mig or tig or?

Ryan27,
What program are you using for your design drawings?

This is off topic but is everyone aware you can purchase/ no rent, oxy/acet in NSW & Vic?
We are still waiting for Cobb & Co to bring it to the West.

http://www.tradegas.com.au/index.html

Nightjar said:

Ryan27,
What program are you using for your design drawings?

This is off topic but is everyone aware you can purchase/ no rent, oxy/acet in NSW & Vic?
We are still waiting for Cobb & Co to bring it to the West.

http://www.tradegas.com.au/index.html

Click to expand...

Auto desk Inventor for sheet metal developed parts. We are testing some other program's at the moment.
However Inventor seems to be able to handle prototyping pretty well.

Ryan27 said:

Nightjar said:

Ryan27,
What program are you using for your design drawings?

This is off topic but is everyone aware you can purchase/ no rent, oxy/acet in NSW & Vic?
We are still waiting for Cobb & Co to bring it to the West.

http://www.tradegas.com.au/index.html

Click to expand...

Auto desk Inventor for sheet metal developed parts. We are testing some other program's at the moment.
However Inventor seems to be able to handle prototyping pretty well.

Click to expand...

im actually working at 1/5 scale with cardboard to prototype the shell :lol:

G0lddigg@ said:

20xwater said:

G0lddigg@ said:

Nice little bender these good to about 600mm x 2mm after that you need to score the bend. Cant wait to see yoir build mate

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its fits 750mm...more than long enough for the longest part of my design

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Yep but they are not designed to bend full capacity mate too much load will warp the centre of yoir brake unless you keep everything under 1.5mm. Itll do it but youll have big round edged in the middle and tigh bemds on the edge.

I tried using some of that ally weld rod with propane failed miserably lol I kept dropping bits of ally everywhere and none pf the welds ever held long enought to build a set of ruffles.

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ah i see, thanks for making me aware of that mate..im definately not going thicker than 1.5 anyway because i have the weight of everything to concider. it has to be built back-packable and light enough for my girlfriend to carry

Ryan27 said:

The Lincoln welders have always been a little out of my price range. Don't get me wrong when I worked for Caterpillar welding out under ground buckets and their truck bodies, Lincoln was the weapon of choice and boy did they work hard. I am a bit of a novice when it comes to welding ally, however the process is the same as ferrous metal welding. I am doing my research and I am currently designing some products to help fund the purchase I am looking at Unimig at the moment, I already have four Unimig welders and I am extremely happy with them. Here is a product I designed a while back try and guess what it is ?
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1074/1414541304_image.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1074/1414541398_image.jpg

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do you use like a water jet cutter linked to the programme?

When I built my highbanker I started tig welding it but then swapped to the ally brazing rods and they were heaps quicker and cheaper and the joints have held together for the last couple of years without any problems.

Tathradj said:

The propane method.
I have had a very good result with Durafix.
Trick is to keep every thing clean.
Second is to heat the ally. Not the rod.
Works very well for me.

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Back in my early days of self employment I'd weld up 2mm ally sheet all day for Shell Aust. with and Bog stock Mig running a nylon liner on the shortest tweeco hand piece I could buy. The liner has to run continuous from the contact tip to the wire feed rollers!

The trick is to cut the oxidized ball off before starting another run or the wire will bunch at the wire feed, you don't need a push-pull hand piece feeder. One other thing to make it easier is to weld in a semi vertical down (say 30-45deg) pushing the weld not dragging.

20xwater said:

Ryan27 said:

The Lincoln welders have always been a little out of my price range. Don't get me wrong when I worked for Caterpillar welding out under ground buckets and their truck bodies, Lincoln was the weapon of choice and boy did they work hard. I am a bit of a novice when it comes to welding ally, however the process is the same as ferrous metal welding. I am doing my research and I am currently designing some products to help fund the purchase I am looking at Unimig at the moment, I already have four Unimig welders and I am extremely happy with them. Here is a product I designed a while back try and guess what it is ?
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1074/1414541304_image.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1074/1414541398_image.jpg

Click to expand...

do you use like a water jet cutter linked to the programme?

Click to expand...

