If and when you are ready for aluminum, clean the welding area with acetone first.

Also you may need to invest in a sharpener for the rod. I think Piranha makes one.

I'll probably either buy or build a sharpener eventually. There are some really cool build videos I've seen (one by the Metallist on youtube caught my eye in particular). For the time being I've been using a bench grinder and a hand drill. I'll be replacing the 36 grit wheel with a 80 or 120 pretty soon, and building a pedestal for the thing (I've got a Wolverine sharpening jig on there because the flat platen broke) in the next couple of weeks more than likely.

I did try some aluminum - I just slapped a couple of pieces of angle iron together because there wasn't any square tubing readily available in the size I wanted for the rod holder I was prototyping. It went together pretty easily. Wire brush, clean with acetone, clamp, and blast away with some 4043 filler.


While I'm at it I need to decide if/when I want to upgrade my argon tank again.

Damn, and I thought Gear Acquisition Syndrome for photography was bad...

That flag is pretty cool.

I'm still on the fence between buying my own MIG, or pitching in to get my dad's Miller fixed (needs a new trigger).
Something that I'd probably use rarely enough that it's tough to justify buying, but I don't have a truck, so 'borrowing' my dad's isn't too feasible.
I've seen the images at one of the local gas supply stores of cars blown open like soda cans from a tank letting go inside a vehicle.

Thanks! It was an evolution of my learning building processes. The original plan was: gas (oxy/propane) brazed using a mini torch into a ground groove, ground flat, polished, and with 50 .223/5.56mm case heads fastened to the union. That lasted until I fumigated the garage and part of the house with flux fumes. I completely coincidentally picked up the first TIG machine at about the same time and the wheels started turning. It just went downhill from there.

I've seen those photos too (Nexair? Airgas by me doesn't have any of that, just "don't bring tanks inside the building, kthnxbye").

My stance as of right now is that anything under 40 CF can go in the trunk of the Mustang, anything over and I'm bribing my brother in law to either give me a ride or let me borrow his pickup. My logic has nothing to do with the tank exploding (which I doubt an argon or CO2 mix tank will do easily; my take is that most of those explosions were from O2/acetylene tanks and/or stuff left in cars all day in the heat) and everything to do with damaging my car. I put my last Mustang through hell and back, and my new one is WAY nicer (and, y'know, my only car).

Red or blue ain't cheap at all new, but if the Primeweld MIG is anything like my TIG I'd jump on it. $500, comes with Al spool gun. Unfortunately it doesn't come with a regulator and other goodies like the TIG does.

Honestly if I were you I'd get a few quotes on repairs. It might not be as expensive as you think.

The photos were at a small 3-store local shop (Conroe Welding Supply, for those in the N Houston area).
The one that stuck in my head was a Nissan X-Terra that had the whole passenger compartment blown out. Just the rear cargo, engine compartment & floor pan were left

I believe there's a few places that sell the gun internals, just need to do some research on what model he has & find the parts.
I looked up replacement guns Almost 50% the cost of a new (with lower duty cycle) machine.

Yeah, that definitely sounds like an acetylene bottle went boom. That stuff is super nasty, to the point where I don't want it in my shop. Most weld supply stores won't let you leave with combustible gases over a certain tank size if you're in a fully enclosed vehicle for that reason. At least, mine won't.

I'm pissed because my back isn't letting me into the shop. I picked up some of these Radnor E3 tungstens that I wanted to try - according to the interwebs it's supposed to be the best thing since sliced bread. My thought is that it had better be, as the two pack cost almost what it costs for an entire 10 pack of lanthanated and thoriated tungstens. At $80/10 pack it had better do all the work for me. The stubby gas lens kit has been pretty awesome, though I'm aware that it's likely covering up some visual cues that would make me better. I just like how compact it makes the torch head.

But then again it came out of the Airgas store, and my impression of them has been "unnecessarily expensive" since I started pricing all this shit out.

I don't think this shop will sell you any cylinder if you're in an enclosed vehicle. I get it from the liability side.

