Electron Beam Welding? We have one here but I don't know a whole lot about it. I know you can't afford one.
I all ready have access to several if I need to, but the problem Im here in Central Cal, and its in SoCal. Just wondering if its worth the time to set it up or just stick to Mig or Tig? I know it has Its has its + & - , just wondering if any one here as used it before. I have seen stuff welded by it, and its cleaner than I have ever seen done with tig.
I worked with the EB weld enginer as a prototype machinist at UAL about 30 years ago. It was good for stuff that fit exactly togeather and welded in straight lines. Penitration is great. Filling is pretty nonexistant. Don't think it lend itself to auto work but maybe things have changed in 30 years.
It's been a really long time and I didn't work with the welder it self, but i think everything had to fit togeather as a machined fit and the two parts melted togeather with no filler. One time some salesmen came in with a friction welded steel bar but welded to an aluminum bar. As i remember they were about 3/4 dia and machined smooth at the joint and then bent to a sharp 90 degree bend. No voids or cracking. pretty imperessive I thought.
EB welding is pretty much well, a from of radiography so to speak. Your using a focused beam of eletrons to weld the metal. Was developed back in the 1950's. I know there is three types, closed chamber, partial, and none. No filler is required cause it pretty much just fuses the two metals together. Really good for welding almost any metal, ferrous and non. We use it alot for tungsten carbides. I can email some lit to who ever wants the full break down.
Obviously you know more about it than your average Joe, and likely more than Me. However, it's not exactly a manual process. It's not like there is an Electron Beam torch that you pick up and start welding with. It's an industrial process much like friction stir welding. I can't see any application for automobiles unless you were manufacturing them from new, and still they don't use it That should tell ya something...
One of the test pieces I made was a 1 1/2 inch 4130 bar bored 1 inch dia 1 inch deep flat bottom. Then I cut a 1 inch slip fit plug to fit the hole. The plug was inserted and beam welded through the sleeve flat to flat. Then I would cut them in half long ways to check the weld. Usually 100%
In the 70's I worked for a company in California that produced parts for the Lunar Lander. EB welding was used to mate 2 hemispheres together, forming a sphere. The sphere was then modified to act as a fuel tank for the small direction-controlling burn motors. The welding was done on a fixture which controlled the rotation of the pieces being welded while the welder welded. Man were they beautiful when finished. Truly a work of metalworking art.
Nice for high-tech production applications but of little use for anything on a traditional hot rod. Even if there was an application on one of my cars, the setup costs alone would be higher than the value of the car.
Im not an expert, never used it myself. Just seen what it can do. Im wondering who has experiance cause Im think about doing a custom frame with it. Small enough to still hold the body I want, but stout enough for the power plant Im dreaming up.
As the others stated, it is for high tech non-production type applications. It is capable of real deep penetration with very narrow weld widths. No filler, just machined weld-prep on the surfaces. Requires fixtures to hold everyting in place and to rotate the part under the E-beam. Not for hot rod parts. Yes for aerospace and other similar low-production ultra high quality requirements.
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