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Was curious how many of you woodwerkers were also metalheads. I just took delivery of my new Lincoln Precision Tig 275 Ready to Weld package with a water cooler built into the undercarriage. Wow! What a sweet unit!
This, for me, is just a natural progression in terms of tools. I have most of my wood stuff and am in the process of getting equipped for metal as well.
I just gave up my day job as the head welder and hack machinist for a high end bicycle manufacturer to be a stay at home dad for our 6 mo. old son. Looking forward to ,maybe, getting a few things done.
Does anyone else have a welder and/or do metalworking? What kind of machine do you have and what sort of things do you do? I plan to do some metal projects around the house as well as start a little side business.
Hope this is not too far off topic for everyone.
Best regards,
Kevin
Replies
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Sounds like a nice unit. I favor TIG myself and have an oxy-acetylene torch and a small MIG. I plan to make a TIG from an old stick unit someday. Actually the wood and metal work together pretty nicely. I've done a lot of work with brass using the table saw and router in situations where our milling machine fell short. There's a ton of great metal sites out there such as The Art Metal Village. Are you into the more sculptural aspects of metal and wood regarding furniture like Art Deco?
*at my shop, you open a garage door from the wood shop to access the mechanical shop - all I have is ox-ac and the traditional lincoln arc box - I'm looking for a forge and anvil (with attachments and also cheap) - mostly do repair and the odd special piece - enjoy your new tool! DOUD
*When I can afford it, I'd like to get a MIG welder. I have an oxy-acetylene torch that I've used to make metal sculpture and furniture hardware. There's quite a bit of other metalworking I'd like to do, but I have neither the money nor the time. I'd also like to do glassworking, but there's only so many hours in the day.
*I think that any woodworker could benefit from knowing how to lay a bead. I can think of several times I've wanted to do a quick repair or fabrication, but didn't have the tools and know-how.For the benefit of the unitiated, would you mind explaining some of the abbreviations you've used, along with a quick disscussion on the basics?
*I have an ESAB 300iCVCC, an ESAB PCM500i plasma cutter, a Miller MaxStar 140 stick welder, and a gas torch. The ESAB 300 is setup to do both MIG and dc TIG. Couldn't live without the welders. Latest project is building a pipe fence around my property. Use the plasma cutter to do the fish mouths at the tops of the posts, and the little Miller to weld in the field. Used the ESAB 300 to do the gates (MIG) and custom stainless steel gate latches (TIG).I build custom outdoor furniture from 1-inch square tubing and go to the local stone supplier for "scrap" for the tops (granite, marble, etc.) Have also built audio racks that combine metal (frame), wood (trim and backboard), and stone (shelves) custom cut on the stone supplier's CNC water cut machine. Now, that's some fun.
*RickK,Most of the welding I have done is bicycle-related (thin-walled tubes .6 to .9 mil steel and up to 1/8" aluminum) as well as heavier steel for fixturing. I do plan to make some ornamental items including furniture.Wade,MIG and TIG are terms for the kind of machine one uses. Actually their proper terms are GMAW and GTAW for gas metal arc welding and gas tungsten arc welding. As for the basics, that could take all day. I would suggest the Welders Handbook by Richard Finch for a great discussion of most welding related basics.Sounds like there are more folks than I thought into this. Nice to see!Best regards,Kevin
*I have both an old AC/DC Lincoln arc welder and acetylene/oxygen tanks in my shop. I learned to weld on the farm when in my early teens. Also used lots of welding and other metal working equipment when in the army. (needed to temper those horseshoes, you know) Never used a mig welder. Everyone with a mechanical inclination should have welding equipment.
*Thanks Kevin. What would you recommend as a good beginner's set-up for occasional ferrous welding?
