Brand new Syncrowave 200... and zero experience
Tue, 31 Aug 2021 15:29:10 GMT
Hello everyone, I am a wooden boatbuilder/restorer that has recently taken on a new challenge. Though I consider my primary talent/experience to be the actual 'wooden' end of the boatbuilding trade, I do have a good bit of experience with custom hardware fabrication. Nearly all of our custom hardware is 464 bronze welded with silicon bronze rod. For those not familiar with this metal:Weldable Naval Brass (Alloy 464) This weldable alloy offers good corrosion resistance for saltwater and steam applications, as well as improved strength thanks to a high zinc content. Alloy 464 is commonly used in marine hardware, valve stems, and propellers. Not heat treatableWe build and work on many classic racing sailboats, and custom rigging and deck fitting hardware is a must. I have designed and build everything from scratch for 15 years now. I do all the patternwork, cutting, fitting, aligning, shaping, finish polishing, and installation. I do everything but the actual tig welding(when called for). For all those years we had a highly respected custom welding fabricator occupying the shop next door to us. Every fitting I made that needed welding was brought to him perfectly fitted and in a fixture of some sort to ensure every piece stayed in alignment during the welding process. His welds were/are excellent. Life was good! Unfortunately, he has now moved away. As luck would have it, suddenly we have a whole bunch of custom bronze fittings and fixtures to make. A business decision has been made to purchase our own equipment and learn how to do the welding in house. I am rather pleased about it as I have been interested in learning how to weld (especiall tig) for some time now.After a bit of researching and consulting with our previous welder, we settled on a new Miller Syncrowave 200. It just arrived yesterday. The fresh tank of argon will be arriving shortly. Our electrician will be wiring it up for us and making sure everything around is grounded correctly. The welding station will be set up within our "machine shop" container. We use a fully decked out (by us) 40ft. heated shipping container as a self contained shop with lathe, milling machine, drill presses, blasting cabinet, etc. I still need to aquire a few things. I am looking for a good 200-300 dollar helmet for myself and a cheap +/- 50 dollar helmet for occasional "spectator use". I also need a pair of tig gloves. Though there will be call for me to become proficient at aluminum, stainless, and aluminum at some point, my primary concern is in tig welding generally small pieces of 464 bronze. Nearly 100% of this work will be done indoors. I have read a bunch of threads regarding helmets: Miller Elite, Jackson EQC, Speedglass seem to be the most popular.A few comments about the color clarity of the nexgen EQC lens has my attention. Some have gone as far as swapping an EQC lense into a miller shell. Kind of like a Triton motorcycle I suppose. Is the general concensus that the EQC lense is my best bet?The Harbor Freight auto darkening helmet seems to be a pupular cheap helmet pick for the extra. I'm perfectly happy spending 20 bucks on a pair of Miller's tig gloves unless I'm convinced otherwise. They won't be getting consant use. I have made an arrangement with the instructor of our county vocational school's welding class(came highly recommended) to teach me privately at our shop and on our own equipment. This seems to be the ideal way to go given the circumstances and time crunch. We will have an assortment of welding rod and clean scrap metals handy for when he arrives. For the time being, we plan on using the stock Miller air cooled gun. I am presuming that the duration of the welds on such small fittings will be short enough not to warrant the water cooled setup as of yet. We are prepared to upgrade though if needed. I would be happy to hear advice regarding equipment(upgrades/additions) or any tig welding advice in general.For example, would anyone recommend swapping in one of those clear Pyrex cups to the tig gun. I'm looking for any benefit I can get here? Sorry for the loooong post. I'm just full of coffee and welding excitement.George
Reply:George,I too am in marine fabrication and repair.Been around the waterfront about my whole life, even during the 22+ years I was on active duty in the military.Grew up in Deltaville, VA which was the "Boatbuilding Capital of Virginia" back in the days of the wooden deadrise. As a kid growing up here, we had 46 boatbuilders all located within a 10 mile radius.I've been cutting, bending, and sticking metal together now for 55+ years. My dad and uncle ran a body shop when I was growing up and my uncle (hardhat diver/welder WWII) got me started with O/A and arc welding at about age 6.We probably know a lot of the same people from your neck of the woods. Back in the late 80's one of my best friends, Edison Irving, ran the Pipewelders facility down in Cape May. He used to build a lot of the towers for the sportfishermen I was selling.Been a dealer for Egg Harbor and worked with a dealership (up til 2008) that sold Viking Yachts built up in New Gretna.Been tig welding aluminum since 1966, when