Swagelok Orbital Welder

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After living with manual TIG welds on our stainless steel products for 2 years, we finally went with the Swagelok M200 orbital TIG welder with 20H (2") weld head. It allows us to produce consistent, text-book welds with excellent penetration, and we can't imagine ever being without it now.The attached photo is 1" OD 16 gauge (0.065") 304L stainless tubing shoulder welded into a 316 cast 1/8" thick stainless cast fitting. The welder uses an average of 10-12 volts with pulses from 42 to 99 (varies as it goes around) Amps, using Argon. We clean with HTR-30, and are experimenting with a small electro-polishing unit to avoid the manual buffing. Any insight into electropolishing these parts would be appreciated!
Reply:Welding[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpcer12Mp54"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpcer12Mp54[/ame]Finished Product[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD1FVjMB8_g"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD1FVjMB8_g[/ame]
Reply:Typical Weld Log ...This is for the thinner wall 18-gauge (0.049") to 0.125" thick cast end fittings, which we had to weld vertically (for a consistent puddle shape):
Reply:That machine is sweet. Do you make the rod ends in house?Is this for Bimini tops and the like?Brian LeonardAppalachian Ironworks L.L.C.434 Long Branch Rd, Marshall, NC 28753828 649 9966828 702 [email protected]
Reply:Yes, we like the machine - its more like a science than welding. No pedals or knobs - just program it (it will build a program from about 12 inputs), and tweak to perfrection!We use 1" ID, cast 316 polished end-fittings (as well as 90 and 60-degree Tee fittings), 304L tubing and weld the whole structure togetehr with the Swagelok orbital welder. We've evaluating some other brands, but the Swagelok team has been super helpful, so we're using their product!Our products, the T-Topless, Montauk-Topless, Shadow and Flats-Top do away with annoying Bimini tops, and replace them with welded stainless steel tops that are out of the way (like a T-Top), yet fold down like a Bimini.They're made of solid 304L and 316 stainless, so they last forever, and allow boaters to keep their boat in their garage.
Reply:Originally Posted by T-ToplessYes, we like the machine - its more like a science than welding. No pedals or knobs - just program it (it will build a program from about 12 inputs), and tweak to perfrection!We use 1" ID, cast 316 polished end-fittings (as well as 90 and 60-degree Tee fittings), 304L tubing and weld the whole structure togetehr with the Swagelok orbital welder. We've evaluating some other brands, but the Swagelok team has been super helpful, so we're using their product!Our products, the T-Topless, Montauk-Topless, Shadow and Flats-Top do away with annoying Bimini tops, and replace them with welded stainless steel tops that are out of the way (like a T-Top), yet fold down like a Bimini.They're made of solid 304L and 316 stainless, so they last forever, and allow boaters to keep their boat in their garage.
Reply:Here are our products .... (www.RNR-MARINE.com)T-Topless & Montauk-T-Topless:Shadow:and a Radar Arch I fabricated for my Trojan F32:The welds not cleaned or polished yet, We align the electrode on the orbital welder to melt the edge of the fitting,leaving a nice 45 degree chamfer, and good penetration into the 0.065" tubing wall.We pull out the set screws and MIG in the set screw holes so they're flush,then clean with HTR-30 and buff or electropolish.
Reply:Charleston is great - starting to get hot & humid now though. Call when you're down ...
Reply:Wow that is beautiful work. if only I could afford a boat, I'd have one. How's business been you know "with this economy and all." I'll call when we're there next. It's always  good to get the real deal on righteous seafood from the locals. I love coming down in the cold months and getting an oyster roast, I can eat a whole one myself.Brian LeonardAppalachian Ironworks L.L.C.434 Long Branch Rd, Marshall, NC 28753828 649 9966828 702 [email protected]
Reply:Business is good. The economy is turning a bit, and people need shade on their boats! We actually save people $100-$500 per month with the T-Topless. Fishermen want T-Tops, so they can fish around the boat with no bimini straps. But the "fixed" T-Top won;t fit in a garage, so they have to pay $100-$500/month for storage or dry stack. The T-Topless lets them store it in their garage - safe and secure ... protected from hurricanes and vandals ... always ready to go ... and cheap! If they save an average of $300/month - that $3,600/year = $36,000 savings over an average 10 year boat ownership!The T-Topless is well enough made, that it can be easily removed and moved to their next boat as well. They might need a new canvas every 5-7 years or so ... and thats it!
