What do you bus nuts use which is best for thin wall tubing I forgot the stuff is made from but it calls for TIG welding , what size and brand do I need I want one that will exceed my needs a little as I am a believer in buying a little larger than needed I don't like the max deal
This sounds like a question for Gary.
I'd buy a Miller Dynasty. They make many sizes but I'd recommend 200amps at least if you want to be able to do lots of other stuff. Pricey yes, but....
One trick I've learned on thin stuff is to get a welder that can work in pulse mode. Short high current pulses (1-2 per second) will work wonders on thin stuff whereas trying to do it with a normal footpedal setup can be trying at best....
A welding machine that can do that for you will make your life much easier. The Dynasty tig welders have that feature built in...
Cheers
boogie
Clifford, I have a Lincoln Squarewave 255. It's a nice unit... You can find them on Ebay and Craigslist.
I am looking at a Thermadyane you know of the pros and cons of the Thermadyne I have one of their Plasma cutters it is good unit I just don't know anything about a Tig and what I should look for but have I narrowed it down to 185 amps to 200 amps and sales people will tell you all cans of bs trust you guys more than I do sales people lol thanks guys
good luck
Check these guys out, it's Chinese but they have an excellent track record on customer service, I know a couple shops that are switching over to them and give them rave revues for price/performance/service
http://www.longevity-inc.com/ (http://www.longevity-inc.com/)
I think the Lincoln square wave 255 might be a MIG welder.
Mine is a Miller Synchrowave 180 SD. Great stick machine and has all the standard TIG options.
If you want to do aluminum, you will need high frequency and plenty of power. The newer machines let you adjust the shape frequency curve to balance penetration and "cleaning".
For sure you won't go wrong with Miller and Lincoln. Don't know about the other machines. There was a company marketing a product that had a name that something like Invertatig to the racing industry. It was very small and compact and used inverter technology as I recall. However, it did not weld aluminum.
You are probably talking about welding thin wall 4130 steel. There are a lot of old wive tales about that, and a lot of advice floating around. I studied it thoroughly, since very occasionally I need to weld it. It is a steel that was designed to be welded in the field in wartime. If you weld thicker than say .120 wall, you really need to normalize it after or the weldment can become hardened and brittle. If you are welding tubes that are .062 or thinner, there is no real need to normalize. Normalizing is nothing more than annealing and you do it with post-heat with a torch, but the temps and times are complex and you need to understand what you are doing. My advice is don't take advice you find on the internet, find a welder licensed to do airframe work to teach you.
I use a Lincoln Squarewave 175 tig machine, which at the time was around $2K and was a pro-level small tig machine. It used to be in every NASCAR shop, truck and pit... It's designed for light work, stick, DC pos, DC neg and AC work and I use it up to around .125 steel and quarter inch aluminium. It is an air cooled torch, stock, and that means it's limited in what it can really do for aluminium (aluminum welding is really hot) but it works great for mild and stainless steel. It is what I call an old-style transformer machine, which means it needs a 50 amp 220 volt plug and weighs a couple of hundred pounds. I recommend this - you contact your local welding supply stores, find out what brand they carry (usually Miller or Lincoln and both are great) and look at the modern switching power supply machines. You can get one that you can carry with one hand and plug into a normal outlet that can do what mine can do. You'll need a lot of consumables at first, get a gas lens setup for the torch handle, I use 3/32 2% Lathanated electrodes (no, I don't remember what that means), and for welding thin material look into a dedicated electrode sharpener (like a pencil sharpener for tungsten) because a sharp electrode makes a lot of difference at low current levels.
Welding mild steel, including 4130 and it's variants, is pretty easy if you have ever done OA welding, it's a couple of hours to get the hang of it. Aluminium is harder, you can't see the puddle nearly as well. Stainless is actually the easiest, for me anyway, since it keeps the heat close to the puddle you have a lot of control, but you have to use flux or backpurge or you get totally obnoxious oxides forming on the back of the weld. Teach your grandkids to do the welding, honestly, unless your hand quiver is better than mine. If I have three cups of coffee in the morning I dip the electrode a lot more, and if it's 4 pm and I'm still welding, I give up and go watch Rachael Ray, it's a more productive use of my time. You need to learn the muscle movements to make the filler dipping completely automatic and regular, and then you get the nice stack'o-dimes weld beads...
