Todays small production job

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I have 170 pieces and 170 couplings to be welded on.  Simple job.  I prepped all the couplings a few days ago and ground the mill scale off the 5/8" plate as I went along.   Process was pulsed spray of course, 325 Ipm of .030 wire, 92% argon, 8% co2, Lincoln V350 pro and 200 amp Lincoln gun that got hot after about 30 minutes of welding.I asked if I could use one of the plates to make a jig and the customer said sure. (we only needed 160 pieces).  An 18mm SNAP ON socket was welded to the plate at the correct depth so I can throw a plate on top of that one, drop the coupling on and weld away.  It worked flawless.  Raw material on the right, finished product on the left.I thought about making a jig to hold the gun but it would have to be lifted up to change plates, so I just held it with my hand. I did hang the whip by a bungee cord from above so I was not always holding the weight of the mig gun.Plates came on a skid laser cut.This was the set upEverything was easy to reachClose up of weld.....I took this one so  you could see the blue (heat) inside the coupling. Last edited by David R; 01-14-2009 at 06:54 PM.Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Ready to be loaded up when the customer shows up.  This is a small part of the job.   When these were picked up today, they dropped off 15 of 80 heat exchangers to be welded.  The total job is probably 2-3 weeks work.  I used about 1/2 a 30 lb roll of wire on these 169 parts.  Its too freakin cold to work on the cell tower, so I got a start on this one.I have had this job 3 years in a row. Each time the quantity about doubles.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Sure like the rotating positioner.  Makes for beautiful welds.  Heat looks good, but not too hot to distort the coupling.  Did they give you something to screw into them to see if it fit well after applying the heat to it?"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:saw second post........... they must fit  Woulda heard somethin' after all those years"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:The threads are fine and I am sure they are centered.  I couldn't screw that part up.  ONE I forgot to hold down with my other hand when I started the weld and it pulled off to an angle.  A hose gets hooked to these, so it won't matter, but I only want the best.  The first one I didn't have enough heat for the 5/8" plate, so it didn't look so good, but the rest seemed to come out fine.   They go back to the machine shop to be drilled and milled, then at some point they will all be pressure tested for leaks.David Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:With that solid continuous weld, they should all test out 100%I had to fix a fitting on a hyd. cyl. once with the damn oil still in the cyl. and tubing.  What a mess.  My original weld with the cyl. off the baler wasn't pressure tight, and I wasn't gonna take the whole thing apart again to redo it.  Blobbed a lot of metal on the leak until it quit.  It seems to be kind of difficult to weld with oil coming out  Funny looking results.  Had visions of the damn cylinder exploding in my face"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:looks like nice workmanship. tried a few years back at my last comand to get a rotating positioner but they didnt want to spend the money. would have saved a lot of time with all the parts we were fabricating back then. dave
Reply:Nice job, I'd like to pick me up one of them turn tables"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal"   -Henry Ford
Reply:Last year I bought the positioner for this job, like I said there is more too it.  Its one of those tools you wonder how you got along with out it.  Same for the forklift and the car lift in the last picture.  I used to load and unload that stuff by hand.  That skid probably weighs close to a ton, the forklift steers real easy....The next part of the job will be "More Heat Exchangers"  Stay tuned David Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:great job where did you get the positioner ever thinkof getting a water cooled mig gun mite be worth it
Reply:Originally Posted by ed macgreat job where did you get the positioner ever thinkof getting a water cooled mig gun mite be worth it
Reply:Nice bit of fabrication work. Sure makes the welding easier.If you did that many pieces with a water cooled gun you have have to have alot of breaks to rest the hand and arm. Our shop cooled mig has a long spring attached to a rotating articulating arm sure makes it easier when doing a 100 or more pieces.Co-Own CNC shop:Miller :1251 plasma cutter, MaxStar 700 TIG/Stick, & XMT 456 Multiprocess Welder.&  2 Hypertherm HPR260's Plasma CutterSorry I had a bad stroke but now I am back.
Reply:Great looking welds.  But, I think you should have done it the way a REAL weldor would have, by walking around, and around, and around, and stumblin over stuff, broken arc, restarts, cold starts, spatter everywhere.  Seriously,  Great work.
Reply:Great looking welds David R, I remember  the previous posting for this job.Maybe you could mess with the electrics and get the positioner to race back a little and then go ahead normally and you'd wind up with the stack of dimes look!Seriously though, I always think that welds that look like yours are the berries.Farmersamm I did the fix the hydraulic cylinder in situ procedure recently and i know what you mean. It's like welding a geyser and you've gotta keep dabbing until you think you've got it stopped. However I'd seen a post saying that they do big oil pipeline repairs while they're still full of oil, so figured the cylinder on the rear bucket should be ok. I was a bit "time poor" at the time, so ten minutes was better than a couple of hours to strip it out."One of the things we have to be thankful for is that we don't get as much government as we pay for." (Charles Kettering)Mitch 180 (NZ)Lincoln SAM-400-220 + ?-400 Fordson Major + 2 x Tractapac Humber 80 + Procut 40 PlasmaMiller Spectrum 375
Reply:Sam and Tractapac, I have welded a couple of cylinders with oil in them..  I set em up so its pulling (or pushing) on the cylinder so as I make heat, it doesn't squirt oil into the weld.  Its a crappy way to do it.  I have hand them I couldn't fix even off the machine and drained!David Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:" A hose gets hooked to these, so it won't matter, but I only want the best."I would say you have it figured out by looking at those last two pictures. I did quite a bit of the oil pipeline repairs and also water injection lines in my career as an oilfield welder. They aren't that hard after you learn what works and what doesn't. There are safety procedures that you need to follow too.
Reply:Oldtimer, it was a post of yours that was in my mind but I couldn't remember your user name here. I could remember that it had old at the front but couldn't remember whether it was ...timer, ...iron or, I think there's another one with a 2 on the end of it. I thought it was better to mention it incorrectly and not to dig a hole for myself by saying one of the "Old... dudes". Now let's test the memory again. How's the smoker going, with the brisket? (if I fail this I might have to become Oldtractapac!)Sorry for the hijack, David R"One of the things we have to be thankful for is that we don't get as much government as we pay for." (Charles Kettering)Mitch 180 (NZ)Lincoln SAM-400-220 + ?-400 Fordson Major + 2 x Tractapac Humber 80 + Procut 40 PlasmaMiller Spectrum 375
Reply:The smoker works great. Even the first brisket was a success. Son-in-law thinks staying with it and adding wood is too much work, soooo-------- I have build a gas burner and will probably install it tomorrow. That way he can just add some wood chips to a smoker box now and then. OK, done with the hi-jack.