Cheater, cheater.........

[Runs With Scissors]

Well, I have this weird fascination with welding and metal working, and one of the things that kind of bothers me is my inability to get good looking welds on circular parts.

Maybe more "torch time" is what I need, but the reality is that I just don't have the time.

Therefore, I decided to "cheat".

The "Amazon Fairy" visited me recently and here she is.

This is an "itch" that I have been wanting to scratch for quite some time.

Taaaa daaahhhhh......my first "welding positioner"

My first thoughts are

1. Looks good'ish.
2. Chuck is puny.....I kind of knew this, but it was even smaller than my "minds eye" had pictured it.
3. The "turntable" itself is of decent size.

I also decided to grab an "arm rest" to help keep my had/arm a little more steady (pictured on the right)

The "directions" (if you want to call them that) say that the max amperage is 85A, but I figure that is due to the tiny ground clamp wire they have on it.

So I plan to ground it directly the the "big lug" and bypass the small grounding wire.

Ohhhh boy....I'm getting excited to lay down some awesome beads

Off to the scrap pile to search for some "practice rounds".

 

[Runs With Scissors]

after a minute of scrounging, I came up with some 'donor scraps"

They were a little on the thick side, but what the hell. Turn the machine to 125A and "off we go"

The first bead was bad.......I mean, real bad. The term "hammered dog sh!t" comes to mind, and I am not a happy camper.....

I mean WTF is going on here?

There was something "off" about the pass, it just did not feel right, but damn......

It looks like Helen Keller did this......

I will admit that at first I had to make some adjustments to the speed to get her "dialed in", but this is nuts...

Then it hit me like a sack of hammers......You were in "DC mode" and forgot to turn on the gas, dumbass!!!!!!!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Hahahah in my excitement to lay down a "perfect stack of dimes" , I just grabbed the torch, and 'went to town"......

Luckily I had enough sense about me to turn on the the water for the torch.

laying down a crappy bead is funny......but burning up a ~250+ dollar torch is not.

Ok lets have another go at it.....But this time in AC mode AND lets use shielding gas........

Not bad for the "first real try"......Not a "perfect bead" but with some practice I think I can get some decent beads going.

The potential is definitely there.

Here are some more passes. Some good, some not so good, but for day 1, hour 1, I am happy.

I still have a lot of practicing to do, but I do believe that this will be an overall "worthwhile addition" to the tool arsenal.

Hahaha.....The "down side" is that now I need a machine with a 100% duty cycle ....Gotta figure out how to "pitch that one" to SWMBO....

I was using it for so long, there was a small fire in the "gear area"....I blew it out, and it still works, so I think it was just some "packaging lube" that "needed" to be burned off.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

The one thing that I do not like is this "spindle" that sticks up for the chuck

I then pulled the table to find this.

Hmmmm, that is going to be a slight problem.

For one of my projects, I will need a "flat table" because the part has no "hole in the middle"



It almost appears that the "spindle base" is 2 pieces, but it was not budging when I tried to loosen it and I did not want to put "undo pressure" on the tiny gears that spin this table.

I'm going to have to think about this???????

 

[GreensvilleJay]

1... that's has to be the most expensive coffee cup anyone's made.......
but nobody will be stealing it from you !!!

2.. you need to buy a big metal lathe and turn a chunk of steel into a 'spacing disc'

3..now buy a big floor mounted drill press with indexing table to drill 2 sets of 3 holes. one set to bolt disc to new toy, 2nd to bolt the turntable platter on.

 

[DustyRusty]

You are ready to get a job welding Kubota loaders and backhoes.

 

[Yooper]

You are on your way! Practice, practice, practice. I like what I am seeing in your progression! Congratulations on the new toy

 

[woodman55]

I was also thinking coffee mug. You need to make a nice one out of stainless. Then when people ask about it, you can tell them all about your turn table and other projects.

 

[woodman55]

As far as the threaded shaft sticking up, can you make a threaded plate that will bring you up above it. Even better would be one thick enough so it is a blind hole so you can't damage (hope fully) the shaft.

 

[skeets]

A man has gota do what a man has to gota do when a man has to do it

 

[jimh406]

I’m not sure what the machine does. Is it just something to rotate the material? If so, it looks like a small piece would work fine, but what about a large irregular length piece?

 

[Henro]

I’m not sure what the machine does. Is it just something to rotate the material? If so, it looks like a small piece would work fine, but what about a large irregular length piece?

I see a future installment coming from Runs With Scissors.

After getting bored with producing superior welds on circular items using his rotating table, he decides to improve his abilities by welding rectangular shapes on his rotating table.