I use a laser cutter for all the ally. The cuts are nice and clean. Water jet is a much cleaner cut and extremely accurate. However the cutting motion is considerably slower and the machine time is a major cost to the job.
Even high definition plasma are nearly on par with older laser cutting machines nowadays.

Ryan27 said:

20xwater said:

Ryan27 said:

The Lincoln welders have always been a little out of my price range. Don't get me wrong when I worked for Caterpillar welding out under ground buckets and their truck bodies, Lincoln was the weapon of choice and boy did they work hard. I am a bit of a novice when it comes to welding ally, however the process is the same as ferrous metal welding. I am doing my research and I am currently designing some products to help fund the purchase I am looking at Unimig at the moment, I already have four Unimig welders and I am extremely happy with them. Here is a product I designed a while back try and guess what it is ?
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1074/1414541304_image.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1074/1414541398_image.jpg

Click to expand...

do you use like a water jet cutter linked to the programme?

Click to expand...

I use a laser cutter for all the ally. The cuts are nice and clean. Water jet is a much cleaner cut and extremely accurate. However the cutting motion is considerably slower and the machine time is a major cost to the job.
Even high definition plasma are nearly on par with older laser cutting machines nowadays.

Click to expand...

awsome...so you basically fabricate in virtual reality, so that means that once you learn the programe your imagination is the limit....you have the ultimate toy mate

Yeah pretty much. If it can be imagined and drawn it can be created.

20xwater said:

seeking some advice/opinions on wich way to go about welding 1.5mm sheet alloy...ive watched a few tig welding vids on youtube and it looks like the way to go?

im prepared to burn $300-400 on a welder...is this price range going to do the job properly?

any info on this would be really appreciated.

cheers scott

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My two cents as an inexperienced welder of thin aluminium, unless you are prepared to spend $1k plus, don't bother. AC TIG is the only way to go unless you want bird poop welds. Don't believe the DC inverer tigs will work well on something like highbanker aluminium.

Your only cheaper alternative is if you have 3 Phase power at home, then you can pick up a second hand 3 Phase AC TIG on Grays, as most homes don't have 3 Phase they often go dirt cheap (a few hundred bucks) as your average joe stays clear of these machines.

The Duraweld rods are fantastic for the inexperienced IF YOU ONLY HAVE TO WELD ONE SPOT. The minute you need to braze anything near that weld, your original one will melt and drop off and you will be tearing your hair out.

Aluminium welding is tricky, it is fun as a hobby if you don't mind the initial outlay and locating the Gas bottle, just as having an Oxy/Acet kit is nice but you need to have the gas supplier. Im lucky we buy beer and postmix gas at work so they also supply the other D size bottles for my hobby of burning and welding stuff in the garage. Most people will buy the stuff, use it for a weekend on a project and then it sits in the garage for the next 5 years. That, im talking from experience!

thanks for that twapster. ive got some parts in a ally fab/welder shop at the moment and they should be ready by tuesday. will be interesting to see how neat the welds are and how long he charges me to do it. he Quoted me $90 per hour and i specified that i want really neat coin stacking so this might hurt the wallet. :lol:

ive got another quote somewhere else for $75...hoping i get what im paying for

$70 p/hr would be your entry point and North of there. If you're shopping around is a good idea to take a virtual example with you so Noone is in the dark about expectations. A good fabricator is hard to find and can be pricey but like all things you generally get what you pay for. Keep in mind as a consumer you should have your expectations met. Often time spent finding the right place is time well spent. Hope it goes well mate.

Goldtarget said:

$70 p/hr would be your entry point and North of there. If you're shopping around is a good idea to take a virtual example with you so Noone is in the dark about expectations. A good fabricator is hard to find and can be pricey but like all things you generally get what you pay for. Keep in mind as a consumer you should have your expectations met. Often time spent finding the right place is time well spent. Hope it goes well mate.

