Sergei Slovenija
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- Thread starter God mode restorations
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Blue Chips
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The next step in getting my recently-purchased TIG cold wire feeder up and running was to make a pair of torch-mounted switches (or 'triggers' if you prefer) for the TIG welder and wire feeder. This is experimental (at least for me). Instead of using a single SPST switch as found on many TIG torches, I decided to make a double switch, consisting of two separate SPST momentary switches mounted side by side to control the TIG welder and wire feeder separately. I picked out a couple of switches with ‘paddle’ action, sort of like a lot of typical TIG triggers.
I cut a couple of pieces of frosted polycarbonate to make a bracket for the switches, screwed the switches and bracket together, applied heat-shrink tubing on the connectors and cable (double heat-shrink in places), and put together a “Y” cable with the appropriate Amphenol connectors for the TIG welder and the cold wire feeder.
My rationale for the separate switches was to be able to control the welder and wire feeder in a few different ways. I made this little chart showing combinations based on using the torch-mounted switches and a foot pedal as an alternative controller. I also have a torch-mount sliding amperage controller, but I haven’t factored that into the chart yet.
I bought a CK wire guide bracket to mount the CK wire guide (which I already had) on the head of one of my TIG torches. The bracket was a bit pricey, but CK stuff is good quality. It's very sturdy and seems to fit my existing torch securely.
After mounting the CK bracket and wire guide on the torch, I mounted the switches on the torch body with tie-wraps and added a couple of tie-wraps on the cable for strain relief. If everything works well, I might eventually come up with a more streamlined setup for the torch switches (maybe some off-the-shelf unit?), but this should do for now.
My next little project is to set up another dedicated wire-feed torch for use with stubby gas lenses.
Disclaimer: I'm just an amateur welder, and I do not warrant the safety, functionality, or applicability of any of my ideas displayed or described here.
I cut a couple of pieces of frosted polycarbonate to make a bracket for the switches, screwed the switches and bracket together, applied heat-shrink tubing on the connectors and cable (double heat-shrink in places), and put together a “Y” cable with the appropriate Amphenol connectors for the TIG welder and the cold wire feeder.
My rationale for the separate switches was to be able to control the welder and wire feeder in a few different ways. I made this little chart showing combinations based on using the torch-mounted switches and a foot pedal as an alternative controller. I also have a torch-mount sliding amperage controller, but I haven’t factored that into the chart yet.
I bought a CK wire guide bracket to mount the CK wire guide (which I already had) on the head of one of my TIG torches. The bracket was a bit pricey, but CK stuff is good quality. It's very sturdy and seems to fit my existing torch securely.
After mounting the CK bracket and wire guide on the torch, I mounted the switches on the torch body with tie-wraps and added a couple of tie-wraps on the cable for strain relief. If everything works well, I might eventually come up with a more streamlined setup for the torch switches (maybe some off-the-shelf unit?), but this should do for now.
My next little project is to set up another dedicated wire-feed torch for use with stubby gas lenses.
Disclaimer: I'm just an amateur welder, and I do not warrant the safety, functionality, or applicability of any of my ideas displayed or described here.
Kram
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I'd recommend one of these. Its not an adjustable fly cutter but it does work well atleast for my lathe. Amazing the speed it will turn a piece to chips.
The inserts comes with are not ideal I generally use the much sharper type
I use them on steel but its expected that will chip them sooner - I get a reasonable life out of them.
I've only got a little Clarke cmd10 mill lol, sadly uses mt2 so that wouldn't fit.
Morrisman
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Didn't really make it today, but finished it today, and put a coat of the chocolate paint on it. It’s a stand for my Bulldog, as it only comes with a side-stand from the factory. There‘s a bracket underneath for a centre stand, but they were never equipped with one, so this is something for use in the garage.
Blue Chips
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I wanted to dedicate yet another TIG torch for use with my cold wire feeder. This torch would be set up with stubby gas lenses.
Instead of spending the cash for a factory mounting bracket and wire guide, I thought I would have some fun in the shop by making my own mounting bracket and wire guide. This particular mounting bracket would attach to the torch body (handle) instead of the torch head. To make the mounting bracket, I cut off a chunk of ½” mild steel, bored the large hole (to fit the torch handle) with my lathe, shaped the outer contour by hand on my 12” disc sander, drilled a 3/8” hole for the wire guide, and then drilled and tapped it for three 1/4-20 set screws. I then bead blasted it and applied gun bluing to finish it.
To make the wire guide, I found a piece of thick-wall brass pipe, which I threaded a little over half its length on the lathe (3/8-24 thread), and soldered on a threaded stop ring made by cutting a slice from a brass pipe fitting.