The goal is to become superior by not only controlling the length of the art as the material moves under it, but also maintaining the length of the arc as the material moves towards and away from the torch tip, due to the irregular shape of the item as it turns!

I can’t wait for the next installment!

 

[JimmyJazz]

after a minute of scrounging, I came up with some 'donor scraps"

They were a little on the thick side, but what the hell. Turn the machine to 125A and "off we go"

The first bead was bad.......I mean, real bad. The term "hammered dog sh!t" comes to mind, and I am not a happy camper.....

View attachment 129437

I mean WTF is going on here?

There was something "off" about the pass, it just did not feel right, but damn......

It looks like Helen Keller did this......

I will admit that at first I had to make some adjustments to the speed to get her "dialed in", but this is nuts...

Then it hit me like a sack of hammers......You were in "DC mode" and forgot to turn on the gas, dumbass!!!!!!!

View attachment 129438

That is an acceptable weld in my garage.

 

[Gaspasser]

Perhaps you mentioned it but are you using TIG or MIG? Not easy to get good "dimes." Nice work. Please keep posting.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

As far as the threaded shaft sticking up, can you make a threaded plate that will bring you up above it. Even better would be one thick enough so it is a blind hole so you can't damage (hope fully) the shaft.

Yea, I have a few ideas floating around. I just have to settle on one.

But something like you suggest is top of the list right now, thanks!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

thanks for taking the time to post your journey for us! I learned a few things. Good job. Happy welding!

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I’m not sure what the machine does. Is it just something to rotate the material? If so, it looks like a small piece would work fine, but what about a large irregular length piece?

Yes, it is for small'ish round pieces. It basically rotates the work, in order to eliminate the need of the person welding to move around.

"Welding Positioners" for large work can cost many thousands of dollars; However, for a shop of my size, this little bugger will do for now.

I am pretty sure that smaller irregular pieces can be done too, I just haven't tried any yet.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I see a future installment coming from Runs With Scissors.

After getting bored with producing superior welds on circular items using his rotating table, he decides to improve his abilities by welding rectangular shapes on his rotating table.

The goal is to become superior by not only controlling the length of the art as the material moves under it, but also maintaining the length of the arc as the material moves towards and away from the torch tip, due to the irregular shape of the item as it turns!

I can’t wait for the next installment!

Thanks!!!! I am looking forward to doing it!!!!

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Perhaps you mentioned it but are you using TIG or MIG? Not easy to get good "dimes." Nice work. Please keep posting.

I did fail to mention it, but it is TIG.

Thanks for the encouragement....

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

A weld position table is generally flat and the work is clamped to it via hold-downs that fit in the slots in the table. We tack welded a hub to one for a job where we weld something that looks like a brake rotor (and will grind the tacks off and remove the hub for the next job). The threaded spindle on yours hopefully unscrews.



We have a slightly bigger positioner too, if you're wondering.


As a note (in simple terms), welding in this context can be thought of as using an arc to melt existing solid metal in two different parts into a liquid puddle which when cool makes the two parts have a continuous seam, essentially making the two parts one continuous part; the filler wire is used to replace the metal that is vaporized. Stacking dimes is...generally bad; a lot of stress is introduced with the heating/cooling/heating when burning back in/cooling/heating when burning back in/cooling process. As far as I know it started as a TIG thing for looks (not strength), possibly to imitate the pattern of robotic welders. A proper weld is to maintain a liquid puddle, melt new donor metal from each part into the puddle, roll impurities out of the weld, and cool "slowly" well behind the weld arc so a low-stress junction is created. The feed rate of the filler wire is adjusted to make up for the material loss and not have undercut. (Notice there's no "stacking dimes" involved, a proper weld is continuous.)

Part of the problem I encounter is people think more filler wire makes for a stronger weld, but the opposite is true. Welding wire has more strength and therefore generally more brittleness than the material being welded, so structurally there is a transition from softer more elastic material to the less elastic weld back to a softer more elastic material making the weld seam a weak point IF the weld is "too heavy." It therefore makes sense to use as little filler wire as necessary, which as far as I've seen is what welding manuals state in general (there are formulas for this, and welder experience, but the bottom line is good penetration and a smooth transition is way better than using filler wire as cake frosting). For an incredibly strong joint there is such a thing as a 100% bevel, welding one side, air-arcing out the other side until 100% penetration of weld is reached, welding the second side, needle-scaling the flux off the first side, then making further passes on each side. Pre-heating, post-heating, and stress relieving (including sub-critical temperature stress relieving for some materials) is also "a thing."

https://forum.millerwelds.com/forum/welding-discussions/24336-stack-of-dimes post #4