Pie Cut Tubing Opinions

[ijames]

That's awful, you should just give up now . I wish I could tig that well, but I get so little practice with any welding that each time is like starting all over again. Oh, are you using 304 or 304L? The L will cut corrosion a lot down the road. Also, after you do whatever cleanup you intend, find a source of citric acid (www.mcmaster.com has it but they aren't necessarily the cheapest) and mix up a solution about 5% by volume (a gallon is 128 fluid ounces so about 8-10 fl. oz. per gallon) in tap water, heat it to about 150-170 F, and soak the tubing as best you can with stirring for at least 15 minutes. I usually do 3 hours just for overkill since it doesn't hurt anything. This will passivate the surface almost as well as the nitric acid commercial process, but it is safe and you basically have concentrated orange juice which you can pour down a sink when done. The solution is good for a few months, until stuff starts growing in it, so keep it around. This won't remove any of the bluing from the welding but will slow down future rusting.

I used a plastic storage bin from WalMart as my tank, and had access to a heated cabinet with a shaking mechanism (we built shaker incubators for biologists to grow cells in) so I used that for agitation and heating to 165 F, and I passivated lots of small water tanks and other things that we fabricated in the shops. It made the difference between rusting badly in weeks and barely rusting in over two years on the water tanks (aggressive distilled water in a 80-90% RH atmosphere at 98 F with water in the tank and splashes on the outside 24/7). For long pieces you can just cap one end with your purge plug and fill with the solution to do the inside. Fill and empty a few times over a few hours, then rinse with water. If you can't dunk a weld on the outside just prop it over the tank and soak a rag in the solution and wrap the weld. Dip a cup of fresh liquid and pour over the rag every so often.

Anyway, just some suggestions. The welding really does look nice already, and if that was your first test then by the end it will look spectacular.
[edit was fixing # of fl oz in a gal, sigh]

 

[Mike T]

Thanks guys for all the comments, suggestions and advise. I will and have used some of the new ideas that you guys have given me along the way in this project. I have other stuff going on so I'll update when I make a little more progress on the pipe. BTW I am already thinking that it should have been a 3.5 pipe.

 

[m3x1c0]

Uhm. Those welds are amazing.... teach my thy ways!

 

[Mike T]

This is the first section of the pipe and I am satisfied with the color and penetration. There are a couple of craters from backing off of the heat a little too quick but I'll fix that. I will tack up the rest of the 90 and weld it all at once now that the heat and purge is set.

 

[robzombie]

I've been fusion welding (also called "Scotch" welding) 304 for years and I've never seen a failure. Your purge side looks great.

The welds will hold fine, it's just a little high and low and he just has to many start stops and fish eyes where he lifts off.

If he wants more metal on the inside he needs to feed more rod into the puddle. The color of the welds show that he has the heat right.

As a sheet metal welder in the nuclear field most of what I do is stainless 18 and 10 gauge duct work and some schedule pipe, like someone else said who welds for a living I wouldn't do what you're doing only because it's cheaper and easier to buy pipe with mandrel bends and just cut it and weld it thus cutting down on time and money spent on filler rods and gas while getting a better looking and flowing piece.

You could buy something like this Flowmaster 815937 - Flowmaster U-Fit Dual Pipe Kits at summit.

You could make what your doing with about 80% less welding than what you're doing now.

If what you're doing is what you want to do that's fine and dandy. If you like it that's all that counts but there are easier ways to accomplish your goals if not having access to a bender is your only excuse.

I can say one thing about this project of yours, by the time you finish with all those welds you will be a better welder. When you can run the whole circumference of the pipe with no start stops you could come out to the nuclear plant and make 56.00 bucks an hour if you can weld in all positions.

I can't wait to see it done and on the car, keep up the hard work you'll get there.

 

[Mike T]

The welds will hold fine, it's just a little high and low and he just has to many start stops and fish eyes where he lifts off.

If he wants more metal on the inside he needs to feed more rod into the puddle. The color of the welds show that he has the heat right.

