Incredible welds

I just got a tig. I need alot of practice befor I even think about posting and still won't post. Some of you guy's are artist. Just pure talent....

 

jdustu: man, you lay some purdy passes!

i used to spend my days with a TIG in hand... foreman of a welding/fab shop. it was pretty rad.
now, years later i spend my days in a cubicle... or worse, a board room in some damn meeting, usually led by some asshat (me).
sure do miss being a fabricator, though i spend a couple hours/day doing it for myself and my own projects.

to any young bucks looking at this thread: don't dismiss a good trade and just head to college. the loss of industrialization in this country is heart breaking... forget college and go be a welder.

 

My dad welded this thing together in a 2 car garage with an Oxy Acetelyne outfit in 1963.Crashed it at Lions in 66 & bent it up good but not one weld broke.
I still have a piece of a 2" X 2" tube frame he made for our old gate.
The welds were awesome.
The B&W pic is when it was brand new in 63 & color shot was 65 0r 66.

 

Here it is without body,,,kinda funny lookin

 

jdustu, your welds look perfect, every time I see TIG welds like that I wish I had the funds to go out and buy a TIG unit. It's been 22 years since I TIG welded, wonder how long it would take to get back in form. Back then the unit the shop had was set up for aluminum only, and I was doing aluminum body work. I've always wondered how it would be to TIG steel. I've had an offer to try a TIG unit a friend has, so I guess having my own helmet would be the first step. What helmet would you recommend?

 

I have a Speedglas, they are good helmets. Oh, and Hi Josh!

James, Aka Rudy

 

I work for a transportatoin company that makes hundreds of millions and they won't even buy us a new arc welder or mig. I wouldn't mind trying tig- but my co worker said it's a bitch and he is a former metal shop fab guy. I am a decent mig welder, but can't aluminum weld for shit. gets cold too quick. that's what grinder's are for though, right? ok, I am having deja vu. weird...

 

Does it matter which model as the prices are from $150 to $400?

 

i have to get the camera now and post pictures of my welds....

 

Ok, makes perfect sense.
I do both circular, half moons, and even move-pause-move, dependin whats the easiest on each particular session, and yeah, i can see the freeze spots clearly through the glass, so i guess the frezee spots are too tight makin them less obvious, and infact they are, my shakey hand dont help also ..

As forthe root its something i do too, so i simply didnt know how it was called. great!

So, thanx so much, now i'll practice a couple months, get a cleaner camera and then i'll post the results.
THANX so much again.

 

I think we are on the same page : http://watchtheprettylight.tumblr.com/post/4245875467/have-fun-in-your-cubicle

That is wicked man!

Hey Rudy!

Currently I've got a couple Jackson Nexgens and a couple Speedglas helmets. I had the Nexgens forever, when one of them started going bad I decided to try the new Speedglas. The Nexgens are in the mid $200. The Speedglas 9100xx is around 350, but the screen is big and the headgear is ridiculously comfortable. The other one is a 9002 I think, that's in the high 200s.

 

Trying to do some different things with aluminum.

 

how thick piece of aluminum is that you are using? that is one wide bead.

here are a few of mine. aluminum, ss, and regular mig.

 

how do you eliminate the white smoke around a tiged aluminum weld? been trying hard to get rid of that stuff. im the technical welder at my work and get paid good at it. always looking to improve. i know im not the best but better than some. 3 yrs epxerience....6months under my belt professinally.

 

im using 50-50 argon and helium....if it matters on the aluminum. on the steel and SS. steel i use the same also. any recommendations?

 

i work on high end semi trailers. for nascar drivers and such. right now im working on one for patrick dempsy. ...i think that is how you spell his name.lol

 

I believe the white around the weld is where you burned through the oxide coating. Not sure there's any way around that, although you could probably play around with settings to minimize the area.

 

It's a couple of 1/4" pieces. Just practice, obviously the bead is a little overkill for that size

 

the smallest ive gotten the white smoke by adjusting the settings is about 1/8" away from the metal. before welding i always prep the metal by wiping it all down with Alcohol

 

Nothing wrong with aluminum overkill ... I dig it.

PACO

 

A hambr sent some parts for his '32 to me for some weldage.

 

A couple of aluminum "tips" on the latest blog post(pics included)

http://watchtheprettylight.tumblr.com/post/4962282427/just-weld

 

Thanks for the info ... pix too. As you might know I do more aluminum than steels so another welders perspective is always a treat.

I don't think I've every NOT learned something from a person that knows his craft well.

Thank you.

PACO

 

Jdustu, i have a question for you, or any pro welders actually.
Im thinkin of making my own air tank, i did little reasearch and found out i will be safer doin it out of thick wall round tubing w/ roundy cap ends instead of the 2x6 i was thinkin originally.

What would be your advice b4 i adventure into something like this, i mean technique wise. thanx a lot.

 

How much pressure? I'm not gonna lie, do it yourself pressure vessels is something I don't recommend. Too much at stake.

Do you have an experience doing open root welding?

 

I get to play with laser welders

 

wow that is tiny!

 

laser welds!?! dang nice!

 

laying dimes...
wait...
what's 1/1000 the size of a dime?

laser welds can look awesome. ran a machine for a while... some cool stuff

 

holy crap! i did'nt see the penny at first, that is pretty darn cool.