[MartinB]

Hello to the group. I have a bit of welding experience including lots of stick welding and some MIG welding when I was a maintenance mechanic at an iron foundry. I also developed a laser welding technique for tiny pieces when working at a diamond wire draw die shop. I currently work as a metrologist for an aerospace manufacturer. While I don't weld at work now, I certify certain measurement properties of laser and TIG welders there, and help troubleshoot the equipment and processes.

I recently got a Lincoln Weld-Pak 140HD for light repairs around the homestead. It felt great to weld again, but I clearly need some advice and lots of practice with this machine. So, I'm here to learn and hope to be able to contribute in the future.

Martin

[Superiorwelding]

Martin,
Welcome to the forum. Laser welding interests me, maybe you can share some experiences and pics. Sounds like you have a diverse background and will probably be able to share quite a bit with us. Feel free to ask us anything, we will find the answer.
-Jonathan

[MartinB]

Thanks for the welcome Jonathan. I'm sure I'll be asking more questions than answering, for a while anyway.

The laser welding I did in the past was on very small parts (~.040" diameter), and required a microscope to view the results. If I had equipment to photograph it back then, I would not have been allowed by the company to posses copies of it now. It basically involved getting the workpiece in the fatter part of the beam, away from the convergence point, where the laser beam would melt little puddles of the metal. Timing the rotation of the part with the pulse rate of the laser just right would produce a nice bead of weld. It was an experiment that just happened to work and helped the company corner the market on one of their products. Also, it was done without the benefit of any shielding gas.

The company where I work now does laser welding on small parts (about the size of a small apple) made of thin stainless steel. They have modern CNC equipment and use Argon for shielding. The lasers pulse at a fairly fast rate and and make a series of consecutive puddles that look like tiny versions of the proverbial stack of dimes. The equipment is automated to the point that the "welders" are really just machine operators that insert the workpiece and push the start button. No pictures allowed there either.

[motox]

i dont do a lot of mig but i own this machine and
its simple to use on light stuff.
auto set or you can set it yourself
craig
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/mil ... c-140.html

[Mike]

Welcome to the forum Martin.

[xwrench]

Greetings and welcome. I look forward to your posts.
Cheers.
-Eldon