Welding/Fab General Discussion

I didn't want to hijack the other thread so will pose this question here to the local TIG gurus. I have used my TIG on stainless, titanium and mild steel with great success but never welded aluminum. Last week at work, we found an aluminum casting on one of the production lathes that was broken so they asked me to fix it. This is a hollow housing with approximately 3/16 walls and there were three pieces knocked out of one side but only two pieces were found. I burned the oil out of the housing and the pieces with an O/A torch, then sand blasted everything to remove the residue. Parts were very clean when I went to welding. Since I had no idea of settings, I consult…

I seem to remember someone on here say that they made a TIG welder from a microwave oven. I would like this person to reply back or PM me because I would like to know how they did it and want to know if they would please tell me where they got the plans from or if they would send me the plans. I would LOVE to build one. Looking forward to the reply(s) please and thank you. -Hillbilly

Fabbing up a medium end indoor railing today. Often mig weld, them spend lost of time cleaning up. Always wondering if I should spend more time welding(tig), and no time cleaning. So today, I sprayed some mig filler in there, then went over it with tig, fusion only, washed the welds around, beautiful result, no clean up at all. Yes I use anti-spatter spray, etc, but nothing looks as good as tig.

I know if you wait till the slag cools, when you hit it the slag will fall free of the weld. But if you quickly chip this away will the cold air harden the weld causing problems later?

This is a quick question for all you Oxy/Fuel welders out there.... I have one of those little portable bottle sets that gets moved around the shop pretty regularly. Some one in the shop(not sure who) moved it somewhere that common sense would've said, 'Don't put this here'. To make a long story short, yesterday, the bottles tipped over with the holder and laid on their side for 5-10 seconds. There's only about 25-50lbs more pressure in the acetylene tank before it needs a refill. Should I just go ahead and trade it out? Is it worth trying to use it after it sits for 24 hours? Thanks for any help. Mickey

Looking to buy an oxyacetylene welding outfit. Plan on using it for some basic welding as in making jigs and such for smithing work and, at times, providing some localized heat. Harris? Victor? Others? Thanks

I'm very ignorant when it comes to solving problems with my wire feed. My welder will run for about 3 seconds then the wire gets stuck and the welding stops. When I look at the wire I notice a smashed area that looks like the roller smashed it. Has this happened to anyone else? Should I try to change the roller? Thanks

I am new to welding. I have successfully stuck two pieces of A36 together, and thats about it. So far, they have held up satisfactorily. I have two questions: I need to weld some lathe tool bit steel onto a piece of A36 mild steel. I have a Miller 295 amp stick welder. I need to know what type of welding rod I need to use, and if there is any "special" expertise required to do this job. As mentioned, I am a raw beginner when it comes to welding, so please answer accordingly. Also, in my brief experience at welding, I have had great difficulty in striking the initial ark, and I believe that one of the new instant helmets would help me greatly, since I am not very adept…

What is the best way to go about it? I've read all sort of conflicting info on the web...can't tranport acetylene tanks on their sides.....yes you can transport acetylene tanks on their side.... So, how do all of you go about it? I've got a truck, is there some easy way to secure the tanks to the side of the truck bed? Thanks again.

Does anyone use this? I got some with my MIG from Northern Tools and have been using it to clean the spatter off my nozzle and tip but have been experiencing a great deal of wire feed trouble. I discovered tonight if I don't use it, I can weld alot more without the any feeding trouble. Why would they sell this stuff if it actually makes things worse?

Hi, I have read, that "I prefer ez-weld" and " it is much better than borax", but actually what is ez-weld... or ez-welding? Is it a kind of flux or a welding method? I am also curious that is it better than forge weld with borax or not. Thanks in advance,

Could someone explain Pre-Heat Oxygen pressure to me, and how it is accomplished if I set my regulators to cutting pressures?

I'm amazed at the work in a few old hand forged irons I have So when I was offer the opertunity to make one for a local ranch I was excited. It's for barBQ so is just 2-1/2" in dia. I reduce the image to the appropriate size, select materials, 1/8" X 1/2" and began to O/A weld up the 4R and circle, file and true up. Assemble with the mig and get ready to attach the handle 9hours later, when I saw what I did.... It was a full moon. When I was filing my dog came in and stood under the vice and would not leave, very unusual, he must have known. I didn't have a clue (my wife's been telling me this for years). Dyslexic? Alzheimer's.. I'm not that old. I'll kee…

