Can you drill and tap through a tig weld?

I have a frame that has had some holes tig welded up. I may need to drill and tap in this area. Is tig welded steel soft enough to drill and tap through or is it hard like mig welded steel?

 

Tig welds will drill and tap very well. They are in no way similar to a Mig weld.

 

You shouldn't have any trouble drilling and tapping

 

Unless you get a little of the tungston tip in the weld. That makes a hard spot.

 

Agree it shouldn't be a problem...IF the steel wasn't seriously overheated during the welding process (re-welded, etc.).

 

MIG welding was invented by a grinding disk company.

 

the TIG welded area will be no harder than the surrounding metal simply because with a TIG,you basically have fused the metal and actually only added enough filler rod to level the puddle,and in turn,haven't removed near as much carbon from the steel. with a MIG,you create a heat line,and add a larger pile of filler (wire) that adds some inconsistency to the area. not a biggie,but yes,you will be fine drilling and tapping your welded area.
i am one of those hard-heads that will jump right in and try something first,but,i am a 20+ year veteran journeyman toolkmaker/welder/fabricator,so,i have a slight bit of experience. asking a question sure beats broken drills,shattered taps,and a grocery sack of profanitys..............

 

As long as you or the welder knew what they were doing you can tap any metal that is tigged, the shield gas method almost guarantees no inclusion of dross or junk, had to say almost. White, discharge method varies per intake quality.

 

Not true at all. TIG welds can be as hard as a wedding prick if you don't know what you're doing. Most common cause is just a quick weld. Get her hot enough to start the puddle, add the filler, back away and let it air cool too quickly. The same with any other weld or heat treating process.

The best way to avoid welds hardening, is to preheat for a bit and then post heat and cool down slowly to ambient temperature.

The other issue is filler, make sure you use a nice mild filler.

I can tell you from personal experience, I TIG on tool steels regularly, A2, 4140PH etc. I can do one of two things in process. 1, either make it so hard you can barely even grind it, or 2, make just as mild as the native material. Its all about process.

If you happen to make a mistake and get a welded area too hard, you can farm boy anneal it by heating slowly to a dull red, then removing the heat slowly back to ambient temp. We also do this on ductile castings that have been shook out prematurely. So hard, diamond tooling can barely cut it, after annealing, machine-able with high speed steel.

 

Tman Tman Tman.

It's funny. If one out of ten people call you an ass, you should ignore it.

If nine out of ten people call you an ass... ?

Seriously dude, I am REALLY happy you are an expert in every single thing on earth. We should all strive to your level of greatness and there would never be a need to ask a question or seek help from anyone, because we would be as awesome as you.

Seriously dude...

 

If you have ever tried to drill/tap a mig weld or tried to get out a broken tap you wouldn't think it is such a stupid question.

 

I have, and it sucks.

 

You caught the clap on your head ?

 

I thought it was an intelligent question to ask, knowing what its like to drill and tap a Mig welded hole.

if your not sure , i would rather ask then to have a few broken drills or taps than to find out the hard headed way . not asking when you have a place like this full of people who have either been there before, or are wondering the same thing..

why re-invent the wheel if someones been there already..ask the guy how it went..seems perfectly logical

 

An inexpensive 1/8" drill bit will let you know if the metal is too hard. If it goes in, a bigger bit and tap will as well. Buy a bag of bits from Fastenal, you SnapOn guy whatever. The double ended ones are great to have around for spot welds and other small holes. If you break it, oh well, flip it around and use the other end.

 

In most cases(notice I said most) You shouldn't have any trouble if you want to drill and tap through a tig weld.Like what was said earlier,if whomever welded it up knew what they were doing,you will be just fine.As long as they didn't go cooling it down with water,or anything else to speed up the cooling process,it shouldn't be an issue.That said,worst case scenario is,you break a drill bit,get angry,decide to do a little cursing,maybe break the skin a little in the process,then go get the hole filled again,and have a great story to tell everyone.

 

hey tman ,
when ya shit .... Shit with ease.
place your elbows upon your knees.
back your ass up to the hole .
let it go , god bless your sole.

before you tap a hoe get permission .

 

Exactly.
I, for one, do not think that there is anything wrong with the OP's question. However, when reading some of the questions/comments posted, I do think, "What a stupid damn question (or comment). This guy must be a total jock sniffer". But, then I think back over the past sixty odd years and....I probably seemed as stupid. So, when someone who doesn't know comes into my shop and asks a dumb question, I usually try (note: try) really hard to calm myself down and use reason/diplomacy to properly answer.
I am finding that as I get older...uh, make that "mature"...I am losing patience with almost everyone that doesn't know whatever it is that I do...or think I do. It's part of aging. We KNOW we have less time to the end so we become grumpy. You almost never hear of a grumpy YOUNG man.
Oh, yeah, be careful to not break the tap. (smiling)

 

I wish I had known 30 years ago that you can't drill and tap a MIG weld. I have a lot of parts to track down.

 

Thanks Tommy, that is worth reading again. Bob

 

While TMan's response might seem a little harsh to this specific question.

This site used to have a lot more "check out what I did"

and a lot less: "tell me how to bolt this part on?"

I think that is where the frustration kicks in, kinda like the post this week about
"how do I put a bbc in a model A".

 

"Frustration" my foot. No excuse. Glad to see they cleaned it up.

 

Only about 20 years for me, but alas, I'm in the same boat.

The double ended ones? Not my first choice as I believe the HSS is harder than the average drill chuck, so if they spin in your chuck they start to destroy it.

 

The ones we can get up here seem to last forever. I like the ones my SnapOn guy has........about the only thing affordable from him!

 

people who come into my shop that think they know it all ...... Is very irritating to us that do.
nothing better then hands on knowledge.

 

I'll go one step further and say...that in my shop...only shitty Welders (of any method) use a grinder/sander on thier welds. I would never 'knock' anyone's welds...but I will advise them to Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice...

Unless the Weld print calls out for grinding (clearance), then it's all weld in my book...

...and Yes, you can drill & tap a TIG weld...

 

Never done it ,But I can believe you can drill and tap anything metal .Tig from what Ive heard is a softer weld than mig ,So give it a shot .If you have problems heat area with a torch and this will soften the metal .And thats my opinion and please no drama.....

 

Some times you need to drill and tap a welded item, in your case how about welding in a threaded nutcert? the frame is probably only 1/8" thick.