Then I found some stiff, thick-wall copper tubing (3/16” OD), countersunk one end of the copper tube to mate with the tapered end of the wire feed cable sheath that slides into the brass pipe, bent and trimmed the copper tube to fit, and soldered it into the brass pipe. I threaded the end of the copper tube (10-32 thread) to accept a CK wire feed tip, sized to match the welding wire size. The wire guide is positioned/secured with a jam nut and a spring, so that I can pivot the wire guide out of the way without loosening any jam nuts. If it turns out that the spring isn’t stiff enough to keep the wire guide from moving while in use, I can either find a stiffer spring or go with a pair of jam nuts.
I don’t think the extra torch weight from the steel mounting bracket and other parts will bother me. In fact, I suspect that the added mass might add a bit of stability by damping some of my shakiness. Maybe I would think differently about that if I were doing production work, but I’m only doing hobby/one-off stuff, so I’m not holding the torch for extended periods.
Now I need to experiment with the welder and cold wire feeder and try to come up with some useful setting combinations that will work for some of the typical welding scenarios that I encounter.
Disclaimer: I'm just an amateur welder, and I do not warrant the safety, functionality, or applicability of any of my ideas displayed or described here.
Instead of spending the cash for a factory mounting bracket and wire guide, I thought I would have some fun in the shop by making my own mounting bracket and wire guide. This particular mounting bracket would attach to the torch body (handle) instead of the torch head. To make the mounting bracket, I cut off a chunk of ½” mild steel, bored the large hole (to fit the torch handle) with my lathe, shaped the outer contour by hand on my 12” disc sander, drilled a 3/8” hole for the wire guide, and then drilled and tapped it for three 1/4-20 set screws. I then bead blasted it and applied gun bluing to finish it.
To make the wire guide, I found a piece of thick-wall brass pipe, which I threaded a little over half its length on the lathe (3/8-24 thread), and soldered on a threaded stop ring made by cutting a slice from a brass pipe fitting.
Then I found some stiff, thick-wall copper tubing (3/16” OD), countersunk one end of the copper tube to mate with the tapered end of the wire feed cable sheath that slides into the brass pipe, bent and trimmed the copper tube to fit, and soldered it into the brass pipe. I threaded the end of the copper tube (10-32 thread) to accept a CK wire feed tip, sized to match the welding wire size. The wire guide is positioned/secured with a jam nut and a spring, so that I can pivot the wire guide out of the way without loosening any jam nuts. If it turns out that the spring isn’t stiff enough to keep the wire guide from moving while in use, I can either find a stiffer spring or go with a pair of jam nuts.
I don’t think the extra torch weight from the steel mounting bracket and other parts will bother me. In fact, I suspect that the added mass might add a bit of stability by damping some of my shakiness. Maybe I would think differently about that if I were doing production work, but I’m only doing hobby/one-off stuff, so I’m not holding the torch for extended periods.
Now I need to experiment with the welder and cold wire feeder and try to come up with some useful setting combinations that will work for some of the typical welding scenarios that I encounter.
Disclaimer: I'm just an amateur welder, and I do not warrant the safety, functionality, or applicability of any of my ideas displayed or described here.
lchris21
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great work, looking forward to the device in action
Prajna
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We should have a whip round and buy you a mug welder, Blue Chips.
Blue Chips
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I have a couple of MIG welders, and I was recently asked to weld a friend's stainless steel coffee mug, but I don't have a machine specifically designed for welding mugs.We should have a whip round and buy you a mug welder, Blue Chips.
But if it's a tool that I don't have, I definitely need it!
Prajna
Fixing things for the love of it
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Damned AutoCorrect rather ****es on attempts at humour, doesn't it? Probably about time I educated my AutoCorrect about welding terms.I have a couple of MIG welders, and I was recently asked to weld a friend's stainless steel coffee mug, but I don't have a machine specifically designed for welding mugs.
But if it's a tool that I don't have, I definitely need it!
Blue Chips
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I figured as much.
Morris
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I didn't exactly make this...
I completed the phosphoric acid rust removal on a door for wifey's Pop project. I have repaired the rot at the corner and then acid washed it (a lot). The pitting at the lower section was bad but it all came out.
It started out like this (this is the best bit!).
I completed the phosphoric acid rust removal on a door for wifey's Pop project. I have repaired the rot at the corner and then acid washed it (a lot). The pitting at the lower section was bad but it all came out.
It started out like this (this is the best bit!).
Morrisman
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I’d never even thought such a thing was possible, but now I see it it looks like a great idea. Is the wire feed electric, and you can vary the speed on the move?
Blue Chips
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Here's a link to my post about acquiring the wire feeder: https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/today-i-acquired.50192/post-2391402
I'm doing some welding with it today to make a tape storage rack, which I should be able to post here later today or tomorrow. So far, it appears that I will enjoy using it, although it does add extra settings to factor in. Per your question, you can set the wire feed speed with a knob on the feeder, but I don't have a way (yet) of varying the wire speed as I'm welding. There are wire feed settings for pulse, dwell, delay, and retract, in addition to wire feed speed.
