4130 Struts.

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You do not have to love them or agree with how I weld them. But this is how we have been welding 4130 steel for a long time. It is done very slow very hot, and we use 70-S2 or tiny bits of 70-S6 if it is a very small weld. I just use some MIG wire. The wire just raised the puddle a little bit. You use only tiny bits. I heat very hot fuse the base metals, and then add just a touch of wire. Let it mix well, come off the heat a bit and move on. It takes me a few minutes for each joint. We find that it is not the chrome that burns up, but rather the iron that gets destroyed, so we use the mild steel filler. But I weld very slowly very little heat, the preheat is at least 400 degrees out beyond where the coverage does not even cover.  These are for a friend. So I was really only interested in making sure each bead, had mixed and penetrated and was above grade. The looks are the looks. I dredge up oxidized particles that surface and stay on top. I wire brushed off one weld to get a better look at it.  But this is done very hot. Chrome alloys start turning blue at around 400 degrees. Most 4130 welds are fit very close, so you could fuse them, however the puddle does not seem healthy, without the addition of some softer cleansing filler wire.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:We were given these with rosettes drilled into the pipe. We do not believe in rosettes. They are usually the site for a crack or tear. Because it is not a complete weld. It is the ideal place to tear the pipe. I guess I will have to fill them in though, they are too large to leave.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:willie..i dont see no pictures.
Reply:I got 'em here.William, it doesn't look too heavily oxidized for traveling slow, are you trying to make it behave more like a gas weld? and what is the tubing section?Matt
Reply:This is the piece before welding. You can see there is not much meat if you would like to penetrate right through the pipe. If I was welding something larger, I could stick weld it with 4130 and the deoxidizing compounds in the ARC rod would allow me to weld it properly. But since I am using TIG I cannot deoxidize it or keep it from oxidizing. Steel even when kept in inert gas, tends to color. That iron just loves and finds oxygen. I would not be surprised if it gets some oxygen from the ceramic cup. And the steel certainly has some oxygen in its surface. So I use a rod that has some deoxidizing capability. But I use a small amount of rod. Even on mild steel I will not just fuse it, I always add a deoxidizing rod. There is a problem at my Web Hosting company my pictures may not display properly. Until the resolve it.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadwillie..i dont see no pictures.
Reply:I cannot get the whole number off the pipe. I was told it was 4130. It may have a heat treat though. I warm it up a a lot before I weld it.        Sincerely,             William McCormick
Reply:Originally Posted by MondoIt must be a problem on your end, Weldbead.  I see the pics just fine.  - Mondo
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadray, they look good now, but i swear they weren't there before.....of course ididget to woodstock early, and stayed late...