Reply:Originally Posted by T-ToplessThe attached photo is 1" OD 16 gauge (0.065") 304L stainless tubing shoulder welded into a 316 cast 1/8" thick stainless cast fitting. The welder uses an average of 10-12 volts with pulses from 42 to 99 (varies as it goes around) Amps, using Argon.
Reply:Having grown up on the great lakes and having been around boats all my life, I must say, Thats a awsome Idea! beautiful workmanship. Sorry tho. I don't think it would go well on my old woodie.Lincoln Ranger 8                        Lincoln 175                          Drill pressLincoln 225 mig                            Plasma                              8 ft brake        52" jump shear
Reply:Originally Posted by 4sfedIs that to compensate for the part heating up?Our stainless steel spokes for wire wheels were electropolished at one time, but the process was very finicky and environmentally unfriendly . . . it cost more to dispose of the solution than to buy it.  We switched to vibratory finishing . . . first with plastic media embedded with 400 grit silicon carbide flour, then ball burnish with stainless steel ballcones.Jim
Reply:Originally Posted by T-ToplessWe're going to try a small electropolishing. We just really need to do the leg ends. We've done it before with CitriSurf and the wand, but thats tedious. We've made a fixture that will get the current close, so we can run 12VDC/20A and CitriSurf or Sulfuric acid. We'll see ...
Reply:Exactly .. and the consistency of electropolishing should be better.Not to mention this will passivate the stainless, extracting iron ions, and making it even more rust resistant.
Reply:Who else has done orbital welding?What type of equipment did you use, and how did it work for you?
Reply:Have you looked at the Pro-fusion site, they have a handy pulse calculator that helps you compare different pulse parameter combinations.  The parameter set in your printout is a soft pulse, 88 amps high, 43 amps low, 42% high time.  An example of a radical pulse with the same average current of 62 amps is 167 amps high, 17 amps low, 30% high time.  It's interesting that you can have such widely different pulse settings and get the same average current.http://www.pro-fusiononline.com/welding/pulseparams.asphttp://www.pro-fusiononline.com/welding/pulserate.asp
Reply:That is interesting ... great site!The Swagelok 200M 120VAC model is limited to 100Amps. They have a 200VAC model that does more (200A?)The cool thing with the orbital is that it is so scientific. You can made slight modifications and see the results. This is great when you have a lot of similar welds, and you can tweak it so they come out perfect and leave as little haze as possible.
Reply:We've got our welding process down, but need help with our electropolishing.We're getting all of the heat tint off with HTR-30 (nitric acid & ammonium bifluoride) and electropolishing, but end up with a haze that we still have to buff off.We're using:CitriSurf 9002 citric acid solution,12VDC/10A power connected,Postive connected to the part (anode),Negative to my stainless steel cathodes,using a special fixture which keeps the parts about 1/8" away from the cathodes,the solution boils after about 1 minutes, consuming 15A,[*}we've run it 30secs, 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 minutes with similar results.Last edited by T-Topless; 06-21-2009 at 08:37 AM.
Reply:We have been told that passivating in this CitriSurf at 90 degrees for about 5 minutes then applying voltage might work ... thoughts?
Reply:I have more experience with orbital welding than with finishing. But am curious to see what you come up with as a solution for your electropolishing as I need to come up with something as well.Right now I use Antox 71e plus, it does a really good job at removing all of the weld color, it contains Nitric and hydroflouric acid. I give is a quick scuff with a hand pad after and its done. I would like to find something more simple however, I'd like to just dump the parts in a bin and call it good.
Reply:What kind of finish does the Antox 71e plus give/ Or does it just remove the temperature discoloration?
Reply:It just removes HAZ, but it can be used for passivation.
Reply:Usually if you brush the weld immediately after welding is done with a stainless brush you can get almost all of the discoloration off.  Then after cooling, you can use scotch-brite which works very well.  This is definately not going to make it look electropolished though.  Also curious about the process.