welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (lots of pics)

Post by **fiznat** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:17 pm

My buddy just got his hands on an oxy acetylene torch setup the other day, so we decided to spend this afternoon seeing what we could do with the thing. We've both been wanting to learn how to weld for a long time now, so this seemed like a good place to start. Please be kind, this is our very first try at this stuff and we havnt had any instruction whatsoever-- didnt even consult an online FAQ.

Our first attempt with the torch and filler rod... Pretty disgusting if you ask me. This first trial taught us one important fact: dont use filler rod unless you have to fill a gap!

Realising how ugly these junk welds were (although they did hold very well!), I decided to try my hand at braizing instead: connecting the metal with just the torch and no filler rod (except in small spots). This came out MUCH better I think:

and inside, pretty good penetration:

heres what it looked like semi cleaned up with the angle grinder:

We also tried our hand at aluminum... This is my buddy nick trying to figure it out:

This was a horrible failure though... The aluminum melts far too quickly for us novices to get any control over it... I didnt even bother taking a pic because it was mostly destroyed.

Anyways I thought I'd share with you guys, see if anyone had any pointers/advice/criticism of my first braizing etc. I know most of us KA-Ters are DIY guys so hopefully this will be of interest to many of you. Show me your welds too-- preferably with the torch so I can compare but any DIY welds are welcome!

Post by **1WheelWonder** » Mon May 30, 2005 4:21 pm

It looks pretty good for first timers, it would get the job done.

Post by **nissanfanatic** » Mon May 30, 2005 5:22 pm

I'm too embarressed to show my welds.lol

Nice job Fiz. I love how DIY you are man!

Post by **ILikeMy240sx** » Mon May 30, 2005 5:35 pm

the first pic kindda reminds me when I tried TIG welding for the first time... it looked like I grew worms

Post by **crzycav86** » Mon May 30, 2005 7:56 pm

nissanfanatic wrote:I'm too embarressed to show my welds.lol

Nice job Fiz. I love how DIY you are man!

Werd... <_<.

That and the fact that I didn't take pictures of them.

Post by **fiznat** » Mon May 30, 2005 8:01 pm

come on you sissies!

Post by **Fenvy** » Mon May 30, 2005 8:37 pm

gulp* let's just say I won't go to you for a custom exhaust

actually I'm just trolling, I don't know anything about welds

Post by **sanioll** » Tue May 31, 2005 3:27 am

fiznat wrote:come on you sissies!

hahaha, you gotta start somewhere mate. good work for the first timer.

Post by **Nismo_Freak** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:01 am

Fiz, pick up a MIG.

Post by **JRL** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:08 am

fiznat wrote:This was a horrible failure though... The aluminum melts far too quickly for us novices to get any control over it... I didnt even bother taking a pic because it was mostly destroyed.

You cant weld aluminum with out using shielding gas.

Post by **Nismo_Freak** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:10 am

JRL wrote:You cant weld aluminum with out using shielding gas.

He needs some Pirate brand Argh-on.

Post by **Structure240sx** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:18 am

the first pic looks at my first and so far only time using my arc welder.

just like anything else you will get better with experience which you know already

i think fiz plans on getting a mig soon

Post by **dft24ds** » Tue May 31, 2005 5:06 am

No offense bro but you are going to need a lot of practice! LOL I took welding in high school for 4 years and to me the torch was the hardest to do. Just make sure you start to get a small "puddle" of melted metal before you dip in the filler rod. Sometimes it helps to move the torch in a line of small circles and add the filler as you are moving the circle back. Its kind of hard for me to explain but maybe you can go to a muffler shop and ask for a little assistance. Keep it up man you'll get it

Post by **777aaron** » Tue May 31, 2005 5:32 am

Not bad at all for the first time,still a long way to a roll of nickels.You will get better it just takes time.Nice work.

Post by **DRIFTEADOR** » Tue May 31, 2005 5:52 am

good luck getting the nickels rolls look with a torch

I may be wrong but isn't brazing what is done in the first pic? The bonding of two metals using a third one with a lower melting point. what's the second? never seen a weld that looks like that. is it strong enough?

it's great that you're showing initiative in diy welding, maybe this will inspire others to do the same and soon we can have a wider selection of manifolds, exhausts, etc. I bet if someone started putting together ic piping kits, there would be alot lot of interest.

Post by **eddiec** » Tue May 31, 2005 6:14 am

i've been kinda wanting an oxy/ace torch. right now i have a lincoln electric 110 volt mig machine. its good for thinner stuff and can be set up to do alum as well. currently i only have the gun used for steel, but soon i'm going to get all the pieces necessary to weld some alum as well.

the following pics are some of the stuff i tried to weld up. this is a flange i had to weld to a universal cat. this is my recent attempt at some chassis strenghening.

Post by **somthin240** » Tue May 31, 2005 8:02 am

it's been a while since I've torched but I think you need to reduce your flame by adjusting the screw on the torch. get it down to about a 1/4 inch. with a long flame it's not heating directly enough and just heating the general area with out an exacting effect which doesn't help for looks. see how the flame turns orange b/c it's interacting with more oxygen b/c the flame is so long. trust me you'll know when you hear it, it sounds like a jet.

Post by **nissanfanatic** » Tue May 31, 2005 11:31 am

Alright.....

Theres my madness. wire feed, no shielding gas. yea yea, it gets the job done

Post by **240SicknessX** » Tue May 31, 2005 11:49 am

well this is my first time tig welding aluminum, i have a little over an hour doing steel with the tig machine.

I was making a box, the weld on the left was done flat, or horizontal, and the one on the right was a vertical pass. If anyone knows, verticals are said to be much harder.....

