DSM Jeff
15+ Year Contributor
- 558
- 5
- Jun 23, 2003
-
~,
Connecticut
Paul, where did you get that T? That would be great for my mig cart so I can leave both welders set up on 1 tank. I also have a spare regulator sitting around.
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Practice on some scrap SS tubing first. Get yout heat and flow rates dialed in before attempting on your good stuff.
Blocking off the ends won't keep air out because there's already air in the pipe. The only way to keep air out is to displace it with an inert gas (like argon). Butt welds are plenty strong enough, so no need to worry about slip-fit joints either.Would blocking off the ends of the pipes with SOMETHING benefit me? Like to keep air out? Or would it really be that big of a deal? Was also wondering if I should get a pipe expander to that the pipes would slide over each other....for more strength. Or if just welding them together at the ends would be strong enough. I dunno. I want it to last and not break.
I saw an article in a magazine recently about the Miller Diversion 180 Tig welder, it looked like it'd be really good for someone that is just getting into tig welding. It was very simple, you just select what kind of material you're welding (ac or dc), and the thickness of the material. Didn't have the different adjustments that someone with more experience would be looking for, but it'd probably work well for most diy light-duty, at-home-mechanic type stuff.
Thanks Glenn. I agree completely with what you're saying about an air tight container. But I also believe that whether or not it poses a problem depends heavily on the volume of the container. Larger volume containers don't seem to have the same problem as the smaller volume containers. When we first started doing the crossmembers, we would have issues with the welding blowing out a bit when sealing up the last edge of the bar ends. We solved the probem but drilling the pilot holes in the caps prior to welding. But the volume of the end pieces is very small at only about 2.7 cubic inches. And we've never once had the blow out issue when welding the main bar to the ends, which has a volume of about 50.3 cubic inches.that's awesome fitment there paul. but let me make one suggestion when welding up somethig like that where the inner part makes an "air tight" container of sorts. There should always be a hole for air to vent from that's about 1/8th inch or less in diamter, it can be at the surface of one pipe where the other will "T" into it or in the side of the piece that's t'ing in,. the reasons for this is when you get to sealing up an air tight fixture of pipiing (while not aiming for an airtight seal jsut assembling pipe) the expansion of air from heat will cause the weld to blow outwards fromthe air expansion at the very last part of the bead causing you to have to do a fast "cold weld" to seal it up or over heat it and catch it on the cooling cycle to fill the last "hole". This hole you drill can later be filled with a threaded fitting or when placed in a non vital area for strength it can be "cold welded" really fast to fill it before heat expansion starts enough to cauyse the issue,, but it should always be practiced so the vital welds get their best treatment and procedure for maximum strength
I agree. As little gap as possible should always be the target, but we've never had issues welding up small (~1/16") gaps either.although your fitment is 100% perfect IMO, the general rule for most is that your weld rod should not be able to fit in your largest gap, and on that setup you should be using 1/16th rod maybe 3/32 at most (but i'm sure you know what you're doing i'm just putting out general info for all)