implmex
Diamond
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2002
- Location
- Vancouver BC Canada
Hi All:
So I had a nice Christmas project to keep me amused over the holiday...I built a stock rack from 1" x 2" x 16 ga rectangular mild steel tubing.
I've never TIG welded but I did learn oxyacetylene welding 45 years ago when I went up north to work as a welder's apprentice/odd job Charlie one summer and I have an oxy acetylene rig set up in the shop.
So I thought...no problem...I've got a gas welder...I'll just gas weld my project together.
Man am I ever rusty!
This was about the best I could do, but it seems to me I was way better back then.
Maybe that's just my faulty memory, but I don't think so...I had a lot harder time getting into the root of the weld without blowing holes in the sides of the tubes than I remember, and my wire feed control is for shit now.
So, my question for you all with experience TIG welding thinwall tube.
Is it a lot easier than gas welding, is it a bit easier or is it just as hard?
I look at what some of the bike frame welders can do and I'm envious of their skills and the quality of their work.
Mine looks rougher than a cat's ass by comparison.
Nothing a bit of paint won't fix but it offends me a bit every time I look at it.
I guess I'm sort of asking if I should invest in a nice little inverter TIG...it was kinda cool to struggle with the technique I thought I'd lost and to recapture a bit of it, so now I'm looking with amorous eyes at a Miller Dynasty or something like that, and thinking about spending some time getting decent at it.
It's not what I do for a living, so I can't justify it, but I CAN afford it.
Cheers
Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining
So I had a nice Christmas project to keep me amused over the holiday...I built a stock rack from 1" x 2" x 16 ga rectangular mild steel tubing.
I've never TIG welded but I did learn oxyacetylene welding 45 years ago when I went up north to work as a welder's apprentice/odd job Charlie one summer and I have an oxy acetylene rig set up in the shop.
So I thought...no problem...I've got a gas welder...I'll just gas weld my project together.
Man am I ever rusty!
This was about the best I could do, but it seems to me I was way better back then.
Maybe that's just my faulty memory, but I don't think so...I had a lot harder time getting into the root of the weld without blowing holes in the sides of the tubes than I remember, and my wire feed control is for shit now.
So, my question for you all with experience TIG welding thinwall tube.
Is it a lot easier than gas welding, is it a bit easier or is it just as hard?
I look at what some of the bike frame welders can do and I'm envious of their skills and the quality of their work.
Mine looks rougher than a cat's ass by comparison.
Nothing a bit of paint won't fix but it offends me a bit every time I look at it.
I guess I'm sort of asking if I should invest in a nice little inverter TIG...it was kinda cool to struggle with the technique I thought I'd lost and to recapture a bit of it, so now I'm looking with amorous eyes at a Miller Dynasty or something like that, and thinking about spending some time getting decent at it.
It's not what I do for a living, so I can't justify it, but I CAN afford it.
Cheers
Marcus
Implant Mechanix • Design & Innovation > HOME
Vancouver Wire EDM -- Wire EDM Machining