Nice work sieg, make sure you ventilate where you weld. Some of the gasses and fumes that come off those colored and aged metals can hurt you.
Maybe a neutral air system should be next on your project list.

How many hours a day are you welding now?

Vince,

About an hour of actual weld time max.......preps another story as you well know.

The way my bench is set up the TIG unit sits at the same height as the welding table and the fan exhausts forward right across the work area. There's also a heater at ceiling height 4' away the blows over the top of the space. The garage is 780 s.f. so it takes a while to fume it.

Progress and completion shots.......it's for my Mother Inlaw who's a country girl thus the horseshoe theme.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-W...Wz7nWS2-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-H...H6r9vLF-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-k...kVxS6hv-XL.jpg

Every project I learn a new technique, trick, how to make a mistake, and fix it or pay the price of fabing a replacement piece. :thumbsup:

Don't use a fan to ventilate your welding area ---- it blows the shielding gas off the weld. Remember there's not all that much flowing there.

Typical welding "ventilating" is done with "extractors" that are overhead of the weld... so that the gas has shielded the weld puddle and then leaves the area.


WE -- meaning us just doing stuff around home - don't breathe enough bad stuff to be an issue. Having said that - there ARE fumes from stuff we could/do weld that are harmful in very small doses. Stuff such as galvanized material (we don't tend to use this in our projects) - and CHLORINATED anything!

Manganese fumes are very harmful --- it's a known fact that in a study of 20,000 welders - 10% (professional welders) developed PARKINSON'S... and the suspected agent is the Manganese that is found in all steels and steel welding rod (filler) etc.

Now -- this is people welding 8 hours a day - 5 days a week - for 20 years... So WE are not really going to be affected by that... but it's still (fumes of any kind) something we should be considering regardless as far as I'm concerned.

Considering that I already have a MIG welder at home and wanting to learn TIG to take my hobby/craft to the next level I'm jumping all in and I signed-up for classes starting next month! I went with a full welding course that covers MIG, TIG, metal theory, and full fabrication. I'm getting excited!

Best plan EVER. Most local colleges offer some type of classes on this - night classes etc. I took these back in the 70's even when I was still in high school - at night out at Mount Hood Community College.


There's MUCH to know about "welding" -- and some basic knowledge about the metals you're working with is something that will be helpful in many ways. Most guys don't understand what annealing is and how that affects what they're going to do with the piece at hand. So good for you!

BTW --- Just to be sure on the whole 'fume' issue.... STICK WELDING is far more harmful in general because of the flux used etc ---- than is our little bit of TIG welding. You watch a guy stick welding and there's just all manor of smoke and stuff surrounding the guy.

FWIW - The little fan typically blows across the front of the table between my chest and the torch head, the only gas flow issue I've noticed is with my dog.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-s...-s6JNcgj-L.jpg

If I buy an extractor it will look something like this:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v5...rings/BCM3.jpg

A real man would have welded that overhead - up side down - and backwards.

Good for you! :thumbsup:

I've been taking Tungsten Grinding 101...........finally had to clearance the tungsten collet in the torch as it was worn from removing and reinserting so many times it wouldn't clamp..........that's real-world hands-on edumakation right there!

Careful........that thing is quite portable. :unibrow:

whoa, I can MAKE everyone xmas gifts instead of standing in line all day and spending butt loads of cash that I don't have. That's a great idea Sieg. Work is looking great!

Vince - To me it brings back the true spirit of giving. You need to creatively reflect on the individuals desires and lifestyle throughout the entire project. There's more meaning in it for the recipient and myself. Not to mention the shelf-life of the gift vs. a typical department store/mall/amazon purchase. It's not necessarily easier......especially when you add the LOFT factor. (Lack of F'g Talent) :D :thumbsup:

............off to the steel supplier to pick up some more scrap to recycle. And a special gift for a Great Dane that has two favorite digging spots in the planting beds around the house. :secret:

Repurpose is more PC



LOL

Shouldn't you be helping your home Village with their tunnel boring machine? :action-smiley-027:

Another design completed........

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-R...RPzkgMx-XL.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8...8TrsHJR-XL.jpg

Oh yeah - you're going to NEED that saw.

Good.......cuz I sure WANT one! :lol:

Good job Sieg! You are motivating me to get off my a$$ and got out to the garage. Thanks

Mike

Sieg - What are you cutting your miters on now? They look to be pretty crisp...


My new cold cut saw is the shizzle on angles - easy to set up and cuts like butter - but you don't need one of those for this kind of work - you NEED that FEMI! HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAH

That's very nice Sieg. You need to open up a side business selling rustic picture frames. Don't worry we'll pull you back before you turn in to that old guy with the white beard who wears a leather weldors apron 24/7 making wind chimes and lawn art in his drive way.

Before you know it the Chinese will be knocking him off and sending containers of 'em to WalMart!!




EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAA

I'm using a Jet 68" horizontal dry cut. It's decent but slower to set up for miters and much slower cutting than I witnessed at SEMA. Accuracy on the vertical cuts could be better. I hand fit the miters using an 8" disc sanders.

Thanks, don't think I'll sport the blacksmith look....gunsmith has potential!

Thanks to Chinese quality, the door is left ajar for this micro niche. Besides these are heavy enough to sink their container ships. :D

I had a TIG welding epiphany this week and wanted to share to help anyone else self-learning.

I was over at a buddy's 4x4 shop the week before and he does heavy fab, full rock crawling rigs, axle housings, etc.. and got on the subject of TIG. He commented how when he drives long distances to keep himself awake he practices pulsing his foot and feeding his rod. I didn't think much of it until a few days later when it hit me... Never in any of the threads, or videos, or talking with people had I caught on to the subject of pulsing the TIG pedal. I had always treated it like a throttle rolling on and off but never pulsing it per se.

