DIYbanter - View Single Post

Terry Coombs[_2_]

wrote:
On Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at 10:30:34 PM UTC-4, Terry Coombs wrote:

I want to TIG this thing , because the MIG isn't big enough and
because I'm not that good with a stick . I have on hand 308/309/312
and ER70S2 TIG fillers and 6011/6013/7018 in rod . The axle
housing and brackets are mild steel . The arc rods are going to be a
bit big for filling the cracks but they might be the best choice for
re-welding the brackets . I'm looking for recommendations on what to
use where .

--
Snag

Just general comments. You use what you have available. Tig and Mig
require getting the metal clean. There is no flux to get rid of any
oxides. In the best of all possible worlds, you would use dual
shield. That is a wire for a Mig welder that has some flux in the
core. But you use it with a shielding gas. So dual shield. Best of
all possible worlds where you have almost clean metal.

I do have a roll of .030 flux core MIG wire , and could use it with
C25/Ar/CO2 , I have all 3 on hand . That would work on the cracks in the
axle tube itself , it's within the thickness limitations of my little 110
MIG machine - especially with the flux core , it burns hotter than solid
wire .

Now for wild ideas. Worked with a guy that had a 110 volt mig welder
and a stick welder. He was not all that great with the stick welder
so when he had something to weld that really needed more power than
his mig welder would provide, he disconnected the leads on the mig
welder and connected his stick welder to the wire gun in his mig
welder.

Couldn't do that with my arc welder , it's AC only . Might figure out
something that uses the TIG as a power source though .

Now this meant he was using a constant current supply instead of a
constant voltage supply. And that meant he was welding in spray
mode. But it worked.

I think the TIG swings both ways , CC and CV since it's for arc welding
too - and even has spot welding settings .

Next wild idea. Have not tried this, but you should be able to use
dual shield wire with your Tig welder. I have not tried that, but it
ought to work and give you a little flux to help with metal that is
not perfectly clean. It may play hell with your tungstens. The dual
shield that I have used worked well with CO2 shielding gas and spray
mode. But you would want to use argon with your tig.

I have used mig wire with a tig welder when I wanted a smaller
diameter rod than the tig rods I had on hand.

I've used 2-3-4 strands of .025 mig wire when I needed something finer
than the TIG filler II had on hand . Works swell . I never considered using
the flux core wire though . It's pretty brittle , might have fun trying to
twist a couple of them together - maybe some solid and some flux core ...

I do have some dual shield wire if you want to try using it with your
tig welder. I know some of it is .030 dia. Not sure if the other
reel is the same size. It may be bigger. I am sure you will be done
with this job by the time any package would get to you. But if you
want some. let me know. I got it at Boeing Surplus before they
closed up. I have several lifetimes supply.

Dan

The good thing is that I have options . Probably not a bad idea to burn a
few sticks of rod with the tombstone , there was a time when I was a fair
hand . Of course at that time it was my only option too .
This isn't a definite thing , but since he has no cheaper options I think
I'll be doing the repairs . Something else I've been thinking about , I
wonder if there was supposed to be a strip to double up the axle tube wall
where the brackets are welded on . Sure looks like a good idea to me , with
little weight penalty .
--
Snag