standard worldwide, like in the UK. So if you order the flowmeter you should also order a PT threaded push on connector to go with it from China.

Flowmeter with 1/4PT:
s-l225.webp


Push on Connect with 1/4PT Female:
s-l225.webp


I have checked the UK suppliers catalogues and PT threads do not appear to be available. Also, with regulators make sure they have the correct connection for your cylinder. On several forums I have seen it recommended to buy the regulator in your home country to get it right. In theory you could change the regulator fittings but my experience is the China made equipment does not use PTFE tape. The joints seem to have a permanent sealer which mades it very difficult, if not impossible, to remove the fittings.

Note: By the time you buy a flowmeter and PT fitting from China/Ebay you will be close to the local cost of buying the flowmeter with the correct fittings..
 
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I have seen the following welder advertised locally:

TIGGY.jpg


Cebora Pocket Pulse DC TIG 100. It has two controls, one for current and the other for pulse/continuous. The seller states it is strike arc. Would anyone know how this welder operates i.e. does it pulse the power to the torch at different rates - how can it pulse if it is strike arc? I suspect it may be HF if it pulses?? The torch has a trigger switch and there is a gas fitting at the back.
Thank you for any comments.

Thank you for any coments.

Edit: I have found an old manual for this welder so all my questions have now been answered.

https://welding.cebora.it/en/assistance/items-out-of-production/art-225-pocket-pulse-tig-100
 
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To answer some of your questions, Pulse is a feature that allows a combination of low amperage for amount of time and then a high amperage for an amount of time all in the same initial arc strike. Not multiple arc being struck. It’s a useful feature once you understand pulse frequency, back round time and pulse on time. Completely unnecessary for a new welder or even a competent welder. Yes it’s a high freq machine. The website is pretty vague on price and what consumables it comes with. I would suggest looking into Ahp or Everlast if you’re in the market for a cheaper but good DC only machine. A DC only machine is not all the difficult to make well so the cheaper machines could work for you. The other nob is most likely just for straight current. If you only get a finger switch with the machine is just an on off switch, no multi amperage control. Also the gas hookup is on the back, that’s pretty standard with most small inverters nowadays
 
It's honestly a quite enjoyable field, however, my bosses are dicks and I don't get the opportunity to weld frequently. When I do it's only 10% of my day, and takes seconds. They like to rush the process and it's stressful. Thinking of going back to school and developing my future to be more than a laborer. Idk... The road is long, but I'm moving fast down that road, so who knows where it will take me. It's never a bad skill to have, that's for sure.


Invest in yourself

One thing I’ve come to understand about achieving what I’ve set out to do is that there is always something on the other side of it. The road never ends, the road is vastly longer than we could ever imagine. That’s the best part.
 
I'm a welder by trade (pipefitter), although I am still new. My wife got me a cheap harbor freight FCAW welder for Christmas one year. Swap out the wire it comes with for some decent lincoln electric wire and its a solid piece of kit for cheap. It has extremely limited adjustment, (speed dial, and max heat or min heat), BUT, if you just want to practice your craft and get some beads down, this is it for a low cost. Not for nothing, it welds nice too so don't think it's junk. I've repaired a lot of things around the garage with it. Currently saving for a Lincoln MIG, TIG, Stick etc machine, but you know, $$$$
 
After considerable thinking I decided to buy a modern stick welder since the UK prices have dropped recently. It has been at least 10 - 15 years since I ditched my old stick welder and changed to MIG:

IGBT.jpg


This is a 20 - 140A inverter with hot start, force arc, anti-stick and that safety feature to drop the open voltage to 20V so you don't get zapped. It also has the option of Lift TIG should I want. My old stick welder was a struggle to carry but this can be held in one hand easily. I played with stick welding this morning and was amazed how easy these modern inverters allow for very easy arc striking and then give very nice arc stability. I tested it out on 1.3mm steel using 1.6mm sticks at 20A. It was easy to weld and easy to avoid blowing through the metal.The quality of the Earth clip, welding electrode and the cable are all very good. It also came with a UK based 2 Year Warranty. It cost £70 whereas the really cheap ones are £50 but lack the Lift Tig option. I suspect I will buy an Argon bottle and gas relay in a few months since I already own a TIG torch in a box somewhere.
 
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Any holes ???

I tested it out on 1.3mm steel using 1.6mm sticks at 20A
 
What do you plan on welding with it? It’s a bit unusual not at all incapable, to be using a stick welder for anything less than .125
 
It was my sole intention to check out the extremes on this welder. My usual metal thickeness would be 3mm (1/8"), but sometimes a bit of thinner metal can be handy e.g. 2mm. So I am happy with what I saw today and very impressed with arc stability.
 
I need to make a petrol pump cover so took some 0.8mm steel sheet, beat out a pipe section and a domed end. Using my new inverter stick welder I stitched, more spot weld than stitch, the pieces together. Made a few tiny holes, but once I got the settings and technique right it was very straight forward and clean going:
Pump.JPG
Pleased with the outcome. I still need to cut a slot, grind it all smooth, fill the small holes then paint. Should be ready by Christmas.

20A
6013 x 1.6mm
Steady electrode holder with left hand and grip the 6013 like a pen with right.
Best arc start and control obtained with the VRD safety function turned off.
 
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I need to make a petrol pump cover so took some 0.8mm steel sheet, beat out a pipe section and a domed end. Using my new inverter stick welder I stitched the pieces together. Made a few tiny holes, but once I got the settings and technique right it was very straight forward and clean going:
View attachment 198659
Pleased with the outcome. I still need to cut a slot, grind it all smooth, fill the small holes then paint. Should be ready by Christmas.

20A
6013 x 1.6mm
Steady electrode holder with left hand and grip the 6013 like a pen with right.
Best arc start and control obtained with the VRD safety function turned off.
20A is a little on the low side for .8mm. A good metric to use is 40A per 1mm of material thickness, so your starting point would for .8mm would be roughly 32A. Low amperage is actually worse than high. It necessitates slower travel speeds which leads to a greater heat effected area, which leads to holes, blowouts, and warping. Learning how move fast with precision is the real trick. Welding is great fun and you'll soon find yourself looking for welding projects. Congrats on your new welder.
 
0.8 is thin I don't think it is possible with stick weld at least it was not.
( Not talking spot here )
When I worked with sheet metal 70 ies .. 1 mm could go SoSo
And experts could do it even with big electrodes
Perhaps the auto masks gives more time today to get it right.

Higher Current then it gets difficult to start without blowing a hole immediately
I have watched a skilled operator once ...co worker welding 1.0 mm with a big electrode
ca 3 mm diameter. Without stopping Through an extra mask not believing he could do it

When he started and if the melt was beginning to fall trough starting to become a hole
One could see that coming
He was able to move the stick a little ---is it pendling moving the electrode in English
Without stopping in a movement that he varied . Not the same But instead depending on how it looked at the spot that
looked as falling through . and then move back and forth to the place that was close to burn through.
Not stopping welding and not solidify the weld.pool . It was a Restaurant fan cover. Mild steel .ca 1 meter 1 .5
long weld.
He got one or two holes but the rest was non stop.
Have not heard of anyone else capable of that . But feel free correct me if those more into daily welding
See it differently

He had some kind of Welding License don't know which. . And I have never heard of anyone else being able to do it
0.8 is thin

And yes to that
Learning how move fast with precision is the real trick..
 
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