Post a pic up of your best welds

[bang chong]

At the risk of turning this into the "Jeff's noob welding questions" thread, has anyone tried one of the ~$60 tig pedals on ebay? Next cheapest is token tools at $160 then the unimig one for $230ish. Are they universal or should I just get the unimig one?

I successfully stuck some bits of 6061 together today for the first time, my hours of youtube viewing paid off as I could lay a bead pretty much straight up, but I've realised that:
- I definitely need a pedal, and that torch mounted controls suck dick.
- I want one of those mini ck torches,
- Shoulda bought the big pack of filler rod.

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You don't really need a pedal. I can weld more consistent and nice without a pedal as once the work piece is hot I just travel faster to compensate. The old foot can get a bit lazy at times and that can throw off your consistency. Anyway like anything you get what you pay for when it comes to pedals. You probably won't really know if you don't have anything to compare it too though.

Just make sure whatever torch you get it is 200amp or you'll cook it whenever you use ac.


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[fantapants]

Yeah as above.

Agree torch controls can be a pain in the arse becasue the on and off can cause dipping but it's easy enough to get used to.

That being said foot pedal does have some definite advantages.

I've got a cheap one that came with my welder, only use it once cos I was too retarded to get it working lol... But yeah with long sessions the foot can get right lazy lol.

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[da9jeff]

I was welding 2t but I still need to figure out 4t (or read the manual), I think I'll still get a pedal when cash allows. So is a wp17 style the smallest you'd go for AC work?

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[bang chong]

I was welding 2t but I still need to figure out 4t (or read the manual), I think I'll still get a pedal when cash allows. So is a wp17 style the smallest you'd go for AC work?

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I do prefer using the pedal on poor fitment and thin stuff though, youd be surprised how much of a gap you can fill lol even on thinner stuff.

What frequency are you welding on? I'm using the latest unimig 200amp acdc tig and i have my frequency up to ab0ut 180 hertz.

If you can get a wp17 torch in 200amp then yes but from memory most of the wp26 are the bigger bulkier can handle more amp units. I run a stubby kit on my one at home with a gas lens and a no.8 pyrex cup



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[da9jeff]

Im at 100hz at the moment. Probably got the same welder (razor) and torch as you, just seems massive. Do you use the 4t trigger? I have a gas lens kit coming in the post.

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[bang chong]

Im at 100hz at the moment. Probably got the same welder (razor) and torch as you, just seems massive. Do you use the 4t trigger?

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Yeah thats the same welder as I use at work. I would usually weld with about 120hertz but I'm welding 1.6mm ally rhs and the higher hertz I feel helps keep the arc tighter on this thin stuff.

2t. I try to use 4t but then forget that I'm on 4t lol and just switch it back.

Look into the stubby lens kit and it takes a fair bit of the bulkiness out of the wp27 torch

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[Euronymous]

Yeah ive also never been a fan of pedals, prefer to run around 1 - 1.5secs downslope to control temp..

[schnitzelburger]

just whoring on reddit and found this

[da9jeff]

Yeah ive also never been a fan of pedals, prefer to run around 1 - 1.5secs downslope to control temp..

Is that just using the button to cycle the weld program? I still haven't tried the pulse feature, figure I'll learn without it and hopefully be a better welder when I do use it. My TIGing has been going well, still haven't got a pedal but am getting better at regulating speed/heat.

This was joining a points distributor bottom half to the top half of an elec ignition dizzy, the shaft was also machined and tigged together.



Bit of scrap, fuck I wish Al welded like steel.

[da9jeff]

Changing subject, does anyone here do structural alloy work? I'm doing a fair bit of fourbie stuff with my little side business and have a job to build a basic ute tray to hold a alloy canopy (1800x1800 tourer style thing). The customer wants steel (50x3 shs) which is fine, but I was thinking about a alloy equiv to cut down on weight. Would there be issues using say 50x5? shs to build a tray for offroad use? Mostly worried about fatigue cracking etc and having to over spec it so much that it weighs the same as a steel one anyway... thoughts?

If the idea was feasible, I might even look at another MIG machine and set it up just for alloy, although the first 1 would be TIG and end up on my Nav.

[fantapants]

Good work behind the torch man :D

I have nothing useful to add about the ute tray sorry

It's been months and months since I have had a decent today on the she'd inhale been tidying up and rearranging things in readiness for the car.port and the new tools and the bike end of things. Which meant going through all my bits of shit, hanging them on the wall and figuring out what was missing. I had a shimano locking remover. And a campag locking remover. So figured it's a good excuse to make it a stand alone tool :D

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[Commotion]

With ally just be aware that the material around the weld has a much lower strength because of the heat. Even with a higher strength alloy the heat from the weld will drop it down. Ie if it’s a 6060 alloy extrusion it’s probably going to be down around 100MPa so ur rhs is going to be 2-3 times stronger in the weld region.

Any gussets or plates ur welding on try and give the plate a bit of a toe so where the weld terminates has only a thin piece of plate attached to reduce stress. Also try and avoid welding perpendicular to the direction of stress, ie across the beam.

[da9jeff]

Yeah my understanding is that once welded the metal reverts to the unheat treated specs in the weld zone.

Had a look on the Norweld site and they use 75x35x6 for the main tray beams. Might head to capral and price up some rhs. What grade would be best for corrugations etc?

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[PLAYA]

I think you will find they don't have many grades, have a look at dabfab fabrications he does all alloy stuff in Mt Isa I help him scan and reverse engineer stuff.

[da9jeff]

Cheers, will do.

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