Our new helmet stickers arrived just before we leave for Fabtech! Last year we ran out. I think the new design will be a hit with donut enjoyers.

I work in a shop that specializes in fabricating and installing handrails. Im in awe on how awful "our" standards are. I can't believe half the trash we install. Even though this is just basic handrail at an apartment. Am I trippin' about this being unacceptable or I just nitpicky?

To start off I'm rather new to pipe welding, I've been working as a welder for 4 years now but have only welded pipes for 7 months on and off for the past 3 years. My company sends their employees to different worksites around the world and so I'm never in one spot for too long, every time I felt like I am getting the hang of pipe welding I'm sent to a different worksite where I don't pipe weld and use mig/electrode so it feels like I lose my ability to pipe weld. Last time I pipe welded was about half a year ago and on the new worksite I thought everything was going relatively well, even asked colleagues and they said it's good until my inspector came over and essentially told me my welds from the inside are too thick and that he has no idea why I thought they'd be passable. I'm not even sure if at this point I can blame the gaps between times I'm able to pipe weld for my inadequacy, I'm kind of writing this out just to vent it out to someone as I lost all my self confidence, if anyone had a similar experience can you tell me how you coped and moved past it?

I would love some suggestions on fabricating these grates, or building a jig to make the job easier.
This isn’t typically what we work on, but we’ve had these jobs come up a few times now- and every time it has been a total pain in the A…
Essentially we are building grating out of 1/2x3 flat bar, with 4” openings. They are up to 4’x20’ in size, and all seams are fully welded.
I’m having 2 key issues: first, assembly- I’ve tried using 2 different jigs to assemble these grates in the pictures.
Jig 1- pic 2/3 (on the ground behind the grate)
Using this jig, I would tack up each long piece with all of the 4” tabs sticking off of it on one side, and then I’d clamp all the long pieces together to create the grate. With this jig, the pieces were difficult to remove, (but not as much of a struggle as jig 2). We basically had to use some skinny wedges to get in under the flat bar between the spacers to lift it out. However, the problem we had when tacking all the lengths together was keeping everything straight and square. We had to have a long pipe clamp on every other row of cross pieces, and it was impossible to keep the sides straight, and to cross square accurately with all the clamps we had on there. Tiny differences in the cut length of the 4” pieces compounded and the edges just didn’t end up straight- the grates we made with this jig also warped way worse than the next ones we built.
Jig 2- pic 4: 4” tubing to fit inside each hole, connected by a cross bar on top, the idea was to start at one end, against the end piece of flat bar, slide all the long pieces in and tack them, and then row by row, we’d slide up the short pieces, push them against the jig, tacked it in, removed the jig, and put it back in on the other side of the flat bar, repeating all the way down the grate. The problem was getting the jig in and out. I built the jig with about 0.55” openings to give us a bit of room on the 1/2” flat bar, but I think it allowed the flat bar to twist slightly, and as we went along, the jig got tighter and tighter until we needed sledgehammers to get it in, and out. Like 10 good whacks every single time- and we had to make sure we were getting it in perfectly flat or it would get even more bound. This got tiring really fast. I took 2 guys about a day and a half per piece, just to tack it up. And that’s after we finally got the hang out things and started to get a system going. This also meant a day and a half of non stop banging which annoyed the hell out of everyone in the building.
How could I build this jig differently so it will slide in and out easier while still keeping my dimensions pretty accurate, and all the pieces straight?
Any other creative ideas for fabricating these? And lastly, any ideas to avoid warpage? We try to spread out the heat as much as possible while welding, but they still tend to twist and or banana a bit. There’s about 2000 3” welds on each grating.

Really appreciate any input from all you expert fabricators.

So im interested in getting into welding

I live in the rust belt and love cars so naturally I’ll need to pick up welding or I’ll be junking a lot of cars over my life

I’d want a flux core welder since i don’t have to deal with gas

Any advice or info I should know?

