On 12/26/2013 8:11 AM, KC wrote:
On 12/26/2013 7:55 AM, wrote:
On Wednesday, December 25, 2013 10:49:39 PM UTC-5, wrote:
On Wed, 25 Dec 2013 22:17:11 -0500, KC wrote:



On 12/25/2013 9:27 PM, wrote:

On Wed, 25 Dec 2013 05:11:56 -0500, Poco Loco

wrote:



Leaving to go watch grandkids open presents!



Hope ALL of you have a super Christmas and find the joy and peace
that comes with the season. Don't

forget to give the Salvation Army collection man/lady a few bucks
to get themselves a nice dinner

somewhere. Oh, and put some money in the bucket too!



Thanks

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

The kids were all here and we had lots of fun, ate too much and

engaged in the total commitment to stimulate the economy.

The wrapping paper alone would heat the house of a 3d worlder for a

couple days.

Watta country!

70s and sunny so we got out for an evening boat ride after the kids

left



http://gfretwell.com/ftp/Christmas%20sunset%2013.jpg





Nice... spent the day with my girls, got a flux core, wire feed, welder

so I guess it's time for me and Jess to learn a new art



I have a little Lincoln 100a (used/free from a friend) but I still

have not done a lot with it. I played with it a little and it crapped

out. Something went wrong in the wire guide of the lead. I never took

the time to get the wire free. I think that is why I ended up with it.

I keep promising myself I am going to buy the MIG conversion kit that

replaces all of that stuff along with a gas feed but I haven't seen

the need yet. I still have my old stick box.

I really want a TIG.

I have a Hobart 180. It'll do flux core or gas, and while flux core
does the job, the gas is much cleaner with better results. With gas
you do need to be indoors or in calm wind.

Squirting wire (MIG) is pretty easy to learn. My understanding is
that TIG has a much steeper learning curve.


Yeah, that's where they told me to start. Jess and I have a bud across
town who is a welder by trade, said to call him as soon as I get a
machine and he will head over to start the lessons I already have a
couple projects in the works.


TIG welding is an art form to me. I learned to use both TIG and MIG
welders, although my welds look horrible compared to the highly skilled
and certified welders I've known over the years.

In the business I was in, the large (up to 120" square) vacuum chambers
are constructed of half-inch thick (or thicker) stainless steel plate.
The welds required for vacuum integrity all have to be TIG welded to
ensure 100 percent root penetration to eliminate any microscopic voids
or cracks. You could hold liquids with no problem with these
microscopic cracks because the molecules in the liquid are larger than
the cracks ... therefore no leakage. But to many gases in the
atmosphere the same crack looks like the Grand Canyon.

We put "stiffeners" on the chambers to add the required wall strength to
withstand a 14.7 psi pressure delta. A 60" square chamber under vacuum
has about 26 tons of force per side trying to crush it like a tin can.
Those welds were structural only and therefore could be MIG welded.

Watching the quality of the "bead" that some of the welders could lay
down over a long distance was amazing. Tedious work, but critical to
the vacuum integrity of the chamber.

On Thursday, December 26, 2013 8:55:28 AM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:


TIG welding is an art form to me. I learned to use both TIG and MIG
welders, although my welds look horrible compared to the highly skilled
and certified welders I've known over the years.

Absolutely! I'm just a hobby welder... I can stick metal together, but it's not always very pretty. Just like a good golf shot, occasionally I'll lay down some good puddles, but then right next to it I'll create something ugly. A friend who's a metal artist and a good MIG/TIG welder told me that's what grinders are made for. :-)

On 12/26/2013 10:22 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, December 26, 2013 8:55:28 AM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:


TIG welding is an art form to me. I learned to use both TIG and MIG
welders, although my welds look horrible compared to the highly skilled
and certified welders I've known over the years.

A friend who's a metal artist and a good MIG/TIG welder told me that's what grinders are made for. :-)


Good point, I will remember that.

KC wrote:
On 12/26/2013 10:22 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, December 26, 2013 8:55:28 AM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:


TIG welding is an art form to me. I learned to use both TIG and MIG
welders, although my welds look horrible compared to the highly skilled
and certified welders I've known over the years.

A friend who's a metal artist and a good MIG/TIG welder told me that's
what grinders are made for. :-)


Good point, I will remember that.

You want 2 angle grinders. 3 would be nice also. One with a flap wheel,
and 1 with a cutoff or grinding wheel. Saves loads of time when welding
saving on changing grinder stones or wire brush. Get a harbor freight
grinder for one and a good grinder for the other. Use the HF grinder for
the least used.

On 12/26/2013 3:59 PM, Califbill wrote:
KC wrote:
On 12/26/2013 10:22 AM, wrote:
On Thursday, December 26, 2013 8:55:28 AM UTC-5, Mr. Luddite wrote:


TIG welding is an art form to me. I learned to use both TIG and MIG
welders, although my welds look horrible compared to the highly skilled
and certified welders I've known over the years.

A friend who's a metal artist and a good MIG/TIG welder told me that's
what grinders are made for. :-)


Good point, I will remember that.

You want 2 angle grinders. 3 would be nice also. One with a flap wheel,
and 1 with a cutoff or grinding wheel. Saves loads of time when welding
saving on changing grinder stones or wire brush. Get a harbor freight
grinder for one and a good grinder for the other. Use the HF grinder for
the least used.


I have a couple of nice grinders from when I used to work on cars... One
is offset, the other straight... Thanks, I will get new blades for them...

wrote:
On Thu, 26 Dec 2013 08:55:28 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:


TIG welding is an art form to me. I learned to use both TIG and MIG
welders, although my welds look horrible compared to the highly skilled
and certified welders I've known over the years.

In the business I was in, the large (up to 120" square) vacuum chambers
are constructed of half-inch thick (or thicker) stainless steel plate.
The welds required for vacuum integrity all have to be TIG welded to
ensure 100 percent root penetration to eliminate any microscopic voids
or cracks. You could hold liquids with no problem with these
microscopic cracks because the molecules in the liquid are larger than
the cracks ... therefore no leakage. But to many gases in the
atmosphere the same crack looks like the Grand Canyon.

We put "stiffeners" on the chambers to add the required wall strength to
withstand a 14.7 psi pressure delta. A 60" square chamber under vacuum
has about 26 tons of force per side trying to crush it like a tin can.
Those welds were structural only and therefore could be MIG welded.

Watching the quality of the "bead" that some of the welders could lay
down over a long distance was amazing. Tedious work, but critical to
the vacuum integrity of the chamber.


TIG is the welder of choice for pontoon boats around here and that
work is steady. A guy with a TIG on a truck can easily charge $100 an
hour or more, usually with a 2 hour minimum. I do understand it is an
art. The quality of the weld you can get makes it worth learning tho.
I started with a stick welder and once I get in the groove I can lay
down a decent bead. I usually have to practice for a while before I
start on the real work because I don't really weld that often these
days. If I am serious about it I put my rods in the oven at low heat
for a while to get them dried out

You can practice a lot of TIG technique with oxy/acet gas welding. Very
similar, but TIG has better heat control.