Some people just have to do it, thread for the newbies

admin

http://harveylacey.com/wordpress/?p=161I understand what it is like to have an idea and the only way to make it happen is to do it myself.  I appreciate having limited experience and even more limited resources.  But those who are blessed with that passion are the ones that make this welding thing the wonderful thing it can be.So if you are a newbie and you have this fire in your gut, better yet, even lower, you can do what you want to do if you just try.  And every time one of the experts jumps on you consider the source, check out their profile, look at the projects they've submitted and see for yourself if their your kind of role model.life is good
Reply:http://harveylacey.com/wordpress/?p=39  This is one the newbies should enjoy.life is good
Reply:Um..... Interesting.~JohnJust a couple welders, big hammers, grinders, and torches.Work will free you.Men in dirty jeans built this country, while men in clean suits have destroyed it. Trump/Carson 2016-2024
Reply:A better suggestion would be to know your limitations. Yes, anything can be done with time, and energy, but one does not learn to run before they learn to walk. it's that simple.There are no problems. There are only solutions. It's your duty to determine the right one.Hobart Handler 210Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger
Reply:Not sure I'd call those "newbie" projects! Obviously there is a bit of skill and resources in use there! Call it luck if you want i guess...
Reply:You are the man Harv.....been looking at your projects for years.You do great work!ECAVE Still learnin'Lincoln AC225Lincoln 135SPHF ChopsawVictor O/ANumerous other items
Reply:Looks like that DNA fence was galvanized, no?
Reply:Originally Posted by sdgdh1Looks like that DNA fence was galvanized, no?
Reply:No.  I'm a newbie newbie.  Just thought we weren't supposed to weld galvanized.  I could be way off.  I was just curious.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply:there is a lot of garbage information out there about the welding of galvanized material.  Middle seventies when I finally got around to going to night school on welding I almost choked when the welding instructor gave us a lecture on welding galvanized material cost him a year's sex life, just lost all interest and it was all the welding of galvanized material.  I knew that was pure b.s.  My father is 88 yrs old and he welded fence tube for at least thirty years.  I'm sixty five and I have welded it at least that long.  Keep in mind, almost 66 and I take no meds, period, on a regular basis.Galvanized sickness is a real event.  I've had it happen.  Every time was my fault, I hadn't made sure I had plenty of ventilation when welding.  But it is a temporary thing and poses no long term complications for most of us.  I use that with the caveat that we all have different tolerances for toxic exposure.  I've had friends of mine who were around when I was welding that got really really sick from the galvanize fumes.  Their exposure was minimum but that was enough for them.  One friend was off sick with the worst body flu of his life for almost a week according to him after working with me on a project for him, big bird cage, eight feet by eight feet by twenty four feet.  For me the galvanize sickness is a bad case of body aches that lasts a couple of hours and then I'm fine.Welders have been welding galvanized material since it became something to do.  You protect yourself and try to inhale as little of the fumes as you can.  That might be using a respirator, good policy for any welding in a closed area anyways.  Or it might be just doing it in the open and keeping your head out of the fumes.On the internet you will occasionally see total snot slinging fits about it being deadly etc.  But the science doesn't support irrational fear.If you are building stuff from steel and it has to be weather durable then galvanizing is the secret to longevity.  I do some projects and then have it hot dipped galvanized afterwards.  It's added cost, $.25 per pound minimum on quantity orders plus the special techniques required like drain holes and all of the additional handling.  Then there's the issues with colors, invariably galvanizing will give the powder coater or paint shop fits because it's almost impossible to keep the process perfect like it needs to be when applying color.Sometimes we build with galvanized material up front to get away from the hassle of post galvanizing.  Ornamental fencing is a good example of that.  If you tour a facility like Ameristar in Tulsa you will them use nothing but galvanized material.  It arrives in 20 to 50 ton coils  of sheet and leaves finished and powder coated color with the only human touch being incidental.  For the small operator having to meet galvanized specs it is more difficult because one has to use galvanized tubing and then do as little welding as possible.  The best way to do that is use silicon bronze wire and pure argon gas.  If you look at a finished product and find figuring out the welding process because it looks like it was brazed then there is a good chance they used the silicon bronze with argon mig process.  The advantage it the low heat/brazing connection.Way back in the day we were building product using buzz box welders and the demand was such that we looked at buying a couple of mig machines.  I hired a kid from a competitor because he was used to working with the migs and none of us were.  I remember thinking he would never survive in our world with that welding process when I saw him stick his head into the fume cloud doing the first weld.  We were used to welding thin wall galvanized fence material making gates and horse panels with the stick machines and never worried about watching the puddle.  If you saw a puddle you were a nanosecond from seeing a dime sized hole in the weld.  But we laid down welds that looked  awesome because that was what we did.  I've always thought of it as faith welding, closest thing to it is the gas welding of exhaust systems at the muffler shop.The mig process took some getting used to.  We couldn't use the fans because it would blow away the gas, and the puddle was smaller and it was more of a soldering event than a welding event like we were used to doing.  We adapted and eventually fell in love because the clean up was so much easier and it didn't take the skill required to stick weld sixteen gauge galvanized tubing that it took to do it with a mig machine.I'm looking at doing a new product I've designed and think it would be best done with thin tube galvanized material.  I will either use the silicon bronze wire and pure argon or I will go where I don't know of anyone going before.  I'm thinking of twisting up some of the .035 silicon bronze wire and making a filler rod and tigging it, should work, right?Last edited by wroughtn_harv; 04-22-2014 at 08:54 PM.life is good
Reply:I thought once you weld it it's no longer galvanized near the weld.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply:Originally Posted by sdgdh1I thought once you weld it it's no longer galvanized near the weld.
