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Metalworking (rec.crafts.metalworking) Discuss various aspects of working with metal, such as machining, welding, metal joining, screwing, casting, hardening/tempering, blacksmithing/forging, spinning and hammer work, sheet metal work. |
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Starting TIG welding, need help
Hello,
I just picked up a used Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG welder very cheap. I`ve never TIG welded before,and was wondering if you guys had any good places to go for hints etc... I have torch welded a long time ago. Any advice or help would be great. Thanks, Craig |
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Starting TIG welding, need help
Your torch experience will serve you well! Get some of the basics from
reading then go to town and weld EVERYTHING you can get your hands on. Be carefull of sunburn on your chest where your shirt is open. "Craig Suslosky" wrote in message om... Hello, I just picked up a used Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG welder very cheap. I`ve never TIG welded before,and was wondering if you guys had any good places to go for hints etc... I have torch welded a long time ago. Any advice or help would be great. Thanks, Craig |
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Starting TIG welding, need help
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Starting TIG welding, need help
First thing out - join news:sci.engr.joining.welding news group and
start reading. You will find many many good answers and suggestions. Save or otherwise archive notes on filler metal, amperage and the like. With luck there will be a number of feeds to go through. If not, try one of the archive stores to gain access. See you there! - I have a Tig - not that one - but a SD 180 much the same. Still learning on it - every time. It is almost 1 year now. So much to learn. Martin - so much fun also. Get a good TIG quality hood and gloves and wear long selves... The arc can give you a bad sun burn and even through light clothes. -- Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn @ home at Lion's Lair with our computer NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder Craig Suslosky wrote: Hello, I just picked up a used Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG welder very cheap. I`ve never TIG welded before,and was wondering if you guys had any good places to go for hints etc... I have torch welded a long time ago. Any advice or help would be great. Thanks, Craig |
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Starting TIG welding, need help
[[ This message was both posted and mailed: see
the "To," "Cc," and "Newsgroups" headers for details. ]] In article , Craig Suslosky wrote: Hello, I just picked up a used Lincoln Square Wave 175 TIG welder very cheap. I`ve never TIG welded before,and was wondering if you guys had any good places to go for hints etc... I have torch welded a long time ago. Any advice or help would be great. Thanks, Craig Here are some quotes from my past answers to your question about basics: Here are some basic settings. The foot pedal should only be giving you a percentage of the dial setting. If the dial on the machine is set for 100 amps, then the foot pedal is giving you 0-100 amps. The dial on the machine should be set to about 5-10% more amperage than the minimum needed for your weld. Here are some guidelines for minimum amperages. These numbers are for Steel or Aluminum. Start with 1 amp for each thousandth of an Inch of thickness (0.001"). So 1/8" steel or aluminum = 0.125" thick = 125 amps. Simple and easy. Now 2 complications. For inside fillet welds, increase amperage by 30% For outside fillet welds, decrease amperage by 30% Now take those numbers and adjust them for these other materials For stainless steel, decrease amperage by 30%. For copper, increase amperage by 100%. For bronze, decrease amperage by 50%. DCEN or AC Lanthanted or Ceriated tungsten High amperage AC Zirconiated tungsten Base Metal Tungsten Filler rod Amperage 0.010" - 0.045" 0.040" 0.024" - 0.030" 5 - 20 0.030" - 1/8" 1/16" 0.030" - 0.045" 15 - 90 3/32" - 1/4" 3/32" 1/16" - 3/32" 50 - 200 3/16" - 3/8" 1/8" 3/32" - 1/8" 180 - 275 5/16" - 1/2" 5/32" 1/8" - 3/16" 220 - 350 The tungsten sizes do overlap, and you can fudge a little up or down, but try not to use a tungsten or filler rod THICKER than your BASE metal. Also when dealing with really thin base metal and low amperages on DCEN, you do want a sharp point since the diameter of the tip of the point sets the minumum amperage needed to initiate the arc. For 1/16" material and thicker you want a tiny flat on the tip, because at these higher amperages a really sharp point can pop off into the weld metal. Thoriated tungstens are about the same as Lanthanated, but can take about 10% less heat. If using Pure tungstens all tungstens are shifted up 2 rows. Lanthanated Tungstens run on DCEP for aluminum shift up 2 rows. A basic selection of TIG Rod should include Steel, Stainless steel, aluminum, and bronze. Steel ER70S-2 The basic TIG filler for steel. It comes copper plated to prevent rust, but keep it in a tube or bag anyway. Sizes: 0.045", 1/16", 3/32", 1/8" Stainless steel 308L is the standard filler for 304 SS which is the most common type. 309L is a better filler for joining any kind of stainless to steel. 316L is the best for marine work. Sizes: 0.045", 1/16", 3/32" Aluminum 4043 is the most common aluminum filler rod. It works well for most situations, but... 5356 is stronger, better corrosion resistance and better color match for polishing or anodizing. 4047 is my favorite for welding castings, but it is kind of hard to find. Sizes: 1/16", 3/32", 1/8" Bronze Silicon Bronze is excellent for joing other copper alloys such as copper, brass and most bronzes. It can also be used to TIG Braze Weld steel and stainless steel. TIG Braze Welding is very useful for stianless steel since it doesn't actually melt the base metal so there is no chromium oxides formed on the back face of the metal. Sizes Sizes: 0.045", 1/16", 3/32" An advanced selection would include: Some aerospace alloys like Inconel, Hastelloy, or Haynes alloys. They are my favorite alloys for joining odd things and are extremeley strong. Pure Nickel is excellent for joining cast iron.. Pure Copper is good for TIG welding copper where it will be seen. ER80S-B2 is the current top choice for TIG welding Chrome-Moly tube for planes, cars, motorcycles and bikes. As to a vendor. The only guys I know that even list TIG rod on the Web a http://www.tigdepot.com Great outfit, they carry all things TIG. You can also mail order from Central Welding at : http://www.centralwelding.com Just call them and they will ship it to you. Here is an exercise to practice when not welding. Level 1 Take a 3/8" steel washer. Place it on a piece of white paper. Take a nice sharp pencil. Place the tip of the pencil against the paper inside the washer. Now start swirling the pencil tip around the inside of the washer to draw a circle on the paper. Keep circling the inside of the washer, while nudging the washer across the paper. Try to end up with the washer traveling in a straight line across the paper. You should end up with a long swirl pattern acrosss the page. Keep parcticing until the swirl pattern is even and in a straight line. Level 2 Same setup, with one change. Once again slide the washer across the page while swirling the pencil tip around the inside of the washer, but now DON"T touch the paper with the pencil tip. This means being able to hold the tip of the pencil within a 1/16" of the paper without touching it and without lifting out of the washer. Level 3 Do Level 2 while standing next to the table without any part of your arm resting on the table. Level 4 Move to a 1/4" washer. This exercise comes from a welding textbook from 1929, and it still works quite nicely to train your muscles for floating the torch. Normally I do not swirl the torch while TIG welding, but this still works as an exercise to build up muscle control. |
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