So I've been playing around with this over the last week on aluminum and yesterday on some 1/4" steel gusseting a torque arm and what a difference it makes in puddle control and heat control!!:idea: :idea: I would suffer on a regular basis from the filler being blown away or balling up and contaminating by the torch while trying to feed into the puddle but now with the pulsing it just wicks the molten rod right into the puddle. Back off on the throttle, slide forward, feed and roll in again...repeat as necessary!!

I showed it to my 4x4 fab guy and the only thing he could fault me for was being a little light on my filler rod and going a little slow in places but for me it was a huge leap in consistency!!!

I hope this helps someone!

Went shopping today at one of my favorite stores.........

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-X...-XWmS56T-L.jpg

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My new welding tabletop being cut.
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-J...-JVhczfw-L.jpg

Semi-success with the TIG on 11 ga. 2x4 salvage material. Used 1/16" tungsten and filler, 17 cfh w/ gas lens, 110 amps
full pedal @ startup, then 85-90% estimated speed 12-15" minute.
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-m...-mJR2xDN-L.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-7...-7frcfTj-L.jpg

remember don't weld your table top on, always bolt it down. And put a hole in it so you can move it with your cherry picker.

Your care package is almost ready. Taking advanage of the "if it fits... it ships"

LOL

Thanks Vince :thumbsup:

Top is 3/8" x 30 x 42 (134 lbs) so I'll be able to drill and tap it for fixturing which will be a new luxury. The plan is bolt it down in some manner.

See those lights in the metal supply store? I'm removing all of those from my new shop and they're running all new banks of "high bay fluorescents"... 2.5 times the light and 1/4 the wattage.


Your welds look good buddy!


I love the smell of metal!

What! No high bay LEDs? Even less power and 50000 hour life!
J/K. I'm an electrical project manager and we install LEDs more and more for production facilities.

Wes

Wes! Dang it!


PM me if there's something I should consider please. I'm pretty sure the electrical guy said fluorescents but he might have said LED's.... The ceilings are about 20' off the floor... and I told him "I've never had TOO MUCH light". He assured me he was in my camp and thought the same way.


We did talk T5's in the tool room area -- and he said no way -- he was going to run T8's I think he said.

Hey Wes, is your middle name happen to be Charles?

:lol:

While a few of you were shoveling coal in the Text Train I actually made forward progress on my midget table. Base is .188 2x4, uprights and top frame are .083 2x2. 9' of 1/16" filler made for decent practice. Took my time and played with pulling angles with the welds to get a feel vs. just blocking and clamping everything solid.

I have no idea how many laps I made around this stupid thing to obtain the proper welding positions. At one point yesterday when welding mounting tabs on the top which was flat on the floor I was running the foot pedal with right elbow while holding the torch and feeding rod with the left hand........goofy sport this TIG Welding is.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-k...k5tMLTr-X2.jpg

LOL...I kow how you feel....I use to duct tape the pedal to my foot when I get into the funky angle cages.

I always tell people when you are first learning how to tig, start off by mastering the finger wheel. The foot op stuff is almost natural.

It's better and cheaper than Therapy!


TIG = Therapy In Garage



Only Sieg would TIG where most would MIG.... LOL



I've told other people when they've asked about TIG -- If you have MIG and TIG -- you'll end up choosing to TIG and the MIG becomes a tack welder or only used on something you don't care about. LOL but it's true.

This project has been the best practice I've had to date. Besides the additional material prep and cleaning my speed has improved and so have the beads.....go figure. :sieg:

Today I was installing .5" x .5" shelving stringers that required fabbing a fitment jig and due to the bow in the 2x4 lower frame tubing I had gaps at the top of the .5" tubing that required using a lay-wire technique with 3/32" filler.

It's also forced numerous ambidextrous torch and foot control situations.

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-w...w38sFGp-X2.jpg

Yes, I could have run and gunned the thing with the MIG and it would have been solid............but I plan on having this thing the rest of my life and the TIG welds look so much better that to me they're worth the extra effort......and this type of practice is invaluable.

If I could afford the welding table and fixturing that shares my last name this stuff would be easy :D: http://www.stronghandtools.com/siegmundtables/index.php

I totally agree - but I'm going to give you crap regardless.



Personally - I'd give my MIG machine away... it's just way more fun and looks way mo' betta with TIG. Plus - it requires SKILLZ.....

Practice, practice, practice.........

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-z...zDQRw2M-XL.jpg

Why do I want a larger welding table? :D

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-T...TVGVNkJ-XL.jpg

Well it looks like I'm finally going to pull the trigger on getting a TIG..

I've been debating it for a good year now.....95% of the metal work on my car is done, so in reality I really don't need one at this point...yes GW, the car has made a lot of progress, I just haven't posted about it and no, its not done yet......but the funds are available right now, so its the best time if I'm ever going to get one

Can't justify the $$ or size to go above the Miller Diversion 180....not for the needs I have and the space in my garage...

Of course, I haven't even ordered it yet, and I'm already thinking of things to "tweak" on it.....gas lenses, flexible torch, etc..any suggestions on the best small things to add that make a big difference? the 180 comes with the Weldcraft WP17 torch...

Best all around tungsten to start with....filler rod to start with etc....

I'm sure I will add different tungsten and filler as time goes by, but I don't want to load up on tons of supplies right off the bat...

My first project is going to be building a cart for the TIG and my plasma...that should help manage a little more space too...good practice also...

Hi Ned,

You should be fine with the 180 but I would recommend more if you are going to get into alot of Aluminum work.

The Millers are so compact and makes it a great choice for home builders.