Hi there,

I dont know if it will hurt anything, but I always changed the collet and collet body (we call diffusers in Australia) to match the electrode size. That said, I dont pay for them so I never had to just make do.

Good Luck
Mick

Hey there, No worries, the main thing to be careful of is that, if you are gonna lay down mega dollars for a welder, that you are able to make use all its features. Whats the point of paying for something you will never use. The Kempiis have all sorts of programs and settings that you may never need...

Hey there, We use Kemppi MasterTig 250s at work, They are alright but they are as dear as hell, Around $2500++ Australian for a 3 phase DC only one. Plus the parts cost a shit load as well, An 8 meter air cooled torch was about $800. And some bits cannot be replaced, crimped on to cables and what no...

Hey,
Wow that is a lot to get your head around. I spose it takes all kinds to make this world go round.

Thanks for the Info.
Mike.

Hey there,

Just wondering how much the fees or dues are for the Unions in the North America. Mine in Australia are around $40 bucks /month.

From Mick

I am making a vice out of steel plate. I cheated a bit and bought a second hand screw and nut. New jaws will go on at the end but the rest is from scratch. Project stalled at the moment but when I get going again Ill put up some pic with more info. This project is more for fun than anything. And to ...

Hey there, When we use the welder that hot, its on steel upwards of 8mm to about a max of 25mm (1"). The fillet size is 8mm. With 1.2mm wire (.045) The thickest butt weld I have done is a 1" thick single bevel. They took about 15- 20 runs. Get this though- those butt welds were supposed to...

Hey Forum Land, Any stories about welding robots? Good or bad. Epic fails or Epic wins. At work we have a huge robot cell for welding army vehicles. Outside of the vehicles and they also reach inside through the windscreen, gun turret hole and door to weld the inside. The welds that it does well are...

Hey there, Lets hear some stories about your favourite welding and related operations. Personally I pretty much like all the Welding stuff that I do. Running hot and flat MIG and Flux Core, Tig for weld repair/ tie off of Auto welds. Where I work every thing can be rotated to get into flat/horizonta...

Hey,
I think it was alright. The Ti was machined 20mm back from each edge for welding of the steel. The cladding was put back on after welding by another company.
From Mick

PS Also it helps to have a few Tungsten electrodes ready, so when you mess one up you can just swap over and keep welding. If you cut and or break a new electode it gives you two electrodes for the price. Avoid sharpening both ends of the electrode because more often than not you will end up with tw...

Hey there, The thing with aluminium is as Jody says, everything that can happen in tig welding will happen alot worse on aluminium. And that it can be impossible to weld if there are contamination issues. Not like steel were you can still weld if there is a bit of dirt and crud around. The tungsten ...

Hey there,

A dude I know once told me that while on night shift. He was doing TIG cerc welds inside a titanium clad pressure vessel, he went to sleep while welding. The vessel was being rotated under him. When he came to, he was about 15mm off the joint. Ooops, time for a coffee.

Mike.

Hi Nick, First things first. I live in Australia, not the US so i don't know about or understand the system. How ever I am a Qualified Welder/ Fabricator, That's what were called here after a 4 year apprenticeship. What I do understand is the importance and value of training and schooling. Especiall...

Hi, We get it in 20 liter (not sure of the gallons) plastic drums, already mixed. The spray bottles we had kept stuffing up so i got some ones designed for cleaning products.They were nice and cheap but worked really well. Made by the Canyon corp. Sometimes, the spray gets a bit thick i just mix in ...

Hi there, I think I have to agree with finewoods. I don't think we needed the comment about stabbing people in the face. I am a welder and am not all that soft but people need to be able to raise their safety concerns. After all, speaking up might just save someones' life. As for the grinder guard t...

hi, That's a big yes on the different head gear. The new shield has fully adjustable head gear where you can adjust the size as per normal as well as the strap across the top of your head. The distance the the lens is away from your eyes can be changed in and out. As well as up and down. They also a...

Hi there, I have a Speed Glas 9002x and it gets a good workout everyday. It has an Adfo powered filter and flex view flip up front. The adflo makes it a bit on the heavy side though. I have looked at the new 9100 model. It is a completely redesigned shield. The first thing is that it is very light. ...

Hi check out a Speed Glas. They are the best you can get because that's all the make. Auto Darkening Shields. Good for hot work because there is a space between the clear outer lens and the welding lens.Go down nice and low on the right setting as well. Easy to turn on and with push button settings....

Hi. I hear that Miller had something to do with Airco Welders. Check the Miller website forum or just google Airco Welders.
Good Luck
Miick

Wow, the Union is WAY different in the US than it is here in Australia. We join the union if we want to. There are some closed shops but it is technically illegal. The union is there to support workers. They don't have anything to do with finding and or supplying work to members. The main welders un...

In Australia a while back, a plumbers van blew up. Turns out that his oxy/acet had been leaking and when they hit the remote to unlock the doors, Boomba. They thought it was a car bomb from the maffia.

When weaving flux core wire. Take it slow across the middle. The weld metal will not flow into the middle like it does with solid wire, therefor if you go to fast across the middle you will have a low area up the center. It take some getting used to if you mainly do solid wire to go slow across the ...

Depending on the thickness of the material being welded, use a cutting disc on a small grinder to groove (1mm - 1/16 deep) along the seam. Then just point the wire right in the cut mark and away you go. Also works great for marking the path of the next run in a multi run butt weld.

The motor heads really do some dodgy shit. But They don't show what happens days and weeks later when parts give up because of crap welding techniques.