Tools for tubes, Tube notchers???

donsrods · December 04, 2006, 12:25:59 PM

I think you and I agree that while Tig is a great way to weld, it is not the ONLY way to weld. I don't do aluminum, so that is not a factor. We also have a good sized Miller Mig, so good penetration is not an issue, either. When we have gone back and taken something apart, we found the welds were deep and very strong.

What happens sometimes is that these new toys come out and suddenly all the stuff we had been using were horrible, and not to be even used anymore. Perfect example is a plasma cutter. We wanted one for years, and finally bought one. Now it sits in the corner and gathers dust, because we found out it really doesn't do any more than the old ways we were cutting metal.

You like your tig, and that is fine. I just don't think it is fair to make a comment that anyone using another method is somehow making a mistake.

Don

enjenjo · December 04, 2006, 01:49:15 PM

Well, I still use all three, plus oxyacetelene. Each one excells at different jobs.

river1 · December 04, 2006, 02:13:58 PM

Quote from: "enjenjo"Well, I still use all three, plus oxyacetelene. Each one excells at different jobs.

yup tho i haven't got an oxyaceteline set up yet. i borrow when i need an oxy.

Quote from: "Rex Schimmer"

Still a TIG guy!

Rex

you not a TIG guy your a

later jim

sirstude · December 04, 2006, 02:35:28 PM

I have the Oxy too, my dad bought it when he bought a VW dealership in Helena in 1962. Victor 100 and still available.

Doug

donsrods · December 04, 2006, 03:02:37 PM

My Son thought my oxy setup was old technololgy, never to be used. But then we started heating and bending stuff, like steering arms, and he realized what you are saying. Each one has it's place and purpose.

Don

Crosley.In.AZ · December 04, 2006, 10:04:46 PM

bought my first oxy outfit when I was 18....... it helped me install the 450cc Honda engine into my Isetta I drove around my senior year of high school.

There were some German guys that fitted aluminum Cobra bodies to frames for a guy I knew years ago...... these guys welded the aluminum with an oxy setup. Very impressive to watch them.

Seems like NHRA requires certain types of welds on the cages in the faster cars ??

:?

1FATGMC · December 04, 2006, 10:14:18 PM

Quote from: "Rex Schimmer"...................... I bought my old AIRCO 460 amp unit from North American Aircraft Surplus Sales back in 1983 and it has a few excentricities but it does everything I want and makes beautiful welds.

Still a TIG guy!

Rex

Rex what amperage circuit do you run that on in order to weld 1/4-5/16 aluminum?

c ya,

Sum

tomslik · December 05, 2006, 05:25:05 AM

Quote from: "Crosley"bought my first oxy outfit when I was 18....... it helped me install the 450cc Honda engine into my Isetta I drove around my senior year of high school.

There were some German guys that fitted aluminum Cobra bodies to frames for a guy I knew years ago...... these guys welded the aluminum with an oxy setup. Very impressive to watch them.

Seems like NHRA requires certain types of welds on the cages in the faster cars ??

:?

seems to me it's mig or tig for mild steel and tig only for moly

Rex Schimmer · December 05, 2006, 05:39:17 PM

Sum,
I don't do a lot of thicker alum like 1/4 and 5/16 but if I did and wanted a really good weld I would certainly grind a nice bevel on both plates, probably the full thickness and then do the weld in 3 passes, plus when I was done on one side I woulld turn it over grind the welded area and put another pass on that side. Welding thick aluminum is difficult as the metal wants to disapate the heat so fast that you really need to put power to it. I really doubt that I could get a full penatration weld on a piece of 1/4 in a single pass, and even if it did fill the bevel there will still be a notch on the back of the weld that needs to be ground and welded. I worked at a place where we were welding one of the special 2000 series aluminum for rings for rocket cases and the cross section was around 1 inch thick by 8 inch long. We used pretty high amp settings, probably in the 300 area, preheated the base metal, used helium instead of argon(which make the weld hotter) and did it in DC instead of AC. The weld was pretty much a complete filler operation as the metal was preped by cutting a 7/8 inch deep J groove on each side and then filling the groove with filler in multi passes. I tell this story to let you know that sure you can take a piece of 1/4 plate and do a single pass over it and it will be welded together but the weld is probably only 1/16 th deep.
There is a real high tech method for doing alum plate these days and it is called "keyhole" welding. You don't even need to bevel the ends of the plate but you need one of the new welders that will do reverse polarity plasma welding. I have seen 3/4 plate butted together and then welded, full penatration, 100% weld in a single pass. Not what I usually do every day with my TIG.

Oxy/Acet welding. I too still have my original Victor Junior welder that I bought back in 1970. Built several great dirt bikes with it as oxy/acet is still recognized as one of the best ways to weld 4130 tubing, if you know the method. Also built a pile of 2 stroke expansion chambers and several aluminum tanks. It is still a fall back for me if I can't TIG it. But as I always say, "If you can gas weld you can TIG! Same method except TIG is easier!"

Rex