Micro TIG welders

[Blender]

That machine has some real potential. The power for big stuff and precision for model making.

[ddmckee54]

Originally Posted by Blender

That machine has some real potential. The power for big stuff and precision for model making.

That's what I was thinking. It's supposed to get here next week, I just MIGHT have to see where I can round up some test coupons and try it.

I know when he welded the 0.4mm and 0.6mm test welds on SS, he didn't get full penetration. But then again, he wasn't trying to get full penetration. He was just making a weld that looked pretty, top and bottom. He wasn't trying to get any type of a structural weld. By playing with the length of the weld pulse I'm sure you'll get the penetration.

With the welding we want to do, mostly on mild steel, I think we need a little more penetration. The back side of the weld usually doesn't concern us that much, if at all. We do want the front side to look like a weld. I don't know how much penetration the jewelry welders get, never seen anybody cut one up to find out. My gut feeling says we need more penetration, we DO after want to play in the dirt after all. Anybody with an Orion or its' equivalent, want to do some test welds and cut 'em up so we can see?

Back when I was learning to gas weld sheet metal in... I ain't gonna tell ya. My instructor would clamp our test weld lengthwise in the vise and bend the weld. If the weld made it through 180 degrees, you passed. If not - go back, practice some more, and try again.

Don

[ddmckee54]

I was just doing some poking around to find some appropriate welding coupons. About all I can find in sheet metal are 20ga coupons which are about 0.036", close enough to 0.9mm. What are y'all using for steel?

Don

[Blender]

Originally Posted by ddmckee54

I was just doing some poking around to find some appropriate welding coupons. About all I can find in sheet metal are 20ga coupons which are about 0.036", close enough to 0.9mm. What are y'all using for steel?

Don

18-22 GA 1008 cold rolled as first choice or A36 pickled and oiled.


I should have some scrap suitable for cutting a weld to see penetration. Try and get some results over the weekend.

[Blender]

0.9mm, .035" 20 ga 1008 steel. Butt joint, fusion weld at top only, minimal surface prep. Cut perpendicular to weld seam. Shown through 5x microscope and raw camera capture. Small shiny things are really hard to take pictures of.

Power level: 66J

Not full penetration. Joint is homogenous. Very little heat discoloration on bottom

Power level: 100J

Full penetration. Has a slight stripe thru the joint. Bottom shows heat effect

[ddmckee54]

I got the welder yesterday, came with a couple of free dents and dings - nothing too serious. It's a 110V/220V machine and the dings look to have been caused by something smacking the side of the carton. Unfortunately, it was hit right about where the 110V/220V adapter plug was located, because the shape of that plug matches the spacing of the dings in the machine cover. I'm gonna open it up and check that all the boards and connectors are fully seated before I try lighting this thing up.

I checked with the Andeli Store about opening it up, they're the seller for the welder, and they wanted me to try powering it up. I've been starting up electrical systems for over 30 years now... I'd rather do a visual check to see if something is obviously wrong, BEFORE I try letting the magic smoke out, rather than after. You know, loose screws, dangling plugs, busted PC boards - that kind of stuff.

[ddmckee54]

When I opened the welder up last night, I did not find anything visually wrong. All the PC boards were still where they were supposed to be, as were all the connectors, and there were no loose screws. I buttoned it back up, with NO parts left over, and proceeded to power up the unit. The fans came on as did the lights on the control panel.

I couldn't go any farther testing it as I don't have the proper connectors to hook up the gas yet. I will admit that I DID have an ulterior motive for opening up the welder. The gas inlet to the machine is just a hose barb, and I wanted to see if I could change it out for something matching my existing connections. Turns out the hose bib is cast into the body of the gas valve. I'm NOT just gonna whack the end off of my current line and I don't want to replace the gas valve - yet. Guess I'll have to cobble up some type of adapter with a hose in the middle of it. I can't think of any way to make this look like it's NOT red-neck engineering.

[Blender]

Ddmckee, im waiting patiently for some bead shots!

Played with 5052 aluminum. No better than 6061. Looks like I'm sticking to steel.

[ddmckee54]

Got a couple other things going on right now. I hate it when life gets in the way of stuff you REALLY want to do.

I don't have anything to weld right now either, have to find some 20ga welding coupons. I DID make sure I've still got some gas, still have 500psi in the Argon tank. It's been a while since I last used the TIG.

Don

[ddmckee54]

I may have found a source for some 20ga stainless welding coupons, I'll find out next week. I initially asked about carbon steel, but they didn't have any cold rolled steel scraps in that light of a gauge.

If your welder is limited to DC, that might be why you're having issues with aluminum. The AC helps to break up the aluminum oxide layer, so you can get a good weld.

That's one of the big reasons that I bought this TIG welder, it's AC/DC.

Don

[Blender]

Understandable that other things keep us busy. Model making is supposed to be fun, not worrisome.

I do think the machine is DC with dome agitation options which may mimic some aspects aspects of AC. I don't know enough about how it works or what it does