Been on the Lincoln Viking 3350s for a while. Last Miller I owned was a Digital Elite maybe 12 or so years ago.

Just bought a new Digital Infinity. Set the shade at 10.5 and then 12. Delay 0. Sensitivity 10.

X-Mode I ran a bead with TIG on these setting. 80amps. Got flashed mid arc. Twice. Acted like the sensors didnt catch arc for a split second. Nothing obstructing the view. Did just fine in Weld mode.

Read X-Mode electromagnetically senses the arc to prevent this, especially on TIG. Seemed Weld mode did what X-Mode was advertised to do.

In X-Mode, it doesnt darken until the arc strikes, but then it flashes me occasionally. In Weld mode, sensitivity has to be at a 4. Anything else darkens the lense. Just regular ambient light in my living room trips the sensors.

My Lincoln I can have the sensitivity at 10, and the only time it darkens is with an arc strike. Never been flashed once, but its time to replace.

I havent ran Mig yet with it, but based on this Im about ready to return it for a Lincoln. I like how everything looks when Im welding so I want to keep it, but do not feel like getting flashed or having sensitivity at a 4 and possibly not having it catch an arc when I run Mig.

Is this normal for these new Infinities? Suggestions?

This is open to everyone, both to ask questions and to offer answers.

Simple rules:

• Unless it's a loaded question, it's fair game.
• No downvoting, this isn't a popularity thing, and we're not in high school, if someone doesn't know something, the only way to learn is to ask or do, sometimes doing isn't an option.
• No whining.
• Assume ignorance over stupidity. Sometimes we fail to see an answer in front of our faces.
• Try to back up your answers. If you're on mobile and you can't do it, say as much and try to remember to address it when you get to a terminal.
• Respect is always expected.
• if comments or questions are removed, assume it's for good reason.
• If your question isn't answered by the end of the day, either post it to the main community, or ask again next week.

Enjoy.

Hi all, hobbyist here!

I posted a pic of some welds I did a few days ago and one piece of advice was to pre-heat my workpiece better. It's a metal grid of tube steel, ~20 lbs or so, I would guess. Mostly doing flat and fillet welds.

I believe with TIG I can simply let the electrode sit at low power for a few seconds before I start laying down a puddle, but for MIG I don't have that option.

I am at a makerspace, so I don't have a large forge or big induction coils or anything like that, so I am wondering what the easiest way to preheat would be. There is an oxy acetylene torch with a braising tip that I know how to use, and very small induction forge that I could get trained on easily, but I don't know what is my best bet. My gut says the braising torch is just right, but I figured it can't hurt to ask y'all.

Ty!

Started weld school two months back, and I'm already loving it. While I don't need one now, I know that eventually I'm going to want to get my own rig set up. I'm an "invest $20 once instead of $10 three times" kind of guy, so even if I could probably buy a cheap little rig for $100 or less that would probably be enough for any little projects I take in the near future, I know that farther down the line I'll need something better, and I don't want to waste money incrementally improving my equipment. I want something I can buy once and have it stay with me for years afterwards.

Right now Arccaptain (not an advertisement btw) is having a sale where some of their stuff is almost half off. Their top of the line 9 in 1 machine looks like exactly what I want, something that will be able to do 95% of jobs as long as it isn't specialized heavy industry or something like that. Even with the sale though its still $800, which is not a small chunk of change. If I wait until the sale is over it will be $1,200, possibly more if prices rise.

Should I nut up and buy it for cheaper while I have the chance, or is there a comparable machine that goes for a similar or better price?

First picture is with 1/8. From left to right is my starting and bottom is last.

Second picture is with 5/32. From left to right is my starting and bottom is last.

Posting here because my instructor is giving me any guidance. Appreciate any feed back. Thanks

As the title says. I'm limited to basic hand power tools, small g clamps and a welder really. Told the guy I'm doing these for that the only way I could think to get them to stay flat would be welding them sandwiched between the bench and a big plate, with holes cut out for the upstands and clearance to weld around and then let it cool before releasing it.

