Further Down the Rabbit Hole, or Plasma Cutters, MIGs, and Chop Saws oh my!

[ACHiPo]

My thought on chop saws: You cant trust them... There is all that centrifugal force built up and if something binds
the blade can disintegrate and do a lot of damage to the operator. Maybe it would be OK for small rods or something
but I can do just fine without one. Also, a chop saw spews abrasive and hot particles which is somewhat hazardous.
I find myself using a hack saw for the small jobs, much safer.

Decided not to try to trust a chop saw. Band saw and Starrett 14/18 and 10/14 blades on order.

 

[Eremius]

They will never look like TIG or production welds.

In my experience "not looking like production welds" would be a goal to aspire to...

 

[ACHiPo]

Here's a brief update. I did some MIG practice over the weekend, and the beads look pretty ugly. They did, however, significantly improve. Other than the obvious speed/feed issues, I'm also getting a lot of porosity on the top surface. I remember seeing something about what causes that, but I can't remember. I did learn that just because everything goes dark doesn't mean I've blown a fuse--I have an auto-darkening helmet.



The HF band saw arrived tonight, as did the 44" tool chest. I haven't unpacked the band saw, but the tool chest is pretty impressive. It will make a nice home for my Gerstner chests and Reed vise.

 

[mikey]

I haven't seen a spending spree like this in a long time, ACHiPo! I'll say this; when you get into a hobby, you don't fool around!!

 

[bss1]

The porosity usually comes from a lack of shielding gas coverage. Assuming your using hard wire and 75/25 gas, make sure your regulator is set for around 12 to 15 CFH. 12 should be plenty.

 

[mikey]

Porosity can also be due to holding the gun too far away from the weld, holding the gun at the wrong angle (>5-15 degrees from perpendicular), welding in a draft so the gas dissipates, contaminants in the weld, a bad regulator or hose, plugged up gun from spatter, etc. Lots of things can do this. Probably the most common are the gun being too far from the work and/or held at the wrong angle. It takes awhile to learn how to coordinate your hands.

Hang in there; it will come.

 

[ACHiPo]

I haven't seen a spending spree like this in a long time, ACHiPo! I'll say this; when you get into a hobby, you don't fool around!!

Yeah, I do tend to obsess a bit...

 

[ACHiPo]

The porosity usually comes from a lack of shielding gas coverage. Assuming your using hard wire and 75/25 gas, make sure your regulator is set for around 12 to 15 CFH. 12 should be plenty.

I'm using 75/25. The regulator just measures pressure--I don't have a flow gauge. I've got the pressure set a little above 30 psig. Next time I fire it up I'll have to make sure I'm getting flow out the nozzle. I can add a rotometer, but doubt I need one.

 

[ACHiPo]

Porosity can also be due to holding the gun too far away from the weld, holding the gun at the wrong angle (>5-15 degrees from perpendicular), welding in a draft so the gas dissipates, contaminants in the weld, a bad regulator or hose, plugged up gun from spatter, etc. Lots of things can do this. Probably the most common are the gun being too far from the work and/or held at the wrong angle. It takes awhile to learn how to coordinate your hands.

Hang in there; it will come.

I'm sure the angle is not as consistent as it needs to be--I noticed when I paid more attention to it my beads got better. I'm welding on a concrete garage floor, so not much issue with air currents, but ergonomics leave a lot to be desired. I'm using the MIG pliers to set my wire length so it should be correct. I need to confirm the flow--I can only measure pressure.

 

[Groundhog]

Be careful welding on concrete. It can get hot enough to pop chunks back at you. (My guess is that trapped moisture expands).