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I will be welding up some piping to complete my car project. I will be TIGing the exhaust (steel) and intercooler piping (AL). What techniques do you guys use to weld around the piping with a continuous looking bead? Do you do 90 degrees at a time, rotate, and another 90 degrees?The exhaust will be easy enough. The AL piping (2mm wall) will probably be a bit tougher since I'm a newbie welder. I will probably have to learn how to use the pulse feature for thin wall AL.
Reply:What techniques do you guys use to weld around the piping with a continuous looking bead? Do you do 90 degrees at a time, rotate, and another 90 degrees?
Reply:Zap is correct, it takes much practice and patience. Good luck to you!John - fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!- bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Thanks guys.This is for my hobby project so nothing is critical. I've been practicing on scrap and steel and AL and steel is just soo much more relaxing to work on. AL is nerve racking by comparison. If I get it all wrong...no big deal, I will purchase more piping and practice practice practice.So what's a positioner look like? Maybe I can build one. Is it just a stand with foot operated turning or something like that? Excuse the newbieness.
Reply:Searched positioners and no way am I getting one for hobby use. BUT, the idea sounds great and is something I can rig up that's operated in a manual fashion.Any reason I can't mount a TIG torch and use my free hand to turn the positioner/table?
Reply:What free hand? You mean mount the torch solidly so your right hand isn't holding it? And use your left hand to feed filler and your right hand to turn your tube? Get me some video of that. Sounds really difficult for someone experienced even.Lincoln Power Mig 210MP MIGLincoln Power Mig 350MP - MIG and Push-PullLincoln TIG 300-300Lincoln Hobby-Weld 110v Thanks JLAMESCK TIG TORCH, gas diffuser, pyrex cupThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 101My brain
Reply:^^Yes...but it's probably more trouble than it's worth. I will more than likely just freehand everything. Just practice more with my starts and stops to make a prettier bead. Again, I just need functional...not necessarily flawless.
Reply:Originally Posted by TeCKis300Searched positioners and no way am I getting one for hobby use. BUT, the idea sounds great and is something I can rig up that's operated in a manual fashion.Any reason I can't mount a TIG torch and use my free hand to turn the positioner/table?
Reply:If you can get an assistant with a steady hand, they can turn the pipe while you weld it. I acted as a positioner for a project a mate was working on and it turned out nicely.
Reply:Backstep your welds and you can get a smooth weld that even an experienced welder wouldn't think twice about when looking at. Nothing wrong with a couple starts and stops on pipe/tubing. Just make the transition look smooth and it will be fine.Post some pics when done! I think aluminum tubing can be tricky at first because it tends to melt away and can leave you wanting to add too much filler material to prevent burn through. There is a fine balance in heat, speed, filler material etc... but once you get it down it will be 2nd nature.
Reply:Got done with most of the exhaust today. It was 3" SS piping. Made 3 butt joints today...wasn't bad at all! I finally tried the pulse feature on my welder (Riland 160P) and it was very handy. It got me into a steady rhythm and doesn't put too much heat into the exhaust so it doesn't burn through as easily. The way the exhaust setup is, it would have been too unweidly for a positioner anyways. I didn't mind the start/stop transitions at all....some parts of the joint didn't fit as well together but it came together just fine.I'll get some pics up later.I hope the aluminum works out as easily.Thanks for the help guys.
Reply:Pics up. Not the prettiest but it will get the job done. It's the rework welds in grayish color...not the original pretty tig welds. I didn't do any brushing or cleaning after these welds. I really didn't even clean before the weld...need to get in the habbit of doing that.Critique away
Reply:so how is the aluminum tubing coming along? I practiced a bit tonight with 16 gauge 2.5" tubing. I just cut about 4 sections of the tube, each about 1-2" wide and welded them back together. On the butt weld I find it hard to get the puddle started. Even tack welds take a little too much effort. However, I can start the puddle and run a decent bead on the middle section of tubing (not trying to join two pieces). what is a nice torch for doing tubing anyway? my ck-17 torch seems just too bulky when trying to work my way around the tube. i hold it like a pen but with the weight of the cables that gets tiring on the fingers and wrist. Does anyone their torch like a hammer? That feels just plain awkward.Thermal Arc 185TSW
Reply:This is the main reason i got into welding. Im in the learning phase as well
Reply:Originally Posted by chadrwhat is a nice torch for doing tubing anyway? my ck-17 torch seems just too bulky when trying to work my way around the tube. i hold it like a pen but with the weight of the cables that gets tiring on the fingers and wrist.
Reply:I really didn't even clean before the weld...need to get in the habbit of doing that.
Reply:Originally Posted by olddadI use a WP-20, really light even with the leather cover I've got on it. I also run the leads over my shoulder, only weight you're holding is the torch this way.
Reply:I was running the cables over my shoulder during some of the tubing work I did with steel, but I guess I got away from doing it. Will try that to see how much that helps with the handling of the torch. My bottle of argon just ran out last night so I traded up for a larger bottle (249 cf from 150 cf) so I am ready for much more practicing. That smaller torch is tempting and it sounds like the choice of many of you on here. I'll have to make up an inexpensive cooler though just because I like to make stuff instead of spend lots of money on something that won't get much use.Thermal Arc 185TSW
Reply:normally I just come up the one side of the tube as far as I can go and then come up the other direction till the beads meet. Then I flip it around and finish it off the same way.Have we all gone mad?
Reply:practiced a little tonight and joined two 16 gauge tubes. I only had 60 amps max and I turned off the pulse. My freq was 100 and balace of 20% cleaning. There was only one spot where the aluminum melted a little on the inside, but other than that I will keep trying to get the consistancy down. The last attachment, the pic all the way on the left is the one I just did. The others were from my first alumimium tubing welds from earlier in the week. Lotsa holes where the butt welds were, but the beads on just tube didn't turn out as bad. Attached ImagesThermal Arc 185TSW |
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发表于 2021-9-1 00:29:36