On 5/26/2021 4:51 AM, Jim Wilkins wrote:
"Snag"Â* wrote in message ...
Â* Some may recall a few months ago while I was building the rooster
weather vane that I had porosity problems while TIG welding some hot
rolled steel . Well , it happened again today . I noticed yesterday that
the tension rods on my HF hydraulic jack press had dimpled the underside
of the top beam . I decided to cut the dimpled area out and weld in a
thicker piece since I'm using a bigger jack than it came with .
Â* I milled out a square section of the bottom of the 3/16 inch thick
square tube and welded a 1/2 inch thick piece in it's place . I wanted
to TIG it for better penetration , but it was not going to happen . I
ran a couple of beads and could tell right away that it wasn't a weld
I'd trust , so I fired up the BabyMIG and welded it with .025" ER70S6
shielded with straight CO2 - ground the porous welds out and redid them
with MIG too . Watched the puddle closely to be sure I was getting good
fusion , this thing has a 20 ton jack and the last thing I need is for
it to give under load . I should probably drop back to the 12 ton I had
on it but the 20 doesn't leak around the pump cylinder .
Snag, I have torn my 12 ton press apart with a 12 ton jack and bent the
beam on my 20 ton press with a 20 ton jack. (Both repaired) If you
have a cheaper import press like many of use do if you ever push it you
may find similar issues, and an oversize jack will certainly tear it
apart on a really stubborn u-joint.
As to TIG. You can get ER70S6 TIG rod. AS near as I can tell ER70S2
which is more common in my local welding supply stores requires really
clean and properly prepared steel for most of us (well me) to get good
welds, but ER70S6 is a little more forgiving.
So far I have mostly used my TIG welder for autogenous (??) welds to
permanently lock press fit or tight fitting parts, but I do have both
ER70S2 and ER70S6 rod on hand.
I'm not a welder, so take my comments to be worth no more than you paid
for them.
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