my first tig project

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Enough of practicing, I'm making something of some use but still nothing I can screw up too bad. I cut up my weightlifting rack, (unused and taking up space) and am re-welding pieces of it to make a better stand for my harbor freight bandsaw. The stand will have wheels at the back, and just a foot at the front. Still needs work, obviously. Attached are some photos. What a wreck my shop is !- JohnLast edited by MicroZone; 07-05-2007 at 07:12 PM.
Reply:well from what i can see your on the right track as far as "getting started"..next time try cleaning off as much paint near the weld area as possible..clean it after with acetone inside and out as best as you can get it..the "not bad" pic is not bad..but next time try to continue the weld to go all the way around the piece  shaking and vibrations can "split" the weld eventually...all you need is practicebut your off to a good start.....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Thanks for the kind words.On one joint I had an area that I didn't get the paint off *at all* - and found out that tig really, really doesn't work with any amount of paint. I thought maybe I could just blast through it, but no go.Tonight the harbor freight wheels go on, with any luck.
Reply:Originally Posted by runchmanEnough of practicing, I'm making something of some use but still nothing I can screw up too bad. I cut up my weightlifting rack, (unused and taking up space) and am re-welding pieces of it to make a better stand for my harbor freight bandsaw. The stand will have wheels at the back, and just a foot at the front. Still needs work, obviously. Attached are some photos. What a wreck my shop is !- John
Reply:The existing stand is incredibly cheesy, and too low. I'm tired of stooping down, I'm getting too old for that. I'm also going to add a chip tray and a simple flood coolant system, and a better stand will facilitate that.I'd recommend the saw, given that it needs a bit of tweaking. There is a yahoo 4x6 bandsaw group that has a decent amount of info.For $200 it beats the hell out of a hacksaw, by a mile. You have to buy a new blade for it though, the one it comes with is crap.- John
Reply:good choice on rasing it up.. bandsaw blades (real good ones) can be bought on a spool...like fishing line..granted you have to weld them together then grind and anneal them..its not all that hard to do..tig works great for welding blades...just a thought......zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Originally Posted by runchmanThe existing stand is incredibly cheesy, and too low. I'm tired of stooping down, I'm getting too old for that. I'm also going to add a chip tray and a simple flood coolant system, and a better stand will facilitate that.I'd recommend the saw, given that it needs a bit of tweaking. There is a yahoo 4x6 bandsaw group that has a decent amount of info.For $200 it beats the hell out of a hacksaw, by a mile. You have to buy a new blade for it though, the one it comes with is crap.- John
Reply:Harbor freight is only about 10 minutes away from my place of work... can be dangerous on the lunch hour. If you do opt for the saw, poke around on the web for a 20% off coupon. I found one, an old one that someone had scanned, and the store took it no questions asked, didn't even bother trying to scan the barcode on it.If you can't find one, pm me and I can mail you a copy of mine. It's worth a try to save $40 on the saw.And to be honest, I used the coupon for a tig welder, then returned the welder, and got the full price back w/o the 20% off, so I actually made money on the deal. I told  the clerk about the mistake while he was doing the refund - he adjusted the price, put the transaction thru, then said he'd screwed it up and needed to repeat it. The second time I kept my mouth shut and he didn't adjust the price. I figured if he's so dense that he can't remember something from 1 minute ago, that's his problem and I'll pocket a couple bucks.
Reply:Originally Posted by zapstergood choice on rasing it up.. granted you have to weld them together then grind and anneal them..its not all that hard to do.....zap!
Reply:First you weld a blade together, put it in the band saw, set the tension, start cutting and snap, the weld breaks.Now you read the instructions (which have conveniently been almost completely rubbed off), weld it again, put it in the band saw, set the tension, start cutting and snap, it breaks again.Then you swear a bit, weld it again, put it in the band saw, set the tension, start cutting and snap, it breaks again.You swear some more, break out the tig, weld it again, put it in the band saw, set the tension, start cutting and snap, it breaks again.Then you call up the local shop supply place and buy one that's pre welded.That is the method that I use, it works every time.
Reply:that's all well and good, but do you realize you could have saved 38 cents per blade by learning to weld it yourself?Over the course of a lifetime that adds up to AT LEAST a buck and a half.that's it, I'm going to bed. 1:27 am, I think it's time.
Reply:actually i'm curious how you would anneal it too. its obviously a higher carbon steel or the teeth would never cut anything, which means its not a self annealing steel like 1020 and below. so form what i got from my metalurgy class, a proper annealing would mean taking it up to 13 or 1400 degrees and then turning off the oven and letting it SLLLlooooowwwwlly cool down but then it would lose all its hardness value... are cuting blades even hard at all? I would think they would be like a 1080 or 1090 or some alloy in that range because then they would be spring steel for flexibility, and if tempered right they would retain most of their hardness and not be brittle.are you sure you didnt mean weld and temper .. or is it actually annealing. Hopefully you can understand my ramblings. I'm just curious more than anything.
Reply:on a real bandsaw the "welder" comes off to the side..step 1you cut the blade to length.."square" up the ends..put 1 side in the holdersame with the othersidestep 2you then set the weld current..then you flip a little lever and the two bandsaw blade ends "mash" together and fuse together at the same time..then you undo the blade from the holder and release the tention..step 3you then grind the "bump" flat on both sides..step 4now for the annealing partthen return the blade to the welder..re-clamp in the holder and then there's a button you press and watch as where the weld glows red hot..you stop for about 5 seconds and do it again..blade is properly annealed if you can bend the blade at the weld and it dont snap!if you tig the blade together..do the above steps but skip step 2 and go to 3if you dont have a annealer on the saw get the torch out and gently heat the weld area to red a couple of times and carry on...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Annealing is basically cooling the heated item slowly. I worked for a company that 80% of the parts in our tools were heat-treated. I was looking for welding table ideas on the net and I came upon a welder/machinist web site. The gentleman had sand under the table..ok. A little reading and he mention that he used the sand to slowly cool the item after welding. Something to keep in mind for the future.DanMy instructor said someone will catch on fire during class...He wasn't joking!!
Reply:I built a frame around the base of my bandsaw and put casters on it.  Now it moves to fit the lengths of pipe.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.