I started building the fuel cells for the race boats we were running. Have also had extensive experience with SS over the years.Sorry to hear about the loss of your welder. He's going to be hard to replace. There are many excellent tig welders in your area, but I'm not sure you've got enough work to keep them busy on a full time basis.I applaud your efforts to "bring the capability in house", however, I hope you understand that this is not a skill that is mastered overnight. Even if you're a "quick study" and get good instruction, you're a good ways from being able to "get er done" in a timely, professional manner.Aluminum can be a challenge for any tig welder not familar with the material. Bronze, and especially naval bronze, can be a real b1tch due to the high zinc content. I've personally had much better luck with silicon bronze than I have had with naval bronze. In fact, most of the bronze rudder posts, shaft logs, etc that I've dealt with have been silicon bronze.This is a much more involved subject and needs more detailed discussion than I think you're going to get on a message board. If you wish to discuss this in more detail, send me a PM and I'll provide a phone number or give you a call.As far as hoods, my two favorites are the Speedglas 9100XX and the Miller Digital Elite. I have several others for "observers", but those are the two that I prefer. I had an older Miller Elite (non-digital) that I used for a couple years but it only went down to a shade 9. Found that for some of the really lo amp tig work on SS that it was too dark and sometimes flashed me. Today, my "go to" hood for tig work is the Miller Digital Elite.As far as a machine, I hope you didn't go "too small". For what you described, I would have most likely recommended the Syncrowave 250 or the Dynasty 200. When you start dealing with bronze and aluminum, they both like a lot of amps (unless we're talking about very small parts) and the 200 can be a little light in the britches with both amps and duty cycle. The old addage is "you can't use amps you didn't buy". The Dynasty (inverter) allows you to "cheat" a little by varying the AC frequency when dealing with aluminum.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Varying frequency is cheating?? I am crushed. Better to bulldoze aluminum with all possible amperage, huh? City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:tangle,As an old engineer, a D7 is a great dozer and it has the advantage of being more "portable" (road transportable) machine, when the pushin gets heavy, it's better to call in the D9.My Dynasty 200 is a great machine, but when advancing the freq won't get it done (especially DC wise), the Sync 250 is good to have. Of course, ol Fusion King will chime in and say that when the Sync is not up to the task, the Dynasty 700 probably is.Believe me, struts, rudder support tubes, steering arms, etc, in bronze can soak up some heat.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:Originally Posted by SundownIIIMy Dynasty 200 is a great machine, but when advancing the freq won't get it done (especially DC wise), the Sync 250 is good to have. ...
Reply:Originally Posted by tanglediverVarying frequency is cheating?? I am crushed. Better to bulldoze aluminum with all possible amperage, huh?
Reply:AC Guy,Because you can't take and sling a Dynasty 350 over your shoulder, walk up on a boat, and weld up a SS bowrail while plugged into a 30A 120v outlet.That's just one reason. The list is long.Plus I already had a 310A (Syncrowave 250 DX Tigrunner) tig in the shop.Syncro 250 DX Dynasty 200 DXMM 251 w/30A SG XMT 304 w/714 Feeder & Optima PulserHH187Dialarc 250 AC/DCHypertherm PM 1250Smith, Harris, Victor O/ASmith and Thermco Gas MixersAccess to a full fab shop with CNC Plasma, Water Jet, etc.
Reply:I spent most of my life on the waterfront also, and was a TIG welder in the marine industry.I think the machine you bought may be a little too small for the task.It depends on the weldments, but on sailboats I needed all the Syncrowave 250 could give me. Bronze can hold the heat thought once it gets hot. Aluminum mast repairs need a lot of amps too.AWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Thanks for the replies. I have been out of town for a while. I should have mentioned that we have been offered full access to a Syncrowave 350 near by for the times that we may need a more powerful machine. The vast bulk of the custom hardware I make involve 1/16" to 1/8" 464 bronze. Occasionally up to 1/4", rarely more. We were more concerned with having the tools on hand to be able to handle the smaller detailed stuff on site.Fortunately, my favorite welder had returned to town to visit family and was kind enough to weld up the bulk of the hardware that I had cut, jigged, and had ready to go. That has taken the pressure off greatly timewise.The electrician should have come yesterday to complete the wiring upgrade to hook up the 200. Hopefully he showed. I have ordered a DVD from TIGDEPOT.net about tig welding for some more reference material, plus a Lincoln Electric tig calculator. With luck, we'll be ready for one on one time from the tig instructor shortly.George
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