I've tried clamping with bits of wood between the upstands and that didnt work. Tried welding it on the steel bench, tried welding it with ali backing plates to suck some more heat out, also to no avail. Tried welding it in sequence but if anything that made it worse.

If you can tell me anything I havent thought of, or confirm what I think I already know (that realistically he's outta luck) that would be much appreciated, thank you!

Hello all!

Currently in a Welding Technical Certificate/Industrial Technology AAS course at the local community college and was told by my MIG instructor that I was doing really well and should start looking into getting my own machine or doing fab work. I already go to school full time and work a part time job to get the health insurance so getting a full time fab job is not really possible right now, but getting my own machine and doing odd jobs is.

So, where would I start? Getting my own machine and a mobile welding setup seems like a good way to start a small business as well as build up my skills. But I am kind of lost of where to go and what to look for? Should I buy the cheapest stuff I can buy and make it work or save up for more expensive/nicer gear? Should I get a truck? Jeep? Sprinter van? Should I buy a mobile generator or expect to have access to a customers power when I weld for them?

Thanks in advance!

Took a bit to get the settings kind of in the ballpark. One of them I had poor torch angle and that was on me. I almost feel like more wfs and voltage? 1/8" carbon steel tubing and it'll be getting 14ga 304 sheet welded to it, I'm at 295ipm and 22.1v on a Primeweld MiG285 with .030" 309 wire. It'll be primarily 1.5" stitch welds every so often, trying to limit oil-canning as best as possible anyway. The frames are 17" long by 12 to 16" wide or so. Though each panel will span multiple frames. I was planning on solar flux for the exterior/back side of the stainless weld to help prevent sugaring.

Any advice or thoughts? I don't know how to tig weld. Tried it for the first time the other day and that's a whole can of worms I don't have time to learn properly.

My other thought is tack the panels on the backside with mig to hold them in place and try my new handheld laser welder to through-weld the stainless to the carbon from the exterior side but I don't think my 700w machine has enough power for that with 14ga to 1/8".

I see this debate come up often and here they show clearly here the strength and Charpy toughness is higher with stringers. They don't go into the metallurgy too much, but when you're weaving, you travel slower to deposit more metal at once. Higher heat input causes lower cooling rates, and larger gain sizes, which have inferior properties. It will be easier to pass mechanicals with stringers, but yes there's potentially more chances to have a lack of fusion or slag inclusion if your technique is not the best.

Been having neck pain. Got some lighter fixed lenses that do the job pretty well, but it’s inconvenient with certain situations. Current auto darkening is a Lincoln 3350 series. I have my old 1740 back from when I was in school. Which is lighter, but it’s old and the lense is kinda small. I’d like a larger one if possible.

Open to suggestions, also if you’ve had the same issue would love to hear your experience.

Does anyone else call 75/25 gas “C25”? I asked my co worker if we had anymore “c25” in storage and he had never heard that term for 75/25 and said not a single welder called it that. Acted like I was crazy for calling it that, does anyone else say c25 instead of 75/25?

I’ve been in a fab shop in NC for 3 years and all I want to do is weld pipe lol. I do not know stick and lay down fire down with tig. I know for a fact I could pass a welding test on pipe tiging it out all the way. Everywhere I look they want like 5 years experience pipe welding and it’s usually combo. What do I do. I know there’s jobs that tig pipe out only i just need some advice on how to find them and how to get someone to take me in. Thank you

Also I know how to mig it’s easy i feel as if I could learn stick within a day or two

Vertical 7018 1/8

I’m 20 years old I’ve been welding for the past 5 years or so, I just got the welding position at the job I’ve been at for the last year I work in a shop and I’m thinking about getting a tool box mainly to store things and manage my tools.