*Now that I know I'm not the only woodworker who also likes to tinker with metal:I have an oxy-acetelyne setup and a Lincoln 220V MIG. The oxy-acetelyne rig gets used for a lot of different jobs: soldering copper pipe, heat-treating tool steel, cutting, brazing and occasional aluminum welding. For welding steel I always turn to the MIG since it is so quick and easy and requires minimal setup.So far I have built a couple hundred feet of wrought-iron (actually steel tube) gates and fencing, all of my mobile woodworking machine bases, sharpening jigs for turning tools, lathe tool rests, scaling wall used in police dog training, lumber rack... the list goes on. I have also made a few cutting tools, using the oxy-acetelyne torch for heat-treating: bowl scrapers and cut-off tools for the lathe, special knives and chisels, and lately, a marking knife. Both the oxy-acetelyne and MIG are so useful around the wood shop that I wouldn't want to be without them.Rick
*I have a friend with a blacksmithing shop. That is really fun stuff. He tried to give me a small portable forge and anvil, but I ran from it as I don't have time for my current hobbies.Now welding on the anvil with a hammer- that is a trick.Frank
*Wade, if you're just starting, get a helmet with an autodarkening feature. Mine is from Focus, shades 9 and 11. There are lots of other mfgrs. Kedman makes a good product. For steel, you won't need MIG or TIG, but avoid the AC only 220 amp Lincoln or Miller, instead get an AC/DC stick welder 150 amp or above from the same companies and pay the extra $200. I favor Miller. Most of your welding will be DCEN (direct current electrode negative, aka DCSP, direct current straight polarity). Get a vocational school textbook, like "Modern Welding".If cheap is important, you can probably find a used AC 220 amp with helmet for $100, but it's a hard way to learn. If you're in L.A., I'll sell you mine at that price.If you're ready to spend about $2000, get the Miller Econotig with which you can weld almost anything using AC or DC, TIG or stick. I've got one and use it on Aluminum, steel, stainless steel, tool steel, cast iron, copper, and various others.I'd also suggest a night school course in basic welding, if available where you are.Good luck.
*I use a fair number of weldments in stairbuilding. We used to sub the work out but it got to be such a hassel to get someone to do a small job on time that one day I just went out a bought an arc welder and a metal bandsaw. Never been sorry, use it a lot for building jigs and machine stands.
*I have a century MIG, a Miller TIG, a craftsman Gas and a lincoln stick. I haven't touched one since I started wood working, I'm afraid to. I've burned myself too often welding to ever relax around it and the thought of starting that dust on fire or the shavings or whatever scares the bejeezes outta me. I don't care how carefully I sweep or blow out the dust I can always find some shavings later that were wedged under something or hidden behind something. Sparks bounce on the floor and roll into corners where god knows what could happen. Sawdust and welding are like playing catch with nitro, just not a good idea. But hey, wadda I know?
*A huge part of my work involves metal, primarily mild steel. I started in business strictly as a woodworker . After a few years I found myself pursuing a couple of fine art degrees that led me to using metal. Now I combine wood with metal whenever I can. Besides welding (usually MIG) I use silver solder quite a bit. The solder offers adequate strength for most furniture and it allows for very clean joints. Think of a tight fitting miter in steel in place of wood with no "glue" showing, and that is how a soldered joint can look.I've also been a bit brutal with some pieces. Once I attached rather heavy screen to some table legs by driving #10 steel pins through the screen into the wood, then welding the pin and screen together. The wood (walnut) was scorched of course. It made for a unique look.In my shop I use a Powcon MIG machine, gas, plasma cutting, horizontal and vertical bandsaws, and lots of sanding and grinding tools. I have an old Porter Cable belt sander that is nasty on wood, but serves me well on steel. Of some interest: I converted my 14 inch delta bandsaw to cut steel by installing two jack shafts. The blade speed is now about 300 fpm which is still a bit fast but blades still last a long time. I also have a 12"disc/6"belt sanding machine. This tool allows me to make the close fit-ups that the fine furniture work demands.
*Does anyone else do metalworking? Ya, I do a little. I am in the process of getting my devlieg 3B-48 jig bore out out storage and put online. This milling machine only weighs 23,000 pounds.Good choice on the welder, although I am one of the "blue dudes". I looked at lincoln, but all the pros out here swear by miller and I went and got a miller syncrowave 250. Good choice on the water cooler. Tig heads can get very hot and for continous use, need the water cooling. You can also use a tig of this type for arc welding.What I like about tig is that you get the ultimate penetration. MIG is a cheap form of welding that is fast and does not require experience. Anyone can mig and mig quickly, but it takes practice and skill to get good at stick and even more to get good at tig. When you can weld a cobra body made from aluminum sheet together without blow holes and warpage, you know your good.I think your will have fun with your new toy.
