STANG KILLA SS learns to weld.....Thermal Arc 95S

[STANG KILLA SS]

got my first lesson in "dont weld with your shirt off" last night.
branded myself real good near my belly button on a red hot bumper bar.....

[doublej]

Brands are nothing - thats an every day thing.
Wait till you can pull things out of the oven bare handed and give yourself a sunburn....

[Szczerba]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

got my first lesson in "dont weld with your shirt off" last night.

branded myself real good near my belly button on a red hot bumper bar.....

Welds with no shirt? Must be in Texas.

[STANG KILLA SS]

Originally Posted by doublej

Brands are nothing - thats an every day thing.
Wait till you can pull things out of the oven bare handed and give yourself a sunburn....

looking forward to it!

[STANG KILLA SS]

was watching the new #BikerLive on discovery tonight. the Texas edition.
I about died laughing when I saw the back of the Bacons Speed Shop shirts.
now I kinda want one

[twofastoocatch]

As someone who also recently picked up a TIG and self taught to use it, I'd like to share a few things that I wish someone had told me:

1: If you dip your tungsten in the puddle, or filler rod, don't bother trying to grind the contamination off. Find a sharp steel corner, and break it off with a quick hit of a hammer. Vise jaws work excellent.

2: Lanthanated tungstens. They work 99% as good as thoriated, but no pesky radiation to deal with, ever.

3: If you don't already have a gas lense setup, spend the $16 (canadian... That's like $.75 to you guys) and get one. You get way better gas coverage and you can actually turn down the regulator to save on gas use, and prolong your bottle life.

4: A tig finger is awesome. Get one of these too.

Also, I've found I use a fixed shade more and more since I started TIG. I put the torch close, start an arc, and then move it to where it needs to be, then put the heat to it. Just my $.02

[Jonnie Fraz]

It is awesome that you are excited to get to welding as soon as you get home. All the advice and videos you watch is nothing without seat time. Seat time and information go hand in hand. There are only two ways that we learn....mentors and failure. Tig is an art form, and the more you practice the better you will get. Welding distortion is part of the game, you are changing the metal at the molecular level. The key is managing it.
I have been welding longer than I haven't, and I try to learn something new every day.

[STANG KILLA SS]

well ive been puting in a ton of torch time this week.
biggest thing im picking up is when a weld doesnt go perfect, im now learning what to change to make it perfect.
also learned the value of eye protection when grinding. #eyeswollshut

few things:
any tips or ideas how how to weld nuts onto a frame? ie holding them in place? and still have two hands free to tig?

also bought some new tungsten, picked up two of the normal 2% Thoriated, but i also picked up a 2% Ceriated to try. any inputs on the differences on the Ceriated on mild steel?
i also noticed these new Thoriated are leaving a grey shell like stuff on the back side of the material that i wasnt getting before. also seems like things are possibly getting hotter.

[Die-Laughing]

I'm just starting out as well.. Picked up a new Miller Syncrowave210 Machine. From what I gathered, 2% Lanthanated is where it's at. It's as good or better than Thoriated without the radioactive properties. I've been following several youtube channels but, one guy stands out to me. His name is Jody Collier.. He runs weldingtipsandtricks.com and the youtube channel. He's been in the game for a long time and he genuinely wants to help people like you and me. He spits knowledge from hands-on experience.. His videos are very informative and he has a wealth of knowledge all over the internet. I recommend checking him out if you haven't already. It seems like everything you could want to know, he's answered it already and his opinions seems worth more than most but, that's just my opinion.

Here's an article on Tungsten.
Tungsten Electrodes Review

[Die-Laughing]

As far as for fixturing a nut to be welded, have you tried just fusion welding them? Pliers in one hand, torch in the other? Maybe choose a nut with a flange so you could use that flange material for your filler and not have to hold a rod. Or maybe try little magnets.. The ones where you can buy a hundred for a few bucks. You could probably get a couple of uses out of them before they loose their magnetic properties.

[STANG KILLA SS]

no way you can get a magent close enough and not make the arc go nuts. discovered that on my own. any magnet within 1/2" to 1" will make the arc do crazy things.

also check out the old guy that does "Tig Time" on Youtube. hes good too.
his YT channel is called Weld.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/Welddotcom

[BigSki]

Is the nut over a thru hole? If it is, you could thread a nut onto a bolt, pass it through the then thread on the nut that you want to weld, think of it like a jam nut setup ( if that makes sense).

[STANG KILLA SS]

no im wanting to do a nut in the 90* corner of two tubes. Ie like on the 4 corners of a door to hold alum panels on.

[eric113]

A long screw, thread your nut on the screw and use a 3rd hand to position the nut where you need it. Very carefully watching your heat flow the tube/solid rod material over to nut.

[doublej]

On 1:1 stuff that I can't sort a fixture - I hold the lose piece with one hand and zap it with a lot of heat to get it to hold without filler rod.
On RC stuff with the same problem, mark your area and zap the stationary piece with some filler. Just enough heat to get a large tack.
Then when you 1 handed zap it while holding the piece with your second hand, you have a little extra metal to pull from.

My biggest issue with Tig welding nuts is the size. I melt to much of the nut away half the time.

[eric113]

Originally Posted by doublej

My biggest issue with Tig welding nuts is the size. I melt to much of the nut away half the time.

Turn your amps down. Just takes practice with small and thin metals. I mostly do repair work on alot different materials, so I develop a nack for it.

[Etype R]

McMaster carry's thick m3 nuts, I find them easier to weld.

[STANG KILLA SS]

Originally Posted by doublej

On 1:1 stuff that I can't sort a fixture - I hold the lose piece with one hand and zap it with a lot of heat to get it to hold without filler rod.
On RC stuff with the same problem, mark your area and zap the stationary piece with some filler. Just enough heat to get a large tack.
Then when you 1 handed zap it while holding the piece with your second hand, you have a little extra metal to pull from.

My biggest issue with Tig welding nuts is the size. I melt to much of the nut away half the time.

yeah and im wanting to use 2-56 nuts too for smaller bolt heads. i did get square nuts though, hoping the longer sides would help stay away from the threads.
i might be kidding myself. especially with my (lack of) experience

[STANG KILLA SS]

i finished this up last week.

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by STANG KILLA SS

no im wanting to do a nut in the 90* corner of two tubes. Ie like on the 4 corners of a door to hold alum panels on.

You can run some safety wire through the nut and tie it off against the tubes.