welding

[gemini5362]

Yeah,forgot where you was from there,,ok,,how far are you from at least two grocery supermarkets,,thats a good sign to,,we got a krogers about 10 miles away in that little town,,but they have no competion,,the next one is 45 min away.

Rolfo,,they was just trying to figure if you can take a plug in type welder,220/230 I guess,and instead of plugging it into house current,plug it into a generator to make it portable. thingy

The walmart supercenter is in a little town called alma that has the supercenter grocery store, Harps grocery chain and CVA grocery chain. The town I live in still has a country store where I have a charge account. I charge gas or sodas or groceries whatever and he puts it on a ticket and puts the ticket under a spring with my name over it. I pay my bill once a week. It is actually a nice feeling to go into the store and just hang out and talk as people come in.

 

[RedRocker]

I had a friend in Alma, had a lot of Hudson's and Moto Guzzi's. He passed a while back, so Alma is probably back to normal by now.

 

[thingy]

You got more grocery stores than me,and I don't live in any town,,but on the other hand,I don't get any bills in a spring,so that alone could make you the winner!! [maybe of all time],,thingy

 

[Rolfo]

Thanks all of you for advice, I really want to learn it (TIG) even if I must wait till retirement day to have time.. Any instructional site around?

Rolfo

 

[thingy]

Go to the american welding societys web page,they sell all kinds of educational stuff,might even try a welder manufactors web page,,have you ever oxy/act. welded?,,its same principal,,except heat source,,thingy

 

[Lynkage]

Thanks all of you for advice, I really want to learn it (TIG) even if I must wait till retirement day to have time.. Any instructional site around?

Rolfo

I have started to learn TIG and it really is very fun!! I got a Lincoln 175 pro so it is an ac/dc stick/tig machine. I have just added a water cooled torch to it as well. I made my cooler (no pics as of yet) and wow it is great. TIG is not all that hard to learn. I was doing it in less than 30 min. I would however recommend that you have a machine that will have the high frequency start to make things easy as scratch start will take its toll on the tungsten.

 

[Bytesmiths]

I have to be contrary and say that a MIG is a lot more fun and easier to learn than a stick. Those pushing the stick emphasize versatility. That's like saying you should get a huge 200 acre tractor with all the attachments when you haven't even learned to drive a car yet.

For what you want to do, the MIG will do faster and easier. When you outgrow it, trade up.

 

[thingy]

We was talking tig now,you may not know the difference? thingy

 

[Rolfo]

As a boy I stood for hours looking at my uncle welding, mostly stick welding but also oxy/acetylene. I understand TIG is a little like oxy/acetylene technically, still very different in other aspects. Making tractor implements and repairing was my motivation for learning welding. I am looking at the Orange bike buildings boys at TV, they are TIG'ing their bike frames I think..

Rolfo

 

[Nevadan]

Most tig toches can use multiple sizes of tungsten electrodes so you can experiment. To do that you would need a brass furule as well as the electrode. (It is red).
There is a high frequency box available that can be pluged into a machine to alow for the high frequency start instead of scratch start.
3/32 works alright, for me, down to around 60 amps but below that smaller is nicer. I have worked with 3/32 down <30 but that was not easy. I was working on a piece around 22 gauge or so.

by the way 15 mile to the nearest town with one grocery store.

 

[Farwell]

I have a question, is there a difference between TIG and Heliarc? When I was a kid I worked as a grinder polisher for Food Machinery Corp. I worked on stainless steel tanks that had stainless threaded pipe fittings welded to them that needed to have all the weld imperfections ground smooth so food particles could not accumulate in nicks and crevices. I always liked the look of the heliarc welds because generally they were so clean, small and easy to work with. Some of the tanks were tacked together with stick stainless rod prior to heliarc. Areas that had the tack weld were always a real pain to work with and often had to go back to be re welded.

 

[RedRocker]

Same thing.

 

[Farwell]

Same thing.

Thanks Red. I thought that it was but wanted to be sure.

 

[Tom_Veatch]

It's my understanding that "Heli-Arc" was a Linde tradename that, in common usage, became attached to the GTAW (tig) process much the same way that "Xerox" became attached to the office copy machine, "Coke" was any cola drink (at least in the South) and "Frigidaire" was any home refrigerator while I was growing up.

 

[thingy]

Yeah,that sounds right,,and a babe is any good looking woman,[thats the only one I could think of] thingy

 

[AKfish]

Interesting reading... kicking the can along the road and thinkin' out loud. Thought about takin' a class at the local community college. $700 plus materials. End up over a grand!

Fellow I work with is pretty fair with just about anything. He's got a TIG/Arc with water cooler that will crank up to 320-340 amps and is about the size of a small car. A couple of Miller's (215 and 250) set up with Aluminum and Steel guns.

I been buying materials and smokin' things up abit. Some stick work, some TIG and some MIG.

I get frustrated and then have to settle back down and get with it -- again. Tell myself --- when ya' get bucked off --- ya' gotta get back on.

Got a couple of books -- need to read again and then go on over and "build somethin"!

AKfish

 

[gemini5362]

It's my understanding that "Heli-Arc" was a Linde tradename that, in common usage, became attached to the GTAW (tig) process much the same way that "Xerox" became attached to the office copy machine, "Coke" was any cola drink (at least in the South) and "Frigidaire" was any home refrigerator while I was growing up.

You are sure right about the Coke comment. When I went into the navy I was stationed with some folks that had the unfortunate disability to be raised in the North. ( I wont mention which side kansas was on) I would ask them if they wanted a coke and when they said yes I would ask which kind. ( I just realized how old that comment makes me sound. This was back in the days when there was only one kind of coke, one kind of Dr. Pepper, one kind of seven-up etc) They would look at me strange and say they wanted a coke. One time I asked for someone to bring me back a coke and they did. I finally had to explain the southern term.

One more thing to add to your list. In England the first Vacuum Cleaners were hoover brands so now the generic name for them there is Hoovers.

 

[AlanB]

WOW AKfish, I think I would be self taught or buddy taught at those rates.

I have been very fortunate on the education side to have some wonderfull opportunities, the one that I missed somehow, was when I was young, I never wanted to learn from Dad, and I see the same thing in my son.

I have learned though from Mentors, peers, High School shop guys, bosses, Vo-tech, college, Lincoln Electric welding school, and Lincoln electric welding instructors and thier motorsports group.

Sometimes the best and most practical learning comes from your buddy in a garage building something.

Not to mention experience is a wonderful teacher............ Sometimes painfull.

Note, when Tig welding Stainless, even if it is no longer red, it can still burn you badly................

 

[Tom_Veatch]

You are sure right about the Coke comment. When I went into the navy I was stationed with some folks that had the unfortunate disability to be raised in the North. ( I wont mention which side kansas was on) ...

I'm a Kansas transplant. Born and raised in the piney woods of North Louisiana a little south of Shreveport. I still use "coke" as a generic term. Go into a restaurant and ask for a coke and am told they don't have it, will Pepsi be alright. HeII, they're all "coke" to me.

 

[thingy]

I never did like coke,,pepsi or royal crown for me,so whats getting this thing confused for you is people like me,,I'll say,you got pepsi? So when you come in next,the waitress is in a pepsi state of mind!? thingy