jdustu

iTrader: (2)

Not much beats tigging a pipe all the way out! Other than a few projects, the only pipe I've ever done is for certifying(and the practice leading up). Stick and tig. I actually never got the chance to test for stick, but I'm certified 6g for tig from 3/8dia. 1/16" wall and bigger. I was hoping to get back to the tech center last fall for the stick test, but things didn't work out. Up until christmas I was a millwright for Chrysler....I don't think I need to tell you how that worked out! They've got an AWESOME weld shop at their tech center/training facility, but I don't think I'll be up there too much more

I'm trying to figure out my career direction right now....I'd love to get into doing more "specialized" tig welding, but we will see. We are trying to stick it out in Detroit,but not much is going on right now! Brown Dog Welding(mostly the art stuff, a few fab jobs) is keeping me busy( and sane) right now, I may just make a push to see how far I can take it.

Lacking the time to put up pics due to being too busy building stuff to take pics of is NOT a bad thing!!!

SuperSlow02

iTrader: (16)

I love tig....but unfortunatly all I get to use all day is 6011 and 7024 rods, and mild steel mig booooring

383lt1impala

iTrader: (33)

Get the helmet from harbor freight. We got ours for 70 something with the 2 year warranty. Its automatic we have a miller helmet and this one works better.

xfactor_pitbulls

iTrader: (16)

**** that. No disrespect man, but that helmet is junk. You can spend $50 more and get something nice with atleast 2x the response. That kind of helmet is why people think AD helmets suck.

99345hp

Jdustu, you have a pretty good hand with the mig welder. Ive been welding for about 5 years now, including school. I dont have much mig welding experience, but I usually stick to the circle pattern unless doing verticle. That is what they taught in tech school.

I have done specialized TIG work for Eaton Aeroquip where we manufactured parts for aerospace, boeing, pratt-whitney, and many other companies. I learned a whole lot there about welding exotic metals such as inconel, stainless, titanium and aluminum. Most of the stuff there was very very thin. There are 12 tests in all to become an x-ray tig welder with their company and they are very very tough. 2 alloys of inconel, 2 alloys of stainless, titanium and aluminum. One open butt and one fillet weld of each alloy. All test coupons are 6" long and .032 thick material. They are also cut, bent and x-ray inspected for flaws.

From there I went to being a pipe welder in the nuclear power industry. That was a very interesting job and the pay was excellent. There is a lot to learn about welding pipe that is different than welding on a test stand. You cant always walk the cup, learn to weld out of a mirror, bend stick rods to get around and between obsticles, and many others.

Now I am at my dream job. Building one off high end hotrods. I am mostly welding exhaust and sheetmetal now and I love it. No more pain in the *** welding inspectors making you fix things that arn't even flaws.

Oh yeah, dont bother with that damn HF helmet. If you want something cheap buy a non auto darkening big window jackson like I posted earlier. YOU DONT NEED AUTO DARKENING. I actually prefer to weld without auto darkening most of the time, unless I am in a bind and cant get to my hood to flip it down.

blazin

iTrader: (16)

I step all day long with .045 and m5. Use a hobart hood as well. Gonna get something else soon.

99345hp

i feel sorry for you mig welding all day. I would rather stick weld than mig weld any day of the week.

2000_SS

iTrader: (24)

i weld/fab all day long, i've done just about everything...started off doing sheet metal fab, like the stuff you see hanging off of semi's goin down the highway. i did a few parts that went on a couple trucks for 'trick my truck.' Then i got my apprenticeship with the boilermakers, but never actually went to work for them. Now i work in a shop making high pressure heat exchangers for powerplants. we don't run stick too much at all. Most everything is hardwire, flux-core, tig, or sub-arc....

my point is, after all that **** i've done, i wouldn't trade my NexGen for ANYTHING, except MAYBE a speedglass hood. a local Airgas rep is trying to sell me a speedglass hood, but i'm being pretty stubborn...

xfactor_pitbulls

iTrader: (16)

From an owner, the weak link in the speedglass line is the head gear and tension nuts. They are very bad. Constantly stripping, and either way tight or dead loose. Just FYI, before you buy one. I only use mine for tig nowadays.

V6 Bird

iTrader: (15)

The technique depends on what your welding. Flicking a booger techinque works well with different thicknesses of material being welded.

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (17)

Im usually a moon or "C" shape guy. Depending what Im doing and if I have enough room to sweep the torch. Ide really like to step up to a 220v MIG though. Im running a 130A Clarke, and it does great for what it is. But Ide like something with some more grunt, so welding 1/4" is as easy as welding 1/8".

Im not real familiar with the circle pattern. I pretty much know what it is, but never looked into how to actually do it, and Ive never tried it. Im thinking I will next time I have something to weld.

As for helmets. Im a HUGE fan of Miller equiptment. I have one of those american flag painted helmets. With the big window. WOW what a difference over the cheap one that I had. It wasnt from harbor freight, but it was the same thing. You can fine tune the Miller, and it works so much nicer.

I used to weld with the good old non auto darkening helmets, and its so nice to not have to flip up all the time. ESPECIALLY when you are crammed under the car welding something in place like exhaust.

I got my helmet on ebay brand new for hundreds less than retail. In fact, I just replaced my inner and outer lenses as well as the batteries this past weekend. I havent replaced them since I got it like 4 years ago.

J.