Welding a Small Part

[k0ua]

Tempering -- OK that I can do - many thanks.

On TIG, good grief. This is from that ebay listing:

"Tungsten Electrodes
Pure, Thoriated, Ceriated, Lanthanated Tungsten electrodes with varied diameters"

I give up, have just barely got used to MIG.

Get some Lanthanated or Ceriated .. I use Lanthanated 1/16 for most of these small things. Blue band. It is not all as complicated as it first seems. TIG is the most enjoyable process of all. Not very fast though. MIG eats its lunch for good beads quick.

 

[Teachu2]

I agree with kOua completely.

 

[DuckSlayer1017]

If I remember correctly from my material science class oil quenching cools the steel slower than water so the hardness is not quite as high as water quenching. It also makes the steel less brittle. Annealing or tempering is done by heating to a lower temperature for a period of time then air cooling. Every steel has a different annealing time and temp. Another trick with the used oil is that the steel will absorb some of the carbon from the oil and become stronger. If I'm wrong let me know, it's been 17 years since I took that class.

 

[Fawken]

If I remember correctly from my material science class oil quenching cools the steel slower than water so the hardness is not quite as high as water quenching. It also makes the steel less brittle. Annealing or tempering is done by heating to a lower temperature for a period of time then air cooling. Every steel has a different annealing time and temp. Another trick with the used oil is that the steel will absorb some of the carbon from the oil and become stronger. If I'm wrong let me know, it's been 17 years since I took that class.

Don't know the science, but you could be right. The dirtiest oil makes the absolute best springs.

 

[Mace Canute]

That's the sort of job that begs to be done on a lathe but welding up a clevis is a good work around. I don't gas weld but a couple of friends do and the jobs they do look fantastic.

 

[Shield Arc]

Another trick with the used oil is that the steel will absorb some of the carbon from the oil and become stronger. If I'm wrong let me know

I remember an engineer telling me that once.

 

[Mysfyt]

Another tip for welding anything is to clean the metal with a grinding or sanding disc B4 you weld. You will see the difference on the edges of your MIG puddle. A 4-1/2" grinder should be a mandatory piece of equipment to go with any welder. Just my .02

 

[Fifelaker]

Dirty oil has a bit of carbon in it as a by product from the combustion process of the engine. Tempering in dirty oil, a little of the carbon is transferred to the surface of the steel raising the carbon content which makes it harder and more brittle. Tempering makes it less brittle but it still retains the carbon it picked up in the quench which makes it stronger. It won't raise the carbon content much but it does raise it some. Even clean oil will raise it some because you are burning the oil when the hot steel hits it.

 

[downsizingnow48]

That's the sort of job that begs to be done on a lathe but welding up a clevis is a good work around.

Mace hi. I thought of making it in one piece on a lathe. Either way get to the same place. This way I don't have to do 9/16" of internal 3/8-24 threads, or cut flats to take a wrench. Probably other ways to skin this cat too!

 

[downsizingnow48]

And also now I learned about quenching and tempering, that is good to know. Plus learned some tricks on how to weld that small part that I wouldn't have thought out on my own.