I used to get 5ft tall helium tanks when I worked for a dealership. Those huge 6ft dia balloons take a long time to fill & a lot of gas.

Hmm. I've never had an issue like that. I can see how it would be an issue, though. Might be worth a phone call for clarification. I completely understand the liability issues, even if it means I'd be getting my gas somewhere else.

Fun fact: Helium can be used to TIG weld. Before argon came to be used, helium was the gas of choice (it was originally called heliarc welding). Argon is more stable and starts easier but helium burns hotter.

Talk to the weld supply about getting a diagnosis done on your machine. It could be a lot less expensive than you're expecting.

Completely unrelated, I just noticed you mentioned Houston. My brother lives in Bay Town.

quote:

Originally posted by vulrath:.

Completely unrelated,I just noticed you mentioned Houston. My brother lives in Bay Town.

Baytown's about an hour drive from me, with how big Houston is. I'm far north, Baytown's far east.

So I'm not thrilled about the E3 tungstens, at least not these ones anyway. I can't seem to get it to cooperate on aluminum - I can see where the two sides of the joint melt, but it doesn't pool together, and the filler just balls up and doesn't stick to anything.

If I pull it out and replace it with a 2% lanthanated or thoriated tungsten, and I have immediate change in results.

I'm also waiting for the shipment to arrive with the materials for the grinder pedestal I'm making. Should be a fun project.

Set the balance on max penetration. Also be sure the aluminum is nice and clean.
Sounds like the parts you are welding aren't staying melted and clean. You run the tungsten along and the two parts should start to melt together and the filler rod should stay close in the shielding gas and you drip it in almost like a candle.

I've been wiping with acetone and hitting with a wire brush, which I just realize might not be stainless. It's possible that could have something to do with it. I did experiment with filing a small bevel in there with a hand file, but I don't think I'll be doing that again, at least not for now.

Balance was 30% cleaning, ~120Hz. Amperage was appropriate for the thickness (might even have been a little high), with adequate gas coverage from a stubby gas lens kit.

That immediate change in results I was having was the wall of the angle "iron" drooping and melting. The filler behaved way differently as well, actually allowing me to dip it into the weld pool instead of wasting away before I could even bring it close.

Honest question: how was it that the only thing I did differently was swap the tungsten yet I had a complete 180 degree difference in results?

When I get a chance I'll upload some of the photos from my phone of what I was able to do successfully and post them up.

Yes pictures would probably help.

Material is 1/8"thick, amperage was I wanna say around 130. Gas flow 10 CFH, stubby gas lens with a 3/32" electrode and a #7 cup, dunno how much pre flow, but post was whatever I had set from the steel I was working on the last time I'd used it. At one point I actually thought my issue was too little gas so I turned it up a smidge.



This is what I have been able to accomplish successfully. The project was some filler wire holders - they didn't have square tube in the size I wanted so I took some angle and welded them together. I want to say I was using 2% lanthanated here. I saw little to no porosity when I was grinding the beads down to fit for the next step.



Example #1 of the poor performance of the Radnor E3 tungsten on aluminum. It melted, but didn't fuse.



Example #2. Not only did I have similar issues getting the puddle to cooperate I had the issues with trying to stick the filler in there. I did get it to tack somewhat. I can't remember if this is when I swapped tungsten and just didn't grind, or if I went back. I'll be grinding these back at some point.



A closer look at the bird crap passing as a weld. At the center-right you can see more spaces where it melted but the puddle didn't bridge.



Flipped it over, swapped out the tungsten and got immediate feedback. This is more in line with what I was expecting. I swapped to 2% lanthanated here.

I've got some more E3 from a different supplier/brand (Midwest Tungsten this time; half the price, too) on the way to see if it's just the Radnor stuff.

Personally, I'll probably just use up the other stuff I have and then go back to the lanthanated, but I wanted to at least try it.

Edit: filler wire holders, not tube holders

This message has been edited. Last edited by: vulrath,