*Dev,I used a Miller syncrowave at my old job and I loved it. The deal was Miller wanted $600 more for the same thing that Lincoln was offering. I got the Precision Tig 275 w/the optional advanced control panel (I need to be able to do pulsed work) and never looked back. This machine rocks! It does everything our Miller did (more) and I used the money saved to get a little more outfitted. Miller is awesome but this machine/package will give them a run for their money.I agree w/you about the MIG thing, can't understand why they are so popular. Thanks for the encouragement!Best regards,Kevin
*Great thread guys! Thanks.All I got is a 1940s kit made buzzbox and oxy acetlyene. I started welding when my teenage kids started playing with British Leyland and Triumph toys. Yeah, and the Fiat 850 Spyders took lots of welding just to keep the front and rear wheels playing in the same game.BJ
*I was always interested in metal working but never got around to it and then I started dating an artist who had learned to use an oxyacet torch in one of her sculpting classes. I tried it and liked it-and the girl- and we married. We now have added a Lincoln ac/dc buzz box, Millermatic 185 Mig, Miller Tig 180sd-great machine-great price- and a Hypertherm Plasma Cutter. We also have a Harris torch outfit with a Smith little torch. We have quick connect fittings and we swap the little torch with the standard Harris torch. Very useful. We use 80 cuft bottles. Nice compact unit we can take to the junk yard to rough cut scrap. Also use the torch for brazing. Harris, Victor and Smith all make good gas equipment and its comepetively priced.We both started taking courses at the County Community College here in Delco, PA. The courses are great and not overly expensive. I believe most Delco residents pay about $160 for 12 weeks (thats what my TIG course is costing). The equipment is excellent and the instructors are first rate. The Finch Book is great. Recommend the Instant darkening helmets but that is something you can add later on after you learn to weld with the standard helmet. (We have the Jackson 3n1-lets us use it for all of our different processes). If you want to do real fine welding-like bicycle frames TIG is the way to go. Also most of the TIG machines will have stick (ARC) capability. We have several dealers in the Philly area but the folks at Roberts Oxygen-they have several stores-have given us great prices and service. We cannot recommend them enough. They sell most of the major brands including Lincoln and Miller. By the way Hobart is also a good brand and they are now owned by Miller. A Miller Rep told me that a considerable amount of there business is to artists. Wear good welding gloves, safe clothing and boots. As in woodworking you can't have too many clamps. Have fun.Pat & Ken
*ME too, gas set up, stick buzz box and a mig unit. I know tig. I suggest getting an automagic helmet they are neat. My eye person gave a prescription for one. They felt so strong about the use of them they called several months after to see if I had one.I love welding it is a logical progression and and nice out let. My wife say tools and toys are cheaper that drugs and gambling. And I can sell my tools.
*"I agree w/you about the MIG thing, can't understand why they are so popular.""MIG is a cheap form of welding that is fast and does not require experience."Hmmm...I'm not sure what you mean by "cheap"? The equipment is inexpensive? They're popular because they make clean welds, you don't have to chip slag off of the weld, they're faster and more economical than a stick (you deposit a greater percentage of the electrode metal onto the weld than with a stick), they're the easiest machines to weld with for most steel applications. Not hard to figure out.If you're not getting good weld penetration with a MIG then you're either using the wrong size wire, not enough current, or the wire feed speed is incorrect. The only problem with most MIG machines is that they are limited by wire size meaning you have to prep the weld joint properly and may have to make multiple passes - so what? My machine will do single pass welds on 1/2-inch thick metal using 1/16-inch wire. But, I have also welded 1/2-inch using a 110 Volt MIG using three passes (root pass, two fills). Not real pretty, but on a bracket, who cares about style points? Lest you start cautioning about possible weld failure, no lives will be endangered if it does fail; it's been under stress regularly for the last 6 years; it and shows no signs of fatigue.I have made brackets for a machine shop doing aerospace work for Boeing and General Electric. They are used to hold the support the outside of a 6-foot diameter ring as it is being machined so it doesn't flex or chatter. The latest batch certainly look better than the first ones because of the bigger welder, but they are no more servicable than the ones made with the 110V machine.If I would have TIG welded the brackets, they may have gained an edge in weld aesthetics, but they would have taken at least 5 times longer to do.
*Hey what about fire? Anytime I weld sparks dance and roll all over, isn't the sawdust we create a danger in the presence of sparks?
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