For those of you that have MIG and/or TIG welding machines, what gas or gas mixtures do you use? If you use mixed gas, do you have a gas mixer or do you get it pre-mixed? What gas or mixed gas (and what percent of what gases) do you use on what material? ie- TIG, 100% ARGON for everything; MIG, 100% CO2 for plain carbon steel in short-circuit transfer; MIG, ARGON/HELIUM/O2 for stainless steel. When I TIG at school, we use 100% ARGON with everything (plain carbon steel, stainless, aluminum). With MIG, we use 100% CO2. But sometimes, with the welders equipped with gas mixers, we mix ARGON and CO2. We only MIG plain carbon steel. Depending on what I'm welding is used for,…

I remember a thread that mentioned that having the ability to stick weld on DC helped in magnetic applications. I was wondering how often those situations might occur or what other applications you'd want / need to use DC for. I was at Lowe's the other day and they had a Lincoln 225 tombstone for around $269 which seems like a decent price to me but it is only AC.

I built this recently for a friend.

When using a metal welding table, clamping the ground to the table work, and makes the entire table the ground. Place the work on the table, hit it with the stinger and go. For some projects the current does not flow as well as I would like. What is your opinion of making a extension to go from the original grounding clamp to another (secondary) grounding clamp that can be attached directly to the project, or close to the weld zone? This could be nothing more than a set of jumper cables, clamp one end to the original grounding clamp and the other to the work. Is this feasible to improve the grounding?

Hey everyone. I recently got an order for a fence that is about 62' long. The folks that ordered it want a finial welded on the top of every other stake. The thing is they do not want me to forge the finials, rather order them in (bummer, huh?) Well I was looking the Kings metal supply website and they have cast steel finials which look nice and I almost refuse to use any forged finials... i dont know just something about buying a forged finial irks me. I was wondering does cast steel weld just the same as regular steel, It is going to be welded to a 1/2 round bar. Thanks for any advice.

Great welders make great welds that need no additional clean up to look good. The rest of us may sometimes need a grinder clean the welds up a bit and or smooth them out. Does grinding the surface of the weld scratch or score the metal in such a way that it makes it easier to start a fracture at the scratch line and break? Does the direction of the scratching matter? Does putting a radius on the weld (through grinding) weaken the weld? I am not talking about digging back into the parent metal just knocking the top off the weldment which leaves a radius.

Has anyone ever welded a Soda Pop can together?? If so, I want to see this and would like to know the procedure in which you had accomplished this. I am told that this can not be done, but on the other hand, I have been told that I CAN be done but have never seen this accomplished let alone seen the process myself. But I not only want confirmation, but PROOF and PROCEDURE. -Hillbilly

anybody have experience with these? i just learned of them; seems many negative opinions about them, yet they are the choice of enough in the top of the field that i want to know a lot more about them. can a regular o/a torch be used? modified? i know about the pressurized can for the gasoline supply...but is everything else compatible at all?

Hey, this is a dumb question, but I can't remember. I'm a new welder still However, I think I'm getting the hang of it. I'm picking up a new welder either this week or next week. A cheap but functional one. If i wanted to weld, I'd attach the ground clamp to my welding table and i could then use clamps to hold down the metal and then just weld right? Now what would I get shocked by if i like touched the table or pieces. I can't remember.....and i don't meet my teacher again for like a week. Just can't remember. Sorrry, lol.

I received my replacement MIG gun from N.T.'s the other day and today I installed it and tried my hand at welding. The first pieces I tried were these 2 pieces of cut off tongs. My second attempt was a RR spike to one of the bus brake drums, that held on a downward hammering but broke off on a sideways strike. The 3rd and last of the day was 2 pieces of 1" x 1/4". First I welded right down the seam of the join, then I flipped it over and ran a bead back and forth, perpendicular to the seam. I used flux core wire for all the welds. I can tell this is going to take some practice!

We are currently practicing for the NOCTI test (National Occupational Competency Testing Institute). We have already taken our written test (and I can post my test results if wanted) and now we are going to do the skilled portion (the actual welding) of the test tomorrow. We have to do a vertical up, V-groove, E7018, 1/4 inch root opening, 60 degree bevel with a backing for stick; all-around MIG weld in spray-arc metal transfer in the horizontal position on a square tube to a flat plate which will be subject to a dye-penetrant testing; Oxy-Acy cut whatever the blueprint says; Aluminum fillet "Tee joint" in the horizontal position with TIG; and Stainless steel fillet "lap …

Our local Farmer's CO-OP carries Forney Welding Rods. I normally buy Lincolns from Lowes. Are the Forneys any good? Any different? Thanks, Don