As a sheet metal welder in the nuclear field most of what I do is stainless 18 and 10 gauge duct work and some schedule pipe, like someone else said who welds for a living I wouldn't do what you're doing only because it's cheaper and easier to buy pipe with mandrel bends and just cut it and weld it thus cutting down on time and money spent on filler rods and gas while getting a better looking and flowing piece.

You could buy something like this Flowmaster 815937 - Flowmaster U-Fit Dual Pipe Kits at summit.

You could make what your doing with about 80% less welding than what you're doing now.

If what you're doing is what you want to do that's fine and dandy. If you like it that's all that counts but there are easier ways to accomplish your goals if not having access to a bender is your only excuse.

I can say one thing about this project of yours, by the time you finish with all those welds you will be a better welder. When you can run the whole circumference of the pipe with no start stops you could come out to the nuclear plant and make 56.00 bucks an hour if you can weld in all positions.

I can't wait to see it done and on the car, keep up the hard work you'll get there.

Your right about this not being the cheapest or easiest way to do a pipe but I do like the look and it is amazing how you can get a subtle change in any direction just by clocking a piece. The cost is not going to be over the top though because the pipe and flange material were surplus at a cost of about $60.00 and most of the welding will be fusion (maybe 1 or 2 rods). I think it can be done with one tank of argon costing about $50.00 so including a few other miscellaneous items I should have about $150.00 in it.

I see your concerns with the welds but the stop and start is an effort to keep the heat down. I'm only welding @ 48 amps on 065 tubing and the 1 inch + or - weld seems to get very good penetration without discoloring or cooking the outside. A lot of the examples that I have seen use this method of short welds and my guess is that they are doing it for the same reason.

 

[robzombie]

Your right about this not being the cheapest or easiest way to do a pipe but I do like the look and it is amazing how you can get a subtle change in any direction just by clocking a piece. The cost is not going to be over the top though because the pipe and flange material were surplus at a cost of about $60.00 and most of the welding will be fusion (maybe 1 or 2 rods). I think it can be done with one tank of argon costing about $50.00 so including a few other miscellaneous items I should have about $150.00 in it.

I see your concerns with the welds but the stop and start is an effort to keep the heat down. I'm only welding @ 48 amps on 065 tubing and the 1 inch + or - weld seems to get very good penetration without discoloring or cooking the outside. A lot of the examples that I have seen use this method of short welds and my guess is that they are doing it for the same reason.

If you have a foot pedal just let off a little to lower the heat or you can do what I do if you don't use a pedal and just move faster as it heats up.

Look at your heat tracks [the gold/blue lines] on either side of your welds. When you can get them even on both sides like train track rails and for the entire circumference of the pipe you will have it down pat.

Professional welding isn't as easy as people think it is. You have the basics down and your welds look good. When you do start fusion welding post some pics. If you only end up with 150.00 in materials that's great.

Can't wait to see it done, weld away young grasshopper.

 

[Mike T]

If you have a foot pedal just let off a little to lower the heat or you can do what I do if you don't use a pedal and just move faster as it heats up.

Look at your heat tracks [the gold/blue lines] on either side of your welds. When you can get them even on both sides like train track rails and for the entire circumference of the pipe you will have it down pat.

Professional welding isn't as easy as people think it is. You have the basics down and your welds look good. When you do start fusion welding post some pics. If you only end up with 150.00 in materials that's great.

Can't wait to see it done, weld away young grasshopper.

The examples above are both done without the use of filler rod. They were pulsed to get the rippled look that I wanted.


I can really appreciate highly precise and accurate work like you guys must do around the plant. I spend a lot of time looking at other peoples work to get new ideas or a better way to do something. If you have any photos of projects from work or anything else of interest please post them.

 

[Mike T]

 

[Mike E]

I think fit up is about 75% of work for a nice weld and you've done a great job. Mine usually aren't that nice. It helps you keep the heat input to a minimum.

For reference, a 3.5" downpipe usually costs me $250 in material using good quality mandrel bends.

 

[Mike T]

I think fit up is about 75% of work for a nice weld and you've done a great job. Mine usually aren't that nice. It helps you keep the heat input to a minimum.