Blue Chips
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I just tried out my cold wire feeder for the first time. I was looking for a way to free up some needed worktop space that’s currently occupied by a pile of tape, twine, etc., and @tom2207 had a good suggestion for a tape storage rack design that I could install under my existing ceiling-hung shelves.
I figured that making the mounting brackets for the rack would be a good way to start experimenting with the wire feeder. This is the torch that I used.
I'll experiment with the other torch that I'm setting up (a gas-lens torch) later on, after I've gotten the hang of using the wire feeder with standard cups and collets.
After messing about with a few practice scraps...and producing some messy-looking welds...I finally came up with some settings that worked fairly well as a starting point for mild steel 1/8" butt joints. I used pieces of 2” x 1/8” bar and 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” x 1/8” angle to make the mounting brackets for the tape rack. I cleaned the metal a bit, clamped the pieces together, and tacked the joint in a couple of places on each side.
I'll admit that I cheated a little by clamping a length of angle on the workbench to serve as a guide that I could slide my torch hand along to help maintain a straight line. Even using the guide, I still had to toss out a few less-than-acceptable (read 'ugly') welds, until I found a comfortable position for holding the torch with both hands and drawing it steadily along the guide. Using both hands really helped steady the torch. After welding, I trimmed off a couple of pieces of excess metal at the ends to check the penetration of the welds, and I was pleased to see that they had full penetration (see green arrow below). Note that I didn't put much of a bevel on the edges before welding. If I had made a deeper bevel, I probably could have used somewhat less current (I used 135A) and a little faster wire feed rate, which I think could have reduced the HAZ width The pieces below are my best efforts, which I think came out pretty well.
I welded a short piece of ¾” square tube (rotated 10 degrees) onto each of the mounting brackets to insert in the ends of the long 1” square tube that the rod-holder sleeves will slide on. Then I slapped together the rod-holder sleeves, which are pieces of 1-1/4” square tube with nuts welded onto them. The rods are 3/8” x 8" bolts with the heads trimmed off. If desired, the bolts can double as set screws to secure the positions of the rod-holder sleeves on the long tube.
After reconsidering the mounting position under the shelf, I ended up slicing 1-1/2” off each of the mounting brackets, which gave me a chance to check more spots for weld penetration along the butt joints (green arrows below), which was still excellent.
Here's the finished rack, mounted under one of my ceiling-hung shelves. As you can see, I can slide the rod-mount sleeves back and forth to accommodate rolls of tape and other items with different diameters.
Now I need to wade through dozens of rolls of tape, twine, etc., and toss out any expired or otherwise unusable stuff before stocking my new tape rack.
I figured that making the mounting brackets for the rack would be a good way to start experimenting with the wire feeder. This is the torch that I used.
I'll experiment with the other torch that I'm setting up (a gas-lens torch) later on, after I've gotten the hang of using the wire feeder with standard cups and collets.
After messing about with a few practice scraps...and producing some messy-looking welds...I finally came up with some settings that worked fairly well as a starting point for mild steel 1/8" butt joints. I used pieces of 2” x 1/8” bar and 1-1/2” x 1-1/2” x 1/8” angle to make the mounting brackets for the tape rack. I cleaned the metal a bit, clamped the pieces together, and tacked the joint in a couple of places on each side.
I'll admit that I cheated a little by clamping a length of angle on the workbench to serve as a guide that I could slide my torch hand along to help maintain a straight line. Even using the guide, I still had to toss out a few less-than-acceptable (read 'ugly') welds, until I found a comfortable position for holding the torch with both hands and drawing it steadily along the guide. Using both hands really helped steady the torch. After welding, I trimmed off a couple of pieces of excess metal at the ends to check the penetration of the welds, and I was pleased to see that they had full penetration (see green arrow below). Note that I didn't put much of a bevel on the edges before welding. If I had made a deeper bevel, I probably could have used somewhat less current (I used 135A) and a little faster wire feed rate, which I think could have reduced the HAZ width The pieces below are my best efforts, which I think came out pretty well.
I welded a short piece of ¾” square tube (rotated 10 degrees) onto each of the mounting brackets to insert in the ends of the long 1” square tube that the rod-holder sleeves will slide on. Then I slapped together the rod-holder sleeves, which are pieces of 1-1/4” square tube with nuts welded onto them. The rods are 3/8” x 8" bolts with the heads trimmed off. If desired, the bolts can double as set screws to secure the positions of the rod-holder sleeves on the long tube.
After reconsidering the mounting position under the shelf, I ended up slicing 1-1/2” off each of the mounting brackets, which gave me a chance to check more spots for weld penetration along the butt joints (green arrows below), which was still excellent.
Here's the finished rack, mounted under one of my ceiling-hung shelves. As you can see, I can slide the rod-mount sleeves back and forth to accommodate rolls of tape and other items with different diameters.
Now I need to wade through dozens of rolls of tape, twine, etc., and toss out any expired or otherwise unusable stuff before stocking my new tape rack.
