New welder with too many ideas

[MrTimHawk]

Good Morning everyone. My name is Tim, I'm 20 from Brecon and I've just started Welding this year I have a Parweld stick machine from the great people at WeldEquip and I am planned on getting the TIG kit for it as well.
I've found this forum awesome for ideas and answers! been lurking a couple months and thought it was time I joined an showed some of my work an asked some of my own questions.

I've started getting aluminium Tig lessons from a friend in his workshop where they make horseboxes so plenty of scrap to be practising with . and I've also been welding Stainless too which brings me onto a probably easy question but how would I clean stainless? I think it's an acid paste I need, but I've got no idea what it's actually called ?

Thanks Tim

 

[BrokenBiker]

tig Paul will be along shortly with the correct names but it is a pickling paste used before welding, then i think its just a case of polishing after welding.

if you have the xti160 machine i also have it and it is great for tig. I prefer using my lift arc tig kit to my mates ac dc tig just because the arc is so smooth, just a shame it is limited to steel

 

[chunkolini]

Morning Tim.
You have found the right place for information and support.
Pickle paste is the stuff.
But be careful it is bloody vile stuff a mix of Hydroflouric and Nitric acids (I think). Evil stuff.
If you want some you can have mine, I am not far from Ross on Wye.
What kinds of thing are you working on?

 

[Paul.]

Pickling paste is used after welding, there are various ones around, Antox, or Metinox are two industrial acid based ones, for a more friendly and safer option look for one of the citric acid based ones, slower working but safer for the inexperienced and nicer to keep at home. A lot of the time pickling is unnecessary and welds can be cleaned with just a wire brush and / or scotchbrite,

Many people will tell you to always use acetone before welding, personally in over 40 years of welding and fabrication I have never ever used it.
Pre weld prep usually needs to be nothing more than a wipe over to remove any obvious grease or oil, on new material you should be able to just pick it up and weld it, if its been laying around for a while then wire brush (stainless) or scotchbrite along the joint will be ok.

These 3" pipe weldments I made earlier this week had no pre weld cleaning, and required no more post weld finishing than a quick rub with scotchbrite

 

[chunkolini]

Top quality work as usual and useful info as well.
I had wondered if there is a safer way of post weld cleaning.
Timhawk if you want my pickling paste it is your for the taking.

 

[MrTimHawk]

Hi everyone Thanks for the warm welcome

Yup Brokenbiker it's the XTi160, have to say it's a cracking stick welder, so I was hoping it would do the job for my little bits an bobs, which as you can see below is mainly Arty car parts. both these are from a differential...not the tidiest welds but I'm working on that haha.



Thanks for the great info Paul, those look great too!

Thank you for the very kind offer Chunkolini! I will probably take you up on that when I've got something worth cleaning up properly haha at the moment I'm just doing practice bits so nothing much, but I have lots of ideas for some of the "scrap" around the yard so I'm sure it won't be long!

 

[chunkolini]

Another creative type.
Plenty of us on here.
Have you browsed the sculpture part of the Projects section.