I really appreciate threads like this. Anytime I get satisfied with my welding or fab work in general, I can look at a thread like this and it motivates me to try harder and do better. I have no work of my own to contribute, but another source of personal inspiration should there be others who see the same value in these types of threads as I do: http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31417 Here are couple of my favorites from that thread (too big to embed) http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=28371&d=1193603638 http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=28372&d=1193603638 Beyond the welding, just think of the skill needed to fish-mouth those tubes.
I am in no way trying to diminish the craftsmanship and skill demonstrated as it is way beyond anything I am capable of in any field not just fabrication, but it might make everyone feel a little better to know that he isn't exactly doing this on a dirt driveway with a 40 year old Lincoln Buzz-Box. Check out the shop: http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35125 If those welds don't make your jaw drop, try this: http://www.race-dezert.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=28137&d=1193221717 FWIW, those desert racing truck guys probably test the strength of their welds more often than anyone else. Again, not taking anything away from the fabricator, but if he doesn't know what he is doing, bad things happen quickly. So while it is nice to aspire to that and marvel over the quality, unless you are regularly jumping a 4000+lbs truck 16+ft high at 80+mph, you can probably set your sights a little lower.
Since I've been gone from Chrysler, I don't get a ton of practice doing structural/fab stuff. I've been staying pretty busy doing my sculptures, it's a lot of scrap getting welded, some sheet metal but not a lot. Right now I'm working on a '29 Seagrave fire engine...but I was having a hard time getting going on it today. So I found a couple of old coupons that hadn't been welded on both sides and laid a couple lines. Here's a mig a did a while back, just snapped a pic of it today. Nothing really functional, just trying to stay sharp
I love the way you sort of "weave" the welds on the upper two. I've been tig welding a couple years now -- all on my own hotrod projects and can lay down a decent line, but I'm curious if you can describe the techniques you use. What are the basic motions on the torch hand, what are you "seeing" with your eyes and how do you apply the filler? I'd like to practice/learn your techniques, they are beautiful to me. I've learned everything by reading, watching, listening and practicing (lots of it) -- so I'm not afraid to learn, just need a mini "course" in the process, how you think about it as you go, etc.. Thanks!
not to answer for jdutsu but i believe he layed the wire and walked the cup, moving the heat up and down the course of the weld. Check out the first few pages there are some more examples of this technique.
Yup, that is what it is. On a flat fillet joint you can lay the wire, then you get the tungsten stick out and cup size matched up to where you rock the cup back and forth...the edge of the cup stays outside of the actual toe line of the weld, the tungsten stays out of the puddle. There's more than one way to do it, you can mess around with it. You can set it up so you've got a little bit of an angle to start with, then on the back of the motion the torch it almost 90*, or you can even go back to a negative angle on the "back stroke." You can use different motions to make it look different, once you are sure you're getting the penetration. You can use kind of a slanted figure 8, or you can rock it in a half moon, as long as you are keeping an even toe line and the weld profile is staying uniform and within spec. On v-joints it's similar, but you'll have the cup edges resting on either side of the groove. Once you get out to the last few passes and there is no edge to rest the cup on you actually rest the front edge of the cup on the weld, and you use it as a fulcrum. The tungsten stick will be such that you can roll/twist the cup from side to side in a sideways 8 and it will stay out of the puddle. Depending on the position, you may have to mess with how you lay the wire. If it's flat or straight up, you can lay it in the center. If it's horizontal or at a funky angle, you'll have to move it so that the weld will stay flat, because gravity is gonna mess with the puddle. On wider cover passes you may either want to roll the wire from side to side, use two smaller rods, or dip it to make sure you get the metal where you want it. As far as what I'm seeing, I watch the puddle and the freeze line, and try to make sure each one stays the same.
There's some killer weld porn in this thread! I've never tried to TIG, but I can drum a bit so maybe there's hope.
maybe I'm a geek, but there's nothing better than a pretty weld. I find myself looking at buidling handrails when I go in just to check.
sorry to sound like a dumb ass but can you put that in laymen terns wtf does walking the cup mean???? im new to welding but i would love to learn.
Lamens terms... you set the cup of the torch against the flats of both panels of material, lay your wire in the corner, angle the torch out, fire it up and wiggle it like a worm
looking for a little advice on butt welding 5052, 11 gauge aluminum, i have a miller dynesty 200 DX, 100% argon, ceriated tungston, i have 5356 filler rod, this is my first time trying to use a tig to butt weld something this thin, its not working to well, can anyone give me a few helpfull hints?
You basically touch the edge of the cup of the tig torch on the metal, and use it as a swivel point for the electrode. On a fillet or a v joint you'll rock it back and forth between the two pieces you're welding, you can kind of see the trail(the zig zag marks on the base metal) the cup is leaving in the marks on this piece: Where there is no "wall" to rest your cup, like on the cover pass of a pipe, you rest the bottom front edge of the cup on the weld itself, and rock/swivel it forward.
Some people push the gun, some pull the gun, some weave it, some circle it, some just hold it nice and steady. They're all strong enough if you know what you're doing and get good penetration. Personally, on a flat fillet I like to find the right settings for the thickness of material, then I turn up the heat a little higher and the wire feed a little lower and use a circular motion or a weave. It gives me a good feel for tying in the outside edges and flattens out the bead. On a butt weld I like to "step" a little bit, kind of a slow motion whip.
The Jalopy Journal
