how should i weld this ? correctly

[Blown S-10]

it 3/16" 6061 bottom plate. and .090" 3003 walls. the weld doesn't need to look good, not seen. just good fusion will work fine.

now, the problems :
the fitup is not the greatest. some it very tight. other places there is a gap. mostly only a few .001's. but one place is several .001's.
and
i welded some 3/16" x 1" 6061 angle on the inside of the other side of this box. fitup was not so good . but it was pretty tough to get it to the .020ish that it was. seems easy, but it wasn't with the tools i have. anyway, when i went to weld it. the .090 would melt on the edge pretty easy. resulting in hours of repairs . i tried to stay on the 3/16 and let it wash up to the .090. but this resulted in monsterous beads (not a big deal), that when washing up would like to melt the edge very easy . actually, it seemed more the edge of the acr melting the edge.

btw. both this piece, and the angle, are set down in the box about .125"

i DON'T !!! want this bottom piece to have the edge burning problem the top did. i would fully weld it on the inside. but it would be VERY tough, if not impossible, for me to do this. if i have to buy something, new torch or parts, i will.

hmmmm. i just now had an idea. but lets see what you guys say.

[ASKANDY]

I assume you are welding it on the bottom as shown in the pic. If so, a higher arc frequency like 180-200. You will still need to focus on the thicker plate a little and just catch the edge of the thinner wall tubing or you can wash it up like you said. Seems like a fairly easy job. Done many of this type of thing with heat exchangers that have different wall thickness. I just did a fitting with 1/4 wall thickness to 087 at 160 hz but it was more of a fillet weld.

good luck

Andy

[Blown S-10]

yes, on the bottom as you see it. it is somewhat of a fillet. actually it, under ideal conditions, would be a fillet. but the other side didn't quite work out that way

i did try 200-250 hz. it helped. but the arc as still burning the edge.

yes, it seems like a pretty easy weld. but i screwed up pretty good on the other side.

[Wheels]

Woudn`t it help to lay the piece on it`s side so the thicker material would be vertical and take care of the heat rising? Also the welding table would sink some heat from the thinner piece.

I think......


Mike

[jolane]

It looks like the bending went very well, the thinner piece looks good!
As for welding it, although I have not gotten to play with my Dynasty yet (still waiting on the torch kit to show up), I will just ask a dumb question. If you are melting the edge of the thinner stuff bad, can you either:
1. Lower your power to better control the heat, since really all you have to melt is a small portion of the thicker piece?
or
2. Draw the heat out of the thinner piece using a c-clamped piece of aluminum to the thinner piece? Maybe this would make it similar to welding to thicker pieces together?
I would hate to see you screw up your nicely bent piece...
Joshua

[burninbriar]

I am not very familiar with welding aluminum but I have used bars to draw heat from thin steel with great success.The suggestion from weels should work well.An aluminum or copper plate to lay it on may draw heat better than a steel table top if you have such a plate.The project looks nice.

[Brass Monkey]

microwelding

Whenever I get something sensitive that I dont want to experiment with I send it out to the microwelder. I have been trying for 3 years to get my company to buy one but they wont budge. I have been dieing to try it out I have seen some seriously awesome work done by these machines.

[Blown S-10]

wheels, jolane, burnin. i tried all those. none seemed to help. microwelder, i would like to see what that looks like.

i have an idea of what i did wrong. i think i was holding the torch at a wrong angle. it was more upright. when it ( i think) should have been laying more on its side. the arc looked like some of it was jumping from the side of the tungsten to the thin box. i "think" this problem would be decreased by laying the torch much lower. i'm going to practice this.

jolane. did you see my thread " i need bending info, pt2" . have a look, its not too old.

[Brass Monkey]

wheels, jolane, burnin. i tried all those. none seemed to help. microwelder, i would like to see what that looks like.

i have an idea of what i did wrong. i think i was holding the torch at a wrong angle. it was more upright. when it ( i think) should have been laying more on its side. the arc looked like some of it was jumping from the side of the tungsten to the thin box. i "think" this problem would be decreased by laying the torch much lower. i'm going to practice this.

jolane. did you see my thread " i need bending info, pt2" . have a look, its not too old.

MICROWELDING IS DA BOMB I HAVE SENT OUT SOME WORK TO A GUY IN LEOMINSTER MASS TO MICROWELD AND IT COMES BACK PERFECT EVERY TIME LIKE HE IS A WELDING SURGEON. HE USES A MICROSOPE TO WELD UNDER. IN HIS OFFICE HE HAS A DISPLAY OF TINY BEADS THAT YOU NEED A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO RECOGNIZE AS ANYTHING AT ALL. PS DID YOU TRY TO PROTECT THE THIN STUFF BY PUTTING A PIECE OF COPPER FLASHING OVER THE THIN STUFF RIGHT UP TO THE POINT THAT YOU WANT TO HIT WITH THE ARC?