How To TIG Weld

[bazza]

Oldfart seeing you ask this question is very sad!! Where is your kiwi give it a go No 8 fencing wire spirit gone?? In case you have for gotten you weld like this First have half a dozen Lion Reds second give it to some one who knows how to weld.....

[oldfart]

Bassa  .   Tig welding is very similar to oxy welding        Gi - hates people hi jacking His threads 

[Ji Gantor]

TIG welding is exactly like Oxy welding except no gas just a beam of bright light.

Stainless steel is my next material.
I had some to use the other night but ran out of time.
It was 304 and I had 316 filler rod.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

My Son Jimmy Sparks tried to TIG weld an open corner on Tuesday night.
Not bad for his first go.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

I am currently constructing a parcel tray to get the gazebo and spare parts boxes off the bike trailer floor.
I purchased some 6060 T5 aluminium RHS today for the main members.
After doing all the prep work I decided to see how this stuff TIG welds before the main event tomorrow.
With some 3mm scrap and a small piece of the box section I pulled the trigger and it welds real nice.
Looking forward to a day of TIG welding tomorrow.

I did not clean the surfaces which contributed to pepper in the weld, I also pulled the torch away from the last part of the bead and that is why it is a little pourous.
 
Ji

[suz125]

I particularly liked your request ji gantor for boiler makers to notify of their tips. One of my boilermakers at work did some aluminium mig welding for me, I asked if he knew if the tip should be a size larger for the welding becasue of the expansion of aluminium and he said don't worry about it. I had to try not to laugh every time he was welding and the wire spooled up because it jammed due to the expansion of the metal. No offence meant to any boiler makers just pointing out that a good tradie is a good tradie regardless of which trade.

[Ji Gantor]

When we go to the track for the weekend we use a Horsepower float to transport the bikes and stuff, but lately the stuff required to make our weekend perfect has started to over flow out and over the tailgate and it is worse now we can transport three bikes in the float.
So I had a great idea, We need a mezzanine floor. Of course Mrs Gantor says she thought of it first.

Anyway this weekend past I fired up the TIG welder for some aluminium welding.
The main joists are 40x25x2.5 RHS 6060 T5.
The flooring is 4.5mm Hwd ply and we covered it with marine carpet.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

First we cut the ply so it was the right size and shape, then we tec screwed the aluminium joists to the ply.
This should keep the aluminium members from distorting and going out of square when welded.
The only problem with this design is that you can not weld too close to the ply or it may catch fire.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

As I have found out it is one thing to weld up a small aluminium bracket on a bench while seated it is another thing to weld a 1.8m x 1.6m floor frame.
This is the largest TIG welding project I have done by far.
Some times I was sitting on the slab and other times I was on a ladder trying to work the foot controller, very difficult.
But all in all I had no melt downs nor burn throughs.
Some welds when I was sitting on the slab with no room to move or actuate the foot controller came out a bit sad looking but still strong and oxidation free.

Ji

[Lozza]

Ji you would be 'knackered' without Mrs Gantor to do all the thinking for you

[Ji Gantor]

Aw Lozza don't say that, Mrs Gantor has an account with the forum now and she will read this.
But yes I would be knackered without Mrs G.

Ji

[STW996]

Hey Ji did you know that tig welding of stainless steel gives off Ozone so you will be doing your bit for the enviroment

Mate you must have a lot of time on your hand to tig weld all that (framework for the float), just make sure you leave the nagg's at home hey? unless they are period nagg's

Who did you buy the aluminium box from? I think you are around Northgate? so try Ullrich Metals and drop my name as I buy a lot of Aluminium from them.

Shane

[Ji Gantor]

With the carpet stapled on and the frame installed the mezzanine floor is ready for loading.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

The alloy frame looks great.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

The carpet is hard to tension but with a little pulling it looks great and should stop things from rolling around.

Ji