[URL][url]

this was a horizontal pass inside the box that i made.

im going to get a little more practise for ****s and giggles before i make my manifold + downpipe + exhaust.

tell me what you think.

*EDIT*- i was trying to balence how fast the puddle was moving and how much rod i was giving, so i started, did a couple inches stopped checked then started up again, dad drove over it with the expedition and it didnt even think about flexing 2 inches away from my seems.
Modified by 240SicknessX at 10:06 PM 5/31/2005

Post by **fiznat** » Tue May 31, 2005 12:01 pm

Thanks for all the comments guys!

DRIFTEADOR wrote:I may be wrong but isn't brazing what is done in the first pic? The bonding of two metals using a third one with a lower melting point. what's the second? never seen a weld that looks like that. is it strong enough?

I dont know what I would call the first pic. "Screwing around," probably. Brazing does not use a third metal as far as I know. I looked around and most FAQs describe the process as simply melting and combining two metals with the torch only. Basically what I did was get a decently hot flame (small cone- lots of oxygen reletave to ace), and got the edges of each side to melt slightly, I did my best there to sort of "mix" the two using small circular motions. There is NO filler rod in those welds, its all just bonded metal and yes it is super strong (I bashed the pipe with a hammer afterwards trying to break it off and it didnt even crack... bent the pipe up though...)

Post by **crzycav86** » Tue May 31, 2005 1:33 pm

Yeah.. this is a fun thread.

I'll take pics and post tommorow of my first experience.

Post by **JRL** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:22 pm

240sickness: How much welding experience did you have prior to doing TIG welding?

Post by **240SicknessX** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:34 pm

JRL wrote:240sickness: How much welding experience did you have prior to doing TIG welding?

about an hour of steel tig, but ive been doing custom metal fabrication since i was 9 (im almost 19 now) but i just touched the welder about a month ago when those pics were taken. My dad is AMAZING with metal fab and is an excellent teacher. Ive seen his employees' welds and listend to his critiques. Those were my actual first aluminm welds with about 7 minutes of instruction from dad.

so in the 10 years of fabrication ive seen just about everything from robotic welds, to the most horrible disgusting crap that falls apart when you pick it up.

bleh i just reread your post, i have no prior welding experience, fabrication on the other hand ive been told im skilled.

Post by **USsil80** » Tue May 31, 2005 4:47 pm

i am just envious you get the tools... makes it closer to getting everything you want from you.. pratice and then some more.. don't know what to say about your welds though... how well did they hold up...

Post by **777aaron** » Tue May 31, 2005 6:25 pm

I actually think its easier to learn how to tig weld doing aluminun rather than steel or cast iron.It could just be the nature of the machine I use though which is an old cyber-tig.Just don't forget to change frequency when going to aluminum,I remember when I was learning and I kept thinking I did'nt have a good ground and I was still on D.C. DOH!

Post by **240SicknessX** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 4:16 am

aluminum melts easier and its harder to see the temprature change, so its difficuilt to get the correct amount of penetration without melting or being too cold. steel on the other hand is much more forgiving.

Post by **2_Liter_Turbo** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:35 am

When it comes to welding Aluminum, you want to use AC current on a TIG machine. The hardest thing when it comes to welding Aluminum is determining when you have a weld pool. Start out with lower heat and slowly push down on the pedal. You will notice that the Aluminum surface will start to speckle. As soon as the whole surface is shiny, that's your weld pool. Aluminum doesn't change color like steel, it either dull or shiny. If you can't get it to be shiny, just turn up the power unitll it gets hot enough. Be careful! It is very easy to overheat Aluminum. Just a nudge over making it shiny and POOF! It's gone. It took me a couple days to learn how to do some nice Aluminum welds, but it's not bad. If you guys have any questions about welding I'll gladly answer any. I'm no master, but I do have some experience.

Post by **takklz** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 4:30 pm

Ok, this is what you do... Do you welds or w/e you'll know if they are crappy once you hit the thing you welded against a rock 100 times ^_^, if it brakes YOU SUCK!

Post by **op.tic** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:15 pm

man i wish i had a welder, you can do soo much with a welder

Post by **95_240sx** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:59 am

240SicknessX wrote:well this is my first time tig welding aluminum, i have a little over an hour doing steel with the tig machine.

I was making a box, the weld on the left was done flat, or horizontal, and the one on the right was a vertical pass. If anyone knows, verticals are said to be much harder.....

[URL][url]

this was a horizontal pass inside the box that i made.

im going to get a little more practise for ****s and giggles before i make my manifold + downpipe + exhaust.

tell me what you think.

*EDIT*- i was trying to balence how fast the puddle was moving and how much rod i was giving, so i started, did a couple inches stopped checked then started up again, dad drove over it with the expedition and it didnt even think about flexing 2 inches away from my seems.

Modified by 240SicknessX at 10:06 PM 5/31/2005

No, downhand is easiest because you draw the puddle better and basically keep a hot puddle rolling and adding filler rod into it.

And to whoever did the flange, you need to turn your wire down or your heat up to get the puddle to flow into the materials a littel better.

Fiznat, you already questioned me on AIM so I wont reply on here You should feel lucky I help you...after all...I weld for a living and I am giving up my secrets

Rick

welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (lots of pics)

welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (lots of pics)

Re: (nissanfanatic)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (fiznat)

Re: (fiznat)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (fiznat)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (JRL)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (fiznat)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (dft24ds)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (fiznat)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (fiznat)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (DRIFTEADOR)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (fiznat)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (240SicknessX)

Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (JRL)

Re: (777aaron)

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Re: welding gurus: rate my first day with the torch! (240SicknessX)

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