Wow.
Man - I am not the only one to tackle big projects...
Side note - SoCal had me in stitches with his hill back fill project - on our way to Rides of March...
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Well, you do great work Ned!
thanks for kind words. this is the house I grew up in. y'all have watched me fumble my way to knowledge.
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stainless distorts BIG TIME with heat. Waaaay more than steel or aluminum does.
oh man - learned this the hard way. had to hack off some threaded tubes that were made from stainless after I welded on. NONE of the threads were aligned anymore!
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I let him know that the MIG welds would look more rudimentary than the sanitary look of a TIG weld. But the MIG welding would be something like 10x faster. He also wanted his stainless guardrails powder coated black, and since powercoat can at times hide sins, we decided to choose MIG welds.
This makes sense - and its exactly where I started with my gates.
But I have had a break through with TIG - worth sharing.
I MIG'd the first gate. Fu'k it was ugly. The issue: my MIG welder is a little 110V unit - max settings just splattered and failed to penetrate.
Meant I had to grind every damn weld back to flat - and it took forever/messy.
So I bit the bullet and pulled out the TIG - with its 240V oomph - expecting it to go super slow.
And it did - at first.
But then I tried a new method - I had seen on YouTube.
I don't think it would work on thin metal as well as it has this 12 gauge & 3/16".
It's called "laywire" and I kind of felt like I was cheating.
Its so damn easy compared to tapping.
And I am fast - with a capital F - with no clean up or splatter to deal with after.
The but welds are flat.
The fillet welds have killer penetration.
The welds are shinny (not dull from overheat) and silver or straw color (= not oxidizing).
The method does take some refinement of settings and finesse.
Works best on thick materials - rather than thin.
Here is what I do:
1. Turn the amperage up. I want it hot - and its easy to move fast as there is no tapping - just pulling the torch along. You have to balance heat with speed.
2. Get a good puddle started first - before you start moving. you can tap one time with filler rod to help - but DONT start moving torch until there is a kick ass puddle formed. Be patient.
3. just put the tip of the filler rod in front of the puddle from an angle - it will melt and get pulled into the puddle as you move your torch. you never really have to move the rod. just "lay it" in front fo where you are going.
The trick is to watch the puddle - which I know generates a lot of eye rolls from anyone who has tried welding with MIG. TIG is different - I can see it clear as day. Every time I advance the torch (about 2 or 3mm), I watch the puddle and wait just a second - for it to sink into the metal and close the "keyhole" formed at its leading edge - then move my hand again forward another 2-3mm. Pic below. I likely did 50 of this ilk today - while welding on the edge pieces.
Got just a scoash hot in the middle section here - as my travel speed slowed a touch too much - but id take this every time. This weld is unmolested - no polish, no cleaning.