On Sat, 7 May 2005 17:30:22 +0000 (UTC), "Don Foreman"
wrote:


"treebeard" wrote in message
news
I've read a book (Richard Finch's) and some internet material, own no
equipment but can buy what I need, and have no prior experience.

I would like to make what amounts to ornamental "sculptures", as a
hobby
100 pound load, about 2 yards X 2 yards in size
draft then design as I go over several months, -- I need to do the
welding myself
using only 1/8" round steel stock welded together and about 1000 small
welds.

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snip
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I'd use O/A. MIG is too fast to have any control joining 1/8" rods to each
other. TIG would work well, but O/A would work very nicely with a lot
less investment.

You could make a lot of such joints per fill, either welded or brazed, with
small O/A tanks that are easily portable to a space of habitable temperature
when not in use. I'd go with a 20 cu ft acetylene and 40 cu foot oxy, the
pair mounted on a light hand truck. No problem going up and down stairs
with such a rig, and the bottles are easy to handle when going for refills.

I would strongly recommend a Smith Little Torch with a #4 or #5 tip for this
work.
http://www.littletorch.com/
Using this and .035 MIG wire for filler, I'll bet with a little practice
you'd be making sound welds of good appearance. The small torch will
offer better control while using significantly less gas than a larger
torch. Another plus is that the hoses are very light, which contributes to
control and lack of fatigue on small work like this. Don't be deceived by
the size; it is quite capable of welding 1/8" steel rod as quickly and
well as a larger torch. Might want a #6 or #7 tip for 3/16" or 1/4" rod.
The web page says "up to 1/8" steel, but they must be referring to angle
iron or sheetmetal. I braze 3/8" rod with mine with no problem.

Your weld time would be a few seconds per joint: quick enough to be
acceptable while allowing enough time to retain excellent visual control of
the process. Crossings could be welded, but they might be better done with
brazing which the Little Torch also does very well. There's plenty of
contact area for a good braze because the braze metal (bronze or nickel
silver) will form a fillet. Strong cross-joints are very easy to make
quickly with these materials.

I'm not making this up. I've had and used a Little Torch and bottles as
described for years. I also have MIG and TIG, but I'd use the Little Torch
for the work you describe.

Safety: these joints are so small that the precautions prudent when doing
heavier arc welding are a bit absurd here. Use of good goggles with a #4
filter would be mandatory. Kidskin welding gloves as Tillman TIG and MIG
gloves aren't mandatory but might save some burnt fingers. These gloves
are thinner and much more supple than arcwelding gauntlets, afford much
better feel and control. I don't bother with gloves when using the Little
Torch.

Have fun!


Hey Everybody!! This is great!!! Thanks to all for the detailed
specific advice and encouragement. Everybody gave really helpful
advice. I'm excited!

After reading all the messages, I'll try the oxy-acet and weld and or
braze (whichever seems to work best), the small bottles mentioned
above, and the safety clothes and equipment mentioned.

I plan to store the bottles outside in a cheap plastic box (like
Gunner mentioned) with ventilated sides. It shouldn't get too hot out
there, and theft shouldn't be a problem where I put it. I could store
it in a downstairs storage room, but that's underneath the kitchen and
I'm paranoid about blowing spouse and daughters up.

I'll take it slowly....., peeking around the corners as I go...