A Little TIG project
After a few attempts welding scraps together my disposable gas ran out very quickly. I found some replacements in Halfords but the first one of those also ran out very quickly. The lads on the MIG Welding forum put me in contact with Weld-Air Supplies Ltd in Dunstable and I took a trip up there to collect a nice big bottle of argon. That needed me to get a new regulator and there is a deposit and a hiring cost but that is a small payment for 3 years rent. The initial bottle works out about 1/2 the price of the equivalent in disposables and if I get it refilled in 3 years then the price will be significantly less (and I won’t be left with lots of empty canisters).
Once I’d strapped the bottle to some shelving, I needed something to test it out on. I decided that my TIG welding was getting good enough to try a little project. So I decided to make a little battery box for my solar powered light project, it is a little overengineered just incase. I cut up some 6mm mild steel bar, filed off the millscale. I filed angles on the end to make it easier to weld.
Clamping up the frames square was quite difficult and I managed to weld one of the bars in the wrong place so this resulted in the frame being skew in one direction. The resulting frame is solid and I should be able to use it as it is. I have some thin metal strips that I plan to weld across the bottom to form a shelf.
Metal sculpture in brass, mounted on an 1800s French Coin
Andy, you might consider purchasing a welder’s magnetic clamp. They are nothing more than two steel right triangles with a speaker magnet sandwiched between them. Such clamps work great for holding square and round tube or angle for welding. I have one, but a pair would be much nicer. Mine is a little scorched from welding. Photo of a clamp at http://www.flickr.com/photos/crosspein/4520684497/. They are relatively cheap and available at most welding supply stores.
Thanks, I’ve used some magnetic clamps before for tack welding. It’s been suggested that they mess with the arc. I’ve got some small magnets so I’ll try that out, cheers.
Andy
your welds are looking fairly good but there a bit to big what machine are you using what tungsten what size tungsten and what amps are you using you will get alot of distortion when tig welding so in future make sure you put lots of tacks clamp them down and use them magnectic square but dont really on them for squaring off.u might want to bump your amps up not put so much filler wire in and if the weld pool gets too hot add more filler wire i have my cert in routine tig welding so if u have any questions im ghappy to answer them
chris
Thanks Chris, was using a 2.4mm tungsten for that example, I’ve upped the amps and got the tungsten closer to the work since these early welds and it’s looking better now.
As mentioned on twitter, some problems with distortion yesterday but that was due to complete absence of clamps which was a little silly.
Hi Andy. I’ve only used a mig welder previously so no tig experience but am thinking of going down the tig route having checked the blog and the replies.
Hey Mike, both types have their uses. I like TIG because it is spark free and more controlled so works will in my small space. It does take practice to make good results so best have plenty of test pieces and simple projects to start with.
Thanks Andy. I will probably add a tig to my workshop. I always have a project in mind. My workshop though does not have adequate ventilation. I always used the mig outdoors behind a shield to prevent wind affecting the gas