Probably gonna try to tig it. Anyone have any tips or trade secrets they wanna share? I figure about an hour of meditation and maybe a cold beer before I start. (JK) I'll back it up with a piece of brass under it where I can, but a lot of it's on a curve. I'm open to any suggestions to keep from burning it up. Larry T
I've never had occassion to use it, but that 22 gauge might be a good candidate for some heat sink putty. You might want to ask a pro weldor or at a LWS if they have a knowledgable counter man. Also, I'd back it up with copper, not brass. Oh, yeah, spoit welds and let cool in between and use some teat pieces to try everything out first. Let us know how you make out, with pics, of course My 2¢
If you use a MIG, I always burn the wire across the steel rather than point it directly toward the seam. If that makes sense.
just watch your heat. and try some test pcs!!! tig should be fine no filler metal and 2nd the copper. good luck
Pulse TIG would be best, but as long as it's new metal, you won't find this that bad. But KEEP MOVING!!! Stop and you'll blow through. Cosmo
Racecar transmission tunnel and a hard headed owner (me). Less weight = faster car. It'd be aluminum if I could weld that. (G) I sat down and played a little before I had to go back to work. Looks like moving fast and lots of filler should work. Probably take a lot of patience too. Maybe 1/2" weld at a time before I let it completely cool. Larry T
If it were me I'd use a small diameter tungsten. I'd start with a 1/16" and see if that was OK. If not I'd try even smaller yet. .030" Filler
Get a #8 glass for your helmet, turn the heat down, .045 rod. You can also try DC reverse but use a 3/32 electrode as it will get pretty hot. Pointy end electrode and polish it. Clean the metal with acetone and ss brush. I weld .019 SS easily with this.
I guess I'll bring this back from the dead. I tried to get one of the pros in town to weld the tunnel. After several months, I got tired of waiting and decided I'd do it myself. It wasn't a real big deal. Tacked everything up, welded short beads and let them cool. About the only "tricks" that I discovered was to start the weld on the previous bead since it was a little thicker. If you didn't, it would blow a hole every time you struck an arc. And I had to roll out of the weld and break the arc before I let off the pedal or (you guessed it) it would blow a hole in the bead. Only other thing is the old saying that "A grinder makes a better looking weld." Larry T
So, is the difficulty in the angle between the two pieces (more likely to blow through)? I've wanted to learn to tig weld for some time because I thought it could handle thin sheet better than any other method. I would think you could weld 22 gauge all day long using a small tip oxy/acet right? What am I missing?
Looks good. Here's another way of doing it. . . 22ga is pretty thin! 3/32 Tungsten as sharp as i can get, with the base of the cone set about at the edge of the cup. I got a bunch of 3/32 tungsten with my welder, but I hear that 1/16 better. I use .025 mig wire. same as tig wire, but the smallest tig wire is too big. Amperage should be about 30-35. I get everything lined up, then tack in three or four spots spread out, then check fit and hammer/ dolly welds a bit. then start tacking in between those tacks until they are about 1-2 inches apart, hammer/dollying every so often. Then i weld right to left (since I'm right handed), no skipping around, ONLY if there is access behind the weld for a dolly. Once welded, I use a 120 on a roloc and knock the weld down and hammer/dolly (plannish) it out. Maybe a little more grinding- hammer/dolly where necessary. Done.
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