Welding

[StinkerBell]

I mention that I have always been interested in welding. A passing comment. So the hubs has all this info for us to take a welding course. I am actually looking forward to it. HOWEVER I highly suspect this would  be his argument later on that we indeed do things together and "No" he would not be interested in taking a dance class together. Hmmm maybe I am just too suspicous.

[glenn kangiser]

I think you can do it Stinky - maybe better than the Hog --- Let me know if I can assist you with any answers - clues etc.  It is my main trade.

Welding is more fun than dancing.... especially as you get older and the drive to mate is no longer as necessary....I mean, crimoney - you already have him in the bag.....

[MountainDon]

What kind of dance? Country, Swing, Square, Ballroom?  

Hopefully you can find a dance club as good as or better than the Albuquerque Swing & Country Dance Club. It's a great place for social dancing, gets one away from the meat market night clubs. 670 members as of June. With a club like that you wouldn't need Nethog.



And you could still learn to weld anyways. 

[peternap]

Never peek under your helmet...
Trust me! 

[muldoon]

I'll take welding over dancing anyday. 

not only do you get the cool helmet, you get to play with fire and tools. 
dancing is just sloppy toe stompin, welding is an art. 

[glenn kangiser]

Ummm Stinky, we want updates on progress and in depth discussion as well as pictures of your work for critical analysis. 

[StinkerBell]

I have not started the class yet. I think Hog wants to ask one of his buddies from robot group to teach us instead. He was mumbling something about doing it through his friend seeing he did it many years ago (plus the school has not contacted him back which irritates him). I still am working on a led christmas reef that has small solar panels in it to hang on the front grill of my jeep. So far I have pulled apart some cheap solar panel yard lights to see if I can use those. I was told I can not use red lights they must be little white ones, oy!

I am hoping to make the small solar panels look like ornaments.

[glenn kangiser]

You are very adventurous...... for a girl, Stinky. 

Do you have a welder at home, Stinky?

What do you want to do - Wire or stick?    or possibly we should consider what your goal is - types of metal to weld together or things you want to make?

[StinkerBell]

Well....I need to be able to weld aluminum, that will be a must. I also need to weld some frames together for to hold a solar panel project I want to replicate. I will go look at some salvage yards to see if I can get stainless for that. I grew up in an aircraft hardware store. Went on many DOD bids and dealt alot in scrap metal. So,although I have a good knowledege in things like the series of a stainless fitting (AN 822-8 j or k for example) and working with a 400 series stainless steel, I am clueless when it comes to welding. I have done  soldering (I call micro welding!...the Hubs just rolls his eyes).

[glenn kangiser]

Cool, Stinky.  You are very advanced in that knowledge compared to many ladies. 

There are several ways to weld aluminum and of course I don't know all about it but I can help you with what I do know.

TIG - tungsten inert gas, is one also known as heliarc, but generally the gas is Argon and welding is done with AC - preferably square wave so the cleaning/welding time portions can be adjustable.

I like the MIG method best.  Fast and clean using a spool gun and DC reverse polarity with Argon gas for shielding.  I just welded up my Jeep manifold this way and previously installed decking in an 8 story food processing facility using this method.

Equipment is a bit expensive but maybe still affordable -especially if you can find it used.

Aluminum gets an oxide coating that has a higher melting temp than the aluminum itself so cleaning is a must.  Bees wax prevents loading up of aluminum in the grinding or sanding tools.

[glenn kangiser]

Oh yes - mustn't forget torch welding with the oxy-acetylene torch.  A bit messier and rough but doable.  Much more warping from heat.  It uses a flux cored rod and is harder to control but is a cheap way to make a weld.  Many times looks like crap though. 

Most of us already have an oxy-acetylene torch so the only expense is the flux cored rod.

Another - stick welding wioth coated electrodes.  Again - can be a bit crappy but works.  As I remember it is polarity sensitive so requires DC.  Not quite as crappy as torch welding in some cases as you can actually run a bead with it.

Stainless can be TIG, or stick with stick being real decent and TIG can be almost flawless in many cases.  I think you can do it with MIG but I have not done that yet.

[StinkerBell]

Oh thanks for the tips. At this point I am not looking at a beautiful weld as much as function first. I should have you make me a cheat sheet...like one of these (love these things) http://www.amazon.com/Value-Stream-Mapping-Quick-Reference/dp/B000MKFO5Y/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1284481842&sr=8-10

Back to my christmas reef...I was thinking about it a little more and I think I am going to scavange in Hogs boxes of old died computer boards and other dead electronic things. I will make my reef a computer/electronic theme reef so the solar panels will look like part of the design.

I have too many projects and very few completed ones.

[glenn kangiser]

I'm too tight to spend money on something like that... but we can assist you - I and likely others will help too.

Do you have any equipment?  Do you want to purchase it?  Good equipment is much better than poor equipment.  Many times your skills would be better if your equipment is better.  I do not endorse Harbor Freight for most welding equipment.  I prefer Miller - Lincoln is a close second - they both have their weak points but are better than many.

[StinkerBell]

I tend to be a Harbor Freight gal myself. No equipment yet just getting this goal started.
And yes....I made sure our fire insurance covers accidents!

[chad]

Hi stinkerbell,Ive been welding for years not as a pro. but once in a while at my work place and around the house mainly stick and some tig.When takeing my classes i noticed everyone learns at their own pace and dont get discouraged.Just keep at it! good luck

[glenn kangiser]

Stinky, some of the Harbor Freight stuff may actually cause you to have a harder time learning as it may cause problems with the welds.  My dad bought a Harbor Freight small wire welder - my nephew, a pro said it did not weld good.  I am taking his word for it.

I agree chad - study theory and get pointers.  A bit of instruction helps provide the clues needed to learn to be good at it. My old boss said "You are your own best inspector.  Make each weld better than the last one."

[glenn kangiser]

Good used equipment - maybe Craigs list could be better - study what you need so you don't get a dinosaur or albatross though.  Some dinosaurs can be good - but an albatross likely will not be. 

[MountainDon]

One nice thing about taking a course is that you will likely learn to do things the right way. Not everyone in the local neighborhood went to school to learn. Not that that is a bad thing all the time, but self taught is not always best taught.

Another nice thing about going to school is you will most likely be using good equipment, equipment that can generate smooth flawless welds with the right person using it. As Glenn mentioned not every box with the word "welder" on it is capable equipment.

[glenn kangiser]

Of the small wire feeds such as the Millermatic 135, the Miller is smoother on an extension cord than the Lincoln and does not have plastic motor frame parts that will break if the gun mount is bumped.

http://www.airgas.com/browse/productDetail.aspx?Category=231&product=mil907019

There are other models also.

Cool - just found this add on spool gun

http://www.millerweldersales.com/product_details.cfm?category_id=12&product_id=1096

[StinkerBell]

The hubs is in such a mood. I understand why now the desire for welding. He traded our trailer in for an Airstream. I will refer to it as "SOUP"

[glenn kangiser]

[ouch]


Are you going to tell the rest of the story, Stinky?

[StinkerBell]

Not much more to tell. He took a very large and very long travel trailer (It was a house on wheels) and traded it in on a small airstream. He thinks next year the market is going to go crazy and that interest rates will sky rocket. Better to buy what he wants now. THe other thing is the boy can use it for liviing instead of paying for an expensive dorm.

[glenn kangiser]

Good barters often work out well for all involved.