Here is the place to show off your welding, get advice on your welding and generally talk welding from MIG, TIG, oxyacetylene, spot, arc and we can even include brazing and silver soldering if you want Here you can share setting, offer tips and advice and generally just discus what works for you Im just starting to TIG weld, self taught and have only done a little here and there, each time I get out there, I get better or learn something new, the other day it was to ensure the work piece is secure! Mine was balanced as I kept need to move it to weld a tub fitting. It moved with the force of the ark and this coursed the ark gape to increase and I instantly blow a hole in the thin metal. This weld is possibly my best so far, it's miles off were I want to be but practice makes perfect, I dream of being able to weld like a robot one day! Any advice on this I would gladly accept it and I know my hand needs to be steadier and the heat more consistent! I think my tungsten to weld pool gap it too great at times. Lets see those welds!
Well, I'm putting a 16V into a LHD Syncro, so I needed a manifold like the VWM 'Limited' had. Build thread: http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?236232 Not the best TIG welding I'm afraid, but it was my first ever TIG project. (And to be honest having not touched the machine in ages, if I tried to weld again now I'd probably be even worse. I really must get into it again.)
I think they are damn good welds for a first project! You look to be getting good heat into them, what does the inside look like? I have been reading up about purging tubing and may have to buy a Y-piece and give it a go at some point!
I used this special stuff called Solar Flux. You use it as an alternative to gas purging when welding stainless. You mix it into a paste and apply it around the inside of the tubes to be welded. It works really well, and I'm so glad of it, because gas purging sounded a right hassle (though I'm sure it's not really). The only disadvantage with Solar Flux is that it leaves a glassy residue on the inside that could in theory flake away. This might be a problem if you're using it on a turbo application or suchlike. Actually you can sort of see the black residue in the second picture I posted above. If you wanted to try this out, I could give you some from the tin!
Good job Trev, that sould help to give you a stronger more durable weld with the heat cycles it will see. I think purging could be a PITA. Have a look at this, it's a titanium Arial atom being welded in a purge tank/tent thingy!
The neatest I`ve done so far was on Matt`s E36, making some seat mounts. MIG welding, Mild Steel, when welding thicker stuff (box) to thinner (floor) or an external corner, its pretty easy to burn through. I use a very quick pulse method, releasing and squeezing the trigger again before the weld pool cools to keep a continuous bead but reduce heat build up. Very happy with the weld penetration when making the `box` Also pretty pleased with welding the box to the car. When welding things like harness plates to the shell, I have the main weld pool on the thicker plate and let it `bleed` onto the thinner material at the sides, again, to stop blowing a hole.
Very good welding skiils for home brew stuff guys. Not done any tig but have seen a coded welder do it and can only say it really is an art form. I don't have many close ups of welding. This is my attempt using a bit of scrap before starting my cage project. PS it's MIG. [/URL] [/URL] [/URL] Being pretty thick, the welder was turned up to max. I have a Clarke 160TE or TM? Gurds
Il post up on this thread in the near future with some of my work . Ps, purging once done right makes the inside look virtually the same as the outside but my god you go through some argon haha!
Some amazing work here. One area I would really appreciate any tips on is doing welding on a vehicle in areas such as sills where there's typically lots of contamination (waxoyl and so forth) inside cavities. I feel I can weld reasonably alright on the bench, but when I've been doing some repairs on both my T4 van and G60 recently, I'm afraid that despite how much I tried to clean up the surrounding areas, I found it very hard to lay down nice looking welds. Ultimately I do achieve a solid weld after a while, but it often takes several rounds of weld and much grinding, because what happens is that contamination from within (which I can't really get to in order to clean away) starts to burn or briefly ignite, and the gasses burning away affect the weld as it's cooling down.