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yeah i took the spraybars and sluices in taped together with electrical tape and because he has 2 of each part he cant go wrong by copying the other when he takes apart the 1st one to work on.

ive managed to find everything to make it 100% alloy but the 10mm round hole perferated screen. ive emailed the manufacturer of the 6mm available on abay requesting a special order of 10mm and supplied in larger sheets than what they advertise. fingers crossed!!!

i must say finding alloy nuts and bolts isnt easy or cheap and its taken the most time so far but i found what i was looking for eventually.

i actually found alloy expanded thats nearlly the exactly the same as the telstra box mesh...38/16 and 8mm at the nuckle...totally stoked mate

20xwater said:

Goldtarget said:

$70 p/hr would be your entry point and North of there. If you're shopping around is a good idea to take a virtual example with you so Noone is in the dark about expectations. A good fabricator is hard to find and can be pricey but like all things you generally get what you pay for. Keep in mind as a consumer you should have your expectations met. Often time spent finding the right place is time well spent. Hope it goes well mate.

Click to expand...

yeah i took the spraybars and sluices in taped together with electrical tape and because he has 2 of each part he cant go wrong by copying the other when he takes apart the 1st one to work on.

ive managed to find everything to make it 100% alloy but the 10mm round hole perferated screen. ive emailed the manufacturer of the 6mm available on abay requesting a special order of 10mm and supplied in larger sheets than what they advertise. fingers crossed!!!

i must say finding alloy nuts and bolts isnt easy or cheap and its taken the most time so far but i found what i was looking for eventually.

i actually found alloy expanded thats nearlly the exactly the same as the telstra box mesh...38/16 and 8mm at the nuckle...totally stoked mate

Click to expand...

Sounds like it will be a nice machine. I use SS nuts and bolts but pricey little things!

Twapster said:

20xwater said:

Goldtarget said:

$70 p/hr would be your entry point and North of there. If you're shopping around is a good idea to take a virtual example with you so Noone is in the dark about expectations. A good fabricator is hard to find and can be pricey but like all things you generally get what you pay for. Keep in mind as a consumer you should have your expectations met. Often time spent finding the right place is time well spent. Hope it goes well mate.

Click to expand...

yeah i took the spraybars and sluices in taped together with electrical tape and because he has 2 of each part he cant go wrong by copying the other when he takes apart the 1st one to work on.

ive managed to find everything to make it 100% alloy but the 10mm round hole perferated screen. ive emailed the manufacturer of the 6mm available on abay requesting a special order of 10mm and supplied in larger sheets than what they advertise. fingers crossed!!!

i must say finding alloy nuts and bolts isnt easy or cheap and its taken the most time so far but i found what i was looking for eventually.

i actually found alloy expanded thats nearlly the exactly the same as the telstra box mesh...38/16 and 8mm at the nuckle...totally stoked mate

Click to expand...

Sounds like it will be a nice machine. I use SS nuts and bolts but pricey little things!

Click to expand...

just went to pick up spray bars and sluices, he welded sluice deck A and B in the wrong positions on BOTH sluices.

reckons he can grind them off and re-weld...if it looks butchered im not excepting it...not happy!

ps...as a floor and wall tiler its like this...a really neat grout job can fix a bad tiling job, a bad grouting job can destroy neat tiling work...i want neat welds like ive seen on youtube!

That sucks mate.... have to say ally does not grind well at all produces to much heat and congeals... hope he knows how tp use a flapper disc .... bloody fabricators

All those toys and no brains. Don't take it as an I told you so. .... The truth of the matter is there's alot of guys out there that need you to hold their hand or the plan goes awol. Good fabricators like any professionals are very hard to find. For over ten years I've had different people handle different things and only a handful are any good. Keep at it mate each false step is a little lesson and one step closer to finding the right solution.

Goldtarget said:

All those toys and no brains. Don't take it as an I told you so. .... The truth of the matter is there's alot of guys out there that need you to hold their hand or the plan goes awol. Good fabricators like any professionals are very hard to find. For over ten years I've had different people handle different things and only a handful are any good. Keep at it mate each false step is a little lesson and one step closer to finding the right solution.

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next year i WILL be buying a tig and 'Doing It Myself'...thats the solution mate

Ive seen some reasonable tigs at about the $600-$800 mark second hand so save up and enjoy using a proper machine for the job. Its much more satisfying doing it yourself, and if you stuff up, well theres always a pop rivet solution! lol