Brian
Hi Clifford,
I just took a TIG class Yesterday at a Miller Technical Training center here in NJ.
A few months back I purchaced a new Miller Diversion 180 A/C D/C TIG unit so I wanted to sharpen my skills by taking the class.
With this unit, I can TIG aluminum, stainless, and steel with one machine. I will tell you that this machine is for lite metals only. Like
up to 3/16".. Anything heavier, you would be better off with 250 amp and up. The Pulse systems do a way better job as said above.
In this class, I was able to use 10 different TIG welders and learned far more then I thought I needed to. There is alot to remember!
I also have a Millermatic 212 MIG unit with an added spoolmate 100 for aluminum. This spoolmate is far better at welding thicker Ga.
aluminum then the Deversion unit. I think the Miller Dynasty 200 TIG would be a nice unit to start with since I did my best welds
on it at class..
Good Luck
Nick-
Jim the Lincoln 255 squarewave is a TIG machine..
Here is a link to the bigger brother.. That alot of machine for the money!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lincoln-355-square-wave-tig-welder-squarewave-pulse-/180630428858?pt=BI_Welders&hash=item2a0e699cba (http://cgi.ebay.com/Lincoln-355-square-wave-tig-welder-squarewave-pulse-/180630428858?pt=BI_Welders&hash=item2a0e699cba)
Quote from: Charley Davidson on March 02, 2011, 11:18:08 AM
Check these guys out, it's Chinese but they have an excellent track record on customer service, I know a couple shops that are switching over to them and give them rave revues for price/performance/service
http://www.longevity-inc.com/ (http://www.longevity-inc.com/)
I got 2 of those, both combo plasma/tig/stick & the 200 amp is high freq for alumin, & big one had to use the warranty, there was no problem at all. They upgrade it to the latest model no charge. The small one I carry it around in my trailer & it holding up.
wrench
I just found this http://bakersfield.craigslist.org/tls/2229628621.html (http://bakersfield.craigslist.org/tls/2229628621.html) and am thinking about calling on it cuz it is local to me. What should I ask and look for? Do you guys think this one is okay?
Wrench, Glad to hear another good report about them, I'm gonna buy a unit from them when my rich uncle ... well you know
Do you belong to their forum?
Zeroclearance, my bad. I was in a hurry this morning and focused on my TIG unit. I glanced at my Lincoln MIG unit and saw the 255 (it is a Power MIG 255).
I was pretty darn good at OA welding in the day, but I have really struggled with TIG. I took the Lincoln Automotive welding school which concentrates on TIG. That helped, but I still struggle. Part of the issue is not getting as much practice as I should.
The one thing that seems to have made a big difference is cheater glasses. I find that I am much closer to the weld as opposed to other procedures. I have a suspicion that my marginal depth perception (one bad eye) is not helping much.
Jim
I have a Miller Dialarc that is 25 years old and wouldn't trade it for a dozen new Miller versions as far as a Tig. Miller's new stuff is junk and has been for 20 years. In fact I have totally quit Miller products and other than 3 of the older mig machines that I kept, I have switched to Lincolns. Over the years I have had probably 6 or so new Miller mig welders since the mid 90's that I basically sold in the want ads to get rid of them!!! Everyone kept using the old machines. I even tried to trade one in to the company that I had bought one from 6 months before and they would only give me about 1/2 what I paid for it because "those were a piece of junk" putting it politely. I think Miller put all their efforts into robotics and computerized stuff. That was the end of any blue welders at my shop. Welding chrome molly is a whole new game and you really need to do some research Cliff. Smaller tungsten tips are like smaller torch tips. You'll want remote amperage, finger tip is my fav but foot controlled can be had also. if you are doing a lot you will want a water cooled torch. I'm sure all tig setups have the ability to weld moly but you need the feature that has start and constant for the high freak. And never cool red hot molly in water....... Unless you like shrapnel!
One of the problems with tig welding involves striking the arc without touching the metal with the tungsten because once you do the weld is contaminated and you have to stop and clean the tungsten. One of the things that REALLY helps here is an auto darkening helmet. You can see EXACTLY what you are doing and the instant the arc starts the helmet darkens. But then you can see the arc. And they aren't very expensive. I bought one 7 or 8 years ago for under $100. They are even cheaper now and its been great.
the good thing is you no longer need to do a scratch start, the high frequency on almost all machines starts the arc. I use a foot pedal for current control but I have heard the finger control torches are great too. I actually came back on here to recommend a good auto darkening helmet. I'm just about to get a new one. the HF one I bought almost 10 years ago is finally giving up.
