How To TIG Weld

[BAHNZY]

Hi Bahnsy,
How did it go last night.
I guess it went well seeing how we did not hear from you.

Ji

Faark, Double Faark & Tripple Faark. Have all but got to the point of turning the thing into a door stop. Gave up and went and seen a mate of mine, Scott Owen (one of the best SuperCar fabricators going) and had him do it. I'll have another crack soon enough, just need to get my confidence back 

[Ji Gantor]

So Bahnsy what happened?
Did you form an arc?
Black soot everywhere?
Or nothing but the pilot arc ticking away?

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

Today I TIG welded the aluminium cargo restraint brackets for the mezzanine floor.
This was my first time welding tube onto a flat plate.
The tube and plate are both 3mm thick 6060 T5.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

The thing to remember with alloy tube is to S/S wire brush both plate and tube, extend your electrode past the cup by at least 12mm and aim the most of your heat into the largest member so you don't get a burn through.
When welding a 50mm diameter tube you can only weld about 12mm before you have to stop and rotate the job. Between rotations and start ups give the job another hit with the wire brush just in case there is some carbon or other contamination.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

I purchased one of those fold away jockey wheels the other day and thought that they must be easy to install, wrong.
The problem with them is that they have no up and down adjustment from their folded away position.
So today I also started making a bracket that will allow this preliminary height adjustment.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

While the TIG welder was out I may as well use it to weld this bracket up.
It also gave me more experience TIG welding tubes.
The bridge plate is 12mm thick and the steel tube has a 2.5mm wall thickness.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

With the socket brackets in place it is now time to install the rails.
I saw these telescopic paint roller extensions at Big W and thought that they would make the perfect rails.
They only cost $14.00 each and have a sprung loaded lock.


Ji

[Ji Gantor]

Time to start packing this new space to see how much we can get in.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

Okay the jockey wheel bracket works.
This is what I was looking for.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

All the materials used I had hanging around the home.
I Tig welded all the components.


Ji

[Ji Gantor]

I love TIG welding steel.
The penetration is unreal, and it looks great.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

Folded away just like I intended.
Even Mrs G likes it, and it was not her idea (I think)

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

I also ran a bead at the bottom of the pipe so the whole thing does not slip off if the bolt is loose.

Ji

[Ji Gantor]

On the weekend I gave TIG welding stainless ago.
Thanks for the knowledge Shane that I am helping the planet.
The plates are 304 1.6mm thick.
I used a 2.4mm thick ceriated electrode with a S/S 1.6mm filler rod.
I turned the heat down to about 45amps.
S/S welds even better than steel.

Ji

[Lozza]

Stainless needs to have the rear side of the weld shielded otherwise there will be black 'weld boogers' hanging off it. Then there is the passivation/pickling paste to get rid of the brown stuff on top