TIG welder

[Michael Trew]

my new TIG welder just arrived at the space -- it's the big green SIP
one attached to the pure argon cylinder

I'm thinking about leaving it on a long-term loan, so I hope that's OK
-- I put a do not hack sticker on it

for the next week or two I'll be practising using it to weld aluminium
(any advice would be very much appreciated;-)

whoever wants to use it is welcome, but if you could let me know first
that would be great

things I'll probably order tomorrow are:
a stainless steel brush for cleaning the ali to be welded
an angle grinder wheel that will only get used for sharpening the tungsten tips
perhaps a tungsten tip specifically for ali, and maybe better ali
filler wire than what's there now (need to research these last two)

cheers,
michael

[Billy]

I don't know whether it'll be useful, but Chris brought in a set of
Mig wire, that's designed specifically for aluminium.

There's a stack of scrap aluminium in the green boxes next to the
metal bin. It's mostly parts to be broken up for casting, but it
should be useful as practise-pieces.

While, most of it is HDD cases, there's a small amount of aero-space
grade ally. Very nice to cast, it'll be interesting to see how it
welds.

[Ian Henderson]

Michael

We met last night.

Here are some of the links I mentioned:

http://barnet-welding.com/index.php (Where I buy most of my supplies - cheaper than eBay or anywhere else in London most of the time)

http://barnet-welding.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=5 Various TIG tips

http://barnet-welding.com/index.php?main_page=page&id=1 More tips

I'll be in at various points over the next few days working on the CT-416 plasma machine so I may see you

Ian (Thumper)

[Ian Henderson]

MIchael

2 further links:

This is the stuff I use as an alternative to TIG welding aluminium:

http://www.durafix.co.uk/

It may be a useful alternative?

Finally. This is the dolly I bought at the weekend for under £20 which could form the basis of a welding trolley:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cdt3-dolly-truck-platform?da=1&TC=SRC-dolly

There are lots of similar items here:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/search/filter/pallet-trucks-platform-trucks/brand/clarke/type/any/module/shopcategory/page/1

All with a 20% discount for the next few days if you have the email discount voucher (I have a spare one if you need one)

Ian

[Michael Trew]

thanks Ian and Billy --- I’ll be at the space all day tomorrow, so I’m looking forward to trying it out on those scraps!

 

..Durafix certainly does look much simpler – if it wasn’t for the fact that I also need to weld steel I’d be wishing I’d just gone for that instead (I’d love to try brazing anyway)

 

I didn’t succeed in finding a better manual for the welder (SIP P214), but I just bought this excellent book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Farm-Workshop-Welding-Andrew-Pearce/dp/1905523300

..so with that and youtube I should be OK ;-)

 

thanks for the welding supplies link, and also for the dolly/trolley one – I’ll let you know ASAP if I need anything from Machinemart ^_^

[Lawrence Brand]

Hello

Sorry for the thread resurrection, but I'm keen to do some TIG welding at the new space in the coming weeks (as part of my never ending quest to build a bicycle!) and was wondering if you were thinking of loaning your TIG machine to the space again?

If not, is there much interest from other people to get a machine?  I'd be up for starting a pledge drive if so?

Thanks,
Lawrence