Big Welds

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Every so often we have to do some pretty large weldments. Spray is usually what we'll fill the V in with, but things get so dang hot that I'm always trying to find ways to automate the process. You can see how wide of a V they left me to fill in (wasteful).  Here are pictures of two projects I did.  The first photos were done by hand and the last two, which are J welds were done with a track burner. Attached ImagesCommon sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Oh yeah... That is a heavy piece of copper to keep the burner from tipping over from the whip and clamps.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:I love it!Settings please? Looks like that tweeco torch has been run hard.Matt
Reply:The machine is a 304 xmt set at around 27 volts, 22A feeder around 500 and 98/2 for gas. I could be a little off on the settings, but that's a good starting point anyhow.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Welds look very nice from what I can see. Next you need to get a subarc to do these... .No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:looks like a great job for FCAW?Vantage 500's LN-25's, VI-400's, cobramatics, Miller migs, synch 350 LX, Powcon inverters, XMT's, 250 Ton Acurrpress 12' brake, 1/4" 10' Atlantic shear,Koikie plasma table W/ esab plasmas. marvel & hyd-mech saws, pirrana & metal muncher punches.
Reply:Looks to me like its hard wire. No slag left behind. 052 or 1/16 wire? Those welds are mint!The largest V gap I did was for a military trailer which had a 3" opening at the top of the V groove. Ii think we counted in the area of 60 passes with 1/16 flux core wire. Big gaps are fun to fill at first, then it gets boring lol.Another job we did was slightly smaller but used a submerge arc welder.
Reply:Thats how i do it , except i use a tweco automated gun so i can adjust it up and down works great , but the flash burn when u get sick of watching the weld sucks lolI forgot how to change this.
Reply:I've run Sub-Arc in the shipyards before, but I think that would be a pain to setup for these smaller welds. FCAW was an option, but the spray was close by.  .045 was in the machine. The 22a feeder has a trigger lock option so all I have to do is tap the button once to start continuous feed and once to stop.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Awesome welds. I've not seen that size gap since I was in the service. I can only imagine what that will do to your monthly power bill. Regards,RobGreat Basin WeldingInstagramBlue weldersRed weldersMy luscious Table DIY TIG Torch cooler
Reply:How bad will the heat distortion be? That was always my biggest fight on big welds like that.QamuIs Heg qaq law' lorvIs yInqaq puS
Reply:Great idea using the track torch car.  A few years ago I welded a lip on  a Hitachi 5500 face shovel clam using a track torch, the material was around 5 inches thick so had a rather large bevel to fill.  I didn't have a 22A feeder at the time so just used a zip tie to hold the trigger and cut it at the end of each pass, turned the car around, put another zip tie on it and let er go.  Only took about 24 hours to weld it up, pretty much unheard of time back then to weld on a lip.6 Miller Big Blue 600 Air Paks2 Miller 400D6 Lincoln LN-25's4 Miller Xtreme 12VS2 Miller Dimension 812 4 Climax BW-3000Z bore welders Hypertherm 65 and 85Bug-O Track BugPair of Welpers
Reply:Looks really nice!! Looks like a a good job for some dualshield wire.Ya gotta spend money to make money!
Reply:This is so above my head...and fascinating at the same time!  "These instructions are at our present level ofknowledge. Legal requirements do not exist.Technical issues subject to change."_________________________________________Lincoln MIG PAK 180Lincoln AC-225
Reply:Those are really nice lookin' welds. I'm also curious how you control warping. Reminds me of repairing cracked manganese on a roll crusher. 2 1/2" thick and 24" wide. Gouge it out w/ air arc, fill it up w/ 1/4" nicromang and peen the heck out of every pass w/ an air chisel. Took 9-10 hrs.                                                MikeOl' Stonebreaker  "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes"Hobart G-213 portableMiller 175 migMiller thunderbolt ac/dc stick Victor O/A setupMakita chop saw
Reply:Nice looking welds.Cool trick with the track burner. We have a similar setup where I work, with an on/off toggle switch pigtail for the feeder. When it’s time to retire that Tweco #4, check into a 450amp Tragaskiss Toughgun, with the heavy duty consumables.Will
Reply:might want to use some run off tabs next time. I always loved filling up big bevels. I use to do it all the time at the vessel shop I worked at for a while. We did some big bevels there, like running dual wire on the sub arc for 20 hours straight kind of big.
Reply:I thought about run-off tabs, but I ended up trigging in the missing corners.  Warpage isnt an issue because it gets machined all the way around.  My biggest issue was I would occasionally get porosity at the start of the weld if the nozzle wasnt in just the right spot. So I would grind the section out, mig it back in, then run back over with spray like a normal pass.  I would have sprayed into the ground out area, but that would require me to dismount the gun so I could get at a proper angle of attack for the lower spot and I have a short arc machine close by.  All together, the pieces were about 32" long and it took about 7 passes to fill each side.  On average it was taking me about 35 minutes per side. To get it in that position, I tacked some flat bars together to make an L for it to sit on, hanging off my table.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:very good weld, never thought to hold a torch to automate rail, good job.
Reply:Did you wire wheel after each pass? Helps to get the glazed stuff that surfaces up on top of the weld. Spray rocks!
Reply:The first few passes I didnt have much of an issue with the glass other than a little spatter from time time. But after a while, it was building up pretty thick so I did wire wheel it a few times. Normally I will wire wheel every pass if I'm doing it by hand. And after multiple passes, on the cover runs, I'll shove-it to cover up a few of my inconsistencies.Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.
Reply:Clamps clamps clamps lol .....Can we ever have enough clamps lol think my last count was 36  lol Nice work my friend
Reply:Originally Posted by BrainfarthThe first few passes I didnt have much of an issue with the glass other than a little spatter from time time. But after a while, it was building up pretty thick so I did wire wheel it a few times. Normally I will wire wheel every pass if I'm doing it by hand. And after multiple passes, on the cover runs, I'll shove-it to cover up a few of my inconsistencies.
Reply:No wonder you hands were getting hot.Looks like you were wearing TIG gloves.LOLAWS certified welding inspectorAWS certified welder
Reply:Haha.. I'm bad with tig gloves.. I go through them like TP..Common sense in an uncommon degree is what the world calls wisdom.