For reference, a 3.5" downpipe usually costs me $250 in material using good quality mandrel bends.

Mike the fit up is a pain on this one because of the way that the saw falls. The cut is just a little off so I have to flip and rotate every other piece to maintain parallel alignment of the pipe. I've been inspired by a couple of guys on here and you are one of them. I always like looking at your projects and can see that you take great pride in your work.

 

[Mike T]

 

[coach]

Very very cool. I wish I could weld...

 

[Mike T]

Very very cool. I wish I could weld...

Coach you shouldn't count yourself out as a welder yet. Up until 4 months ago my only experience with tig welding was a summer job (30 years ago) at the age of 16 at an automotive a/c shop where I welded a few a/c lines. I have done a lot of mig welding in auto body but never owned a tig until May of this year. The photos in this thread are my first attempts at cutting and welding stainless tubing..... I hope to get better.

 

[Dsmxsteve]

Sooo, I can rarely give any input on this forum because I am new to buicks but I can reply to this thread as it am a professional pipe welder for the last 15+years, alloys being my specialty. One problem I noticed on your purge hookup is you don't have a diffuser. That is why you're getting all that color on the id of the pipe. Just put some steel wool scotch bright or even just some rags or something to slow the velocity of the argon flowing in. As far as the welding part you need to slow down and keep your movement with the torch a little more consistent. You are hopscotching the puddle. What you need to do is set your heat around 50ish amps. Start your arc Watch the puddle establish. Once you see the puddle swirling, start moving. Move at a speed that allows the puddle to keep swirling but not burning up the pipe. It's a fine balance but if the puddle starts having a bunch of trash floating in it you're either too hot or moving too slow. That's my critique.


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[Mike T]

Sooo, I can rarely give any input on this forum because I am new to buicks but I can reply to this thread as it am a professional pipe welder for the last 15+years, alloys being my specialty. One problem I noticed on your purge hookup is you don't have a diffuser. That is why you're getting all that color on the id of the pipe. Just put some steel wool scotch bright or even just some rags or something to slow the velocity of the argon flowing in. As far as the welding part you need to slow down and keep your movement with the torch a little more consistent. You are hopscotching the puddle. What you need to do is set your heat around 50ish amps. Start your arc Watch the puddle establish. Once you see the puddle swirling, start moving. Move at a speed that allows the puddle to keep swirling but not burning up the pipe. It's a fine balance but if the puddle starts having a bunch of trash floating in it you're either too hot or moving too slow. That's my critique.


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You nailed the amps.. I'm @ 48 amps and about 1-2 pulses per second trying to get the beaded look rather than just a smooth fusion. I'm moving about 1/6 every pulse but I am having a hard time keeping the weld straight because I'm having trouble finding a good place to prop while rotating/holding the work stable and there is a florescent lamp over head in my garage that at certain angles will glare to the point that I can't see the weld at all. LOL my wife came out when it was totally dark in the garage with me welding. I will try the diffuser and I really need a to get a newer helmet. Thanks for your input.

 

[Dsmxsteve]

No problem buddy. I'm just glad I could finally input a bit of info. As far as back glare. I work outside a lot so I know about back glare. I throw a rag or something over over the gaps between me head and the welding hood. To make it dark


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[Mike T]

No problem buddy. I'm just glad I could finally input a bit of info. As far as back glare. I work outside a lot so I know about back glare. I throw a rag or something over over the gaps between me head and the welding hood. To make it dark


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Do you think the speedglas helmets are worth the money? Are you guys looking for salmon, straw or no color in your line of work ?

 

[Dsmxsteve]

Welp I do all sorts of welding but I prefer a fixed lens because of the way I weld (backfeeding) however many guys use speedglas brand hoods. As far as the color , you're doing great. I personally aim for a goldish- rose colored caps on mystainless welds. Most everything is acceptable as long as it isn't burnt up.


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[Mike T]

I bought a gas lens but it's not the cure all for color that hoped it would be. If you move just a little too fast and get ahead of the argon the color will go south almost instantly.