Reply:wroughtn_harvWhoa: a Three-Fer!First - well said, your few words are sage: to both Newbies and Experts. Newbies - Don't be deterred by criticism in any context, and; Experts - be more approachable, and less all-knowing.Second - You took sdgdh1 imperfect understanding of Galv-Welding, and turned it into an Encyclo-Welding entry, with biblio.True to Form [see First] - this is an example of how an Expert should address a Newbies question.Third - New Business, "I will either use the silicon bronze wire and pure argon."  I have run silicon bronze wire on large generator component rebuilds, but galv.fence application is new to me [bimetallic welding aside], and is 'high interest'.If time allows: please post progress photos of your developing weld processes.Opus    ps - red herring is my favorite fish."I'm thinking of twisting up some of the .035 silicon bronze wire and making a filler rod and tigging it, should work, right?" Such is the Cycle of Life - please report your tungsten condition after two seconds of welding - you will experience the wraith: of the Expert to the Newbie..Last edited by OPUS FERRO; 04-23-2014 at 02:56 AM.Reason: ital's and -'s are important.
Reply:Thanks for the info.  I'm trying to do my best not to end up in the Darwin awards.  . I appreciate your patience.Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply:Best post on WeldingWeb I have ever seen.thank you sir! Originally Posted by OPUS FERROwroughtn_harvWhoa: a Three-Fer!First - well said, your few words are sage: to both Newbies and Experts. Newbies - Don't be deterred by criticism in any context, and; Experts - be more approachable, and less all-knowing.Second - You took sdgdh1 imperfect understanding of Galv-Welding, and turned it into an Encyclo-Welding entry, with biblio.True to Form [see First] - this is an example of how an Expert should address a Newbies question.Third - New Business, "I will either use the silicon bronze wire and pure argon."  I have run silicon bronze wire on large generator component rebuilds, but galv.fence application is new to me [bimetallic welding aside], and is 'high interest'.If time allows: please post progress photos of your developing weld processes.Opus    ps - red herring is my favorite fish."I'm thinking of twisting up some of the .035 silicon bronze wire and making a filler rod and tigging it, should work, right?" Such is the Cycle of Life - please report your tungsten condition after two seconds of welding - you will experience the wraith: of the Expert to the Newbie..
Reply:I have welded on a lot of galvanized structures if the galvanize is not ground to bare metal the weld will not be a quality weld!!!  Not going to touch the health aspect.
Reply:As a result of "winning" a govt auction.  I am now proud owner of 3 4x8 sheets of 1/8 steel plate, 100' of 3/16x2x2 angle and 20+ pieces of galvanized sheet approx 16 ga varying dimensions from 3x5 to 3x8' (they were described on the phone as aluminum or I would not have bid).  I bought all as practice material with no specific purpose in mind.Now I have an interest in learning how to fab galvanized to angle, etc.  Have a big stick welder and a SP125 Plus.  Expect the stick will be my weapon of choice as I'm having better results with stick than MIG at this point.  Need to add a dedicated 25 amp MIG circuit as I'm getting no real penetration on 1/8" steel.What can I learn from the galvanized material?  All welding is outside.Thanks,jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30"  vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:"Not sure I'd call those "newbie" projects!"He didn't.Last edited by phillip; 04-29-2014 at 10:42 PM.Now I lay me down to sleep, by the bed a Colt I do keep.Should I wake and find you inside, a coroner van is your next ride.
Reply:To clarify, all the angle and the 1/8"x4x8' sheets of plate are plain steel.  The mixed size sheets of 16 ga are galvanized.Jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30"  vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press
Reply:Originally Posted by storemanAs a result of "winning" a govt auction.  I am now proud owner of 3 4x8 sheets of 1/8 steel plate, 100' of 3/16x2x2 angle and 20+ pieces of galvanized sheet approx 16 ga varying dimensions from 3x5 to 3x8' (they were described on the phone as aluminum or I would not have bid).  I bought all as practice material with no specific purpose in mind.Now I have an interest in learning how to fab galvanized to angle, etc.  Have a big stick welder and a SP125 Plus.  Expect the stick will be my weapon of choice as I'm having better results with stick than MIG at this point.  Need to add a dedicated 25 amp MIG circuit as I'm getting no real penetration on 1/8" steel.What can I learn from the galvanized material?  All welding is outside.Thanks,jerry
Reply:Wroughtn,I kind of reached the same conclusion.  Thanks.Jerry30+ yrs Army Infantry & Field Artillery, 25 yrs agoMiller 350LX Tig Runner TA 210, spool gunLincoln 250/250 IdealArcESAB PCM 500i PlasmaKazoo 30"  vert BSKazoo 9x16 horiz BSClausing 12x24 lathe20T Air Press