Welder

[DavidR8]

This was a muller I made using trailer fenders from Northern Tool.

All stick welded using a AC tombstone Lincoln.

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Genius idea using fenders!

 

[timo_gross]

The way out is to get one of your grandchildren into welding.

Or buy a welding robot and get one of your grandchildren into programming.

p.s. I bought a cheap chinese TIG welder a while ago.
It confirms what was said above about practice and muscle memory. But... my horrible welds (including inclusion, and cooling cracks) are often still doing the job. They win over no welds a lot of the time. I have no issues to get consumables and Argon gas at reasonable prices, that might change the experience considerably.

A while ago my welds became very bad, I mean bad even in my world. Turned out the Argon ho(r)se was totally decomposed. (in the tool shop they told me: no Ar-ho(r)se for cheap welder.... They could re-direct me to someone who replaced the damaged rubber and kept the chinese fittings.

I found this German "advertisish" video. (Auto translation to English subtitles is reaonable), he is enthusiastic about the Laser.

Down sides he points out.

• exceptional weld preparation was done for video (clean, clean, clean, no gaps, clean )
• gap bridging he found difficult (muscle memory and practice is back)
• no unusual positions
• only very (relatively) thin material possible. Or possible to do very thin material, obviously depends on view point
• the guy is a professional welder, so he warns to take his enthusiasm with a grain of salt.
• Work safety? (cat, wife, grandchildren?)

I had the chance to play 5 min with one of these. It was really fun/easy to do. (it is on the whish list)



But it seems really micro, for very small work.

Greetings Timo

 

[awake]

I would quibble with the goal of producing a "stack of dimes" - TIG or gas welding is more likely to produce this look as part of the normal process, but for MIG and stick, a normal weld will not particularly look this way. Sometimes people will make the stack-of-dimes a priority, and in the process will follow less-than-optimal procedures.

 

[timo_gross]

I would quibble with the goal of producing a "stack of dimes" - TIG or gas welding is more likely to produce this look as part of the normal process, but for MIG and stick, a normal weld will not particularly look this way. Sometimes people will make the stack-of-dimes a priority, and in the process will follow less-than-optimal procedures.

As long as I can grind it all to a flat I call it good (enough)!
( Someone is making fun of my welding skills? I put a mask on his head and a torch in his left hand; switch on the welder and wait what comes up next .
Only once it resulted in a nice TIG weld.

Seriously, if "good looks is the goal" it is a different story.
I remember one occasion were we had laser welded parts that looked fantastic. The problem was that the weld penetration was probably less than 1 mm and the parts broke at 1st or 2nd use. A hobby grade stick weld with cracks, slag inclusions, blow holes and what not would have looked much worse.
Still better than a fracture.

 

[awake]

As Matt on Diesel Creek says, "A grinder and some paint makes me the welder that I ain't."