Brian
Quote from: Charley Davidson on March 02, 2011, 04:43:18 PM
Wrench, Glad to hear another good report about them, I'm gonna buy a unit from them when my rich uncle ... well you know
Do you belong to their forum?
I am a registered user, but don't post much.
I got the WeldAll 200PI, & the previous generation of WeldMax 164i.(the blue box).
wrench
Ok guys I went with the Lincoln Precision 225 price was 700 bucks cheaper than the Thermadyde I wanted with a 3 year warranty versus a 1 year on the Thermadyne with less amps, duty cycle,free shipping and got a free self darkening Lincoln hood with auto off /on, 4 sensors and 1/20000 reaction time free was the key lol and thanks Charley and Wrench but I just could make myself buy a China made unit good buy for that unit
good luck
Clifford, looked at the specs and it sure looks like a great unit for what i would guess is your application. Looks like it comes with an air cooled torch. That is what I have, but I have looked at the water cooled torches and they are much smaller and look much easier to use. I can't use water cooled as the shop is not heated.
The other issue you may run into is conflict with GFI breakers in your shop. For some reason, my unit will shut them off. I suspect it has something to do with the high frequency start. First time I welded, I thought I had flashed my eyes when I lifted my hood and then it dawned on me that the GFI for the light outlets had tripped.
After you have played with the unit, give us a report on both the unit and how you are doing with welding. As I pointed out earlier, I have struggled. I can get a pretty good looking bead with good penetration, but getting a leak proof weld at the starting/stopping point gave me fits. I used exhaust tubing for all of the plumbing on the conversion (air supply/charge air cooler/coolant water/exhust) and after I pressure tested everything, I found several leaks where I had started/stopped. I had been very careful to restart the weld quite a ways back to re-flow the weld, but I guess I did not do it correctly. I have gotten better, but it is a challenge.
One of the things I am bad about is letting the post flow feature do its job. You really need to learn to leave the torch in position until the post flow stops - not natural for me.
I would assume that you got the foot pedal control. That is what I have and it works fine when I can put the part on my welding bench and work on it in a non-contorted position. I would love to try the thumb control torch sometime. It should be much easier to use when you are in a hard to reach position.
Jim
Jim, I got the finger controlled you know I don't dance lol
good luck
Clifford, that was a good decision. After we have a few years under our belt ::), it is hard to stand on one foot and control the foot pedal with the other - especially in an awkward position.
We are hoping to head to Bakersfield next week for some races. I wish we had the time to detour to your place so that I could pick up the turbo and try your torch. :D :D
Jim
A Chinese welder? I cant stand buying a pair of pliers made in China, I darn sure wont buy a large piece of equipment made there. Anywhere else, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Canadia. But not Chinese, no sir. I'll admit I own some, but ive really gone on a restrictive diet from it the last couple years, and I always look for the place of origin now when im looking at stuff.
Besides Miller and Lincoln, dont forget Hobart. I was told Hobart is owned by Miller, and that Hobart is like two or three year old Miller technology and quality. Dont know all thats true, just passing along what I was told by a Miller dealer. I currently have a Hobart Ironman 210 MIG welder, and an older Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC stick welder
And dont forget used equipment. Craigslist, Ebay, etc., there are always tons of stuff out there you can find reasonable. Just know what the item is and what its worth, etc., or look for a particular make or model you know about. There are always guys that buy something, cant figure out how to use it, then sell it a year later barely used. I bought the Ironman new, simply because there wasnt a lot of cost difference between what guys were asking for a used one, and a brand new one at Northern. I bought the Thunderbolt used for $50 from a guy at a pawn shop who was using it for a door stop. Then I sold my old Licoln 225 for what I paid for it 15 years earlier and before I dropped a lathe on it. LOL.
AFAIK, everything in aviation is TIG. Ive even heard some say stick and MIG are illegal on aircraft. I would love to have a TIG, but have decided I will wait until I have a bigger shop and can afford a good one. Or maybe I will scrounge some stuff and see if I can TIG with my Thunderbolt.
Good choices Clifford....