welding tube...

[chadschoon]

What is the best way to weld tube that you guys have found? It seems no matter what I do it turns out the same. Any tips?

 

[Bucking Bronco]

Best tip I have ever been given is make sure your notches are perfect (Thanks Braden)
I have always been able to weld good but filling voids suck especially on round tube

 

[Meat_]

Post pics so people can make fu.... err I mean see what you are doing wrong.

 

[BioNuke1]

Consider welding in the flat position, or uphill when vertical welding is required. Possibly bevel the joint after mitering to allow greater penetration and flatter vert up welds, if that's an issue. Lets see some pics of what you have so far

 

[Kiel]

Well if they are all turning out great... then the same is ok

 

[notajeep]

Having a good notch always helped me. Sometimes it took a while to make it fit just right, and I re-made a few peices, but that made the welding go much easier.

 

[jsudar]

Make a really big rotisserie for your buggy so you can rotate it around and weld in a flat position no matter where you are welding.

"Always turns out the same" is kind of vague. Tell us what is happening that is not good, so we can give more specific pointers. Or maybe just remember to turn the gas on.

 

[ricsrx]

Gas

Or maybe just remember to turn the gas on.

I hate it when i do that !!!!:-\

My mon says we dont hate

 

[cheepin]

Use the tac-tac-tac method.A little easier to follow the notch.You know weld a circular puddle then let cool,move to the edge of your cooled puddle and weld again now repeat.I don't really like this method,because I am impatient and I don't think it is as strong as doing a contiuous bead.But for some this is all they do.

 

[spaggyroe]

I don't think it is as strong as doing a contiuous bead.

It's not.

What type of welder are you using? (mig I would assume). What shielding gas are you using? (if any). What wire are you using (is it flux core)? Do you have a 110V machine?

As already mentioned, horizontal welds are the easiest to lay down. Sometimes it's very difficult or impossible to go all the way around the tube in one shot. With my project, there are PLENTY of finish welds that will need to be completed when I tear it down. I'll just flip the chassis up-side-down and go to town at that point.

Also, clean metal welds better. :greg:

 

[KrazyKarl]

Also, clean metal welds better. :greg:

I have noticed that clean metal makes a huge difference in how well the weld turns out. I have been to lazy to clean the grease and rust off sometime and it always comes back to bite me.

 

[Bucking Bronco]

Don't tac tac tac for anything where strength and safety is a concern.

 

[BioNuke1]

the tac-tac-tac method

Please DON'T "Mexican weld" your rollcages.

All I can come up with is this "method" is a poor adaptation of the whip & pause method used for arc welding with root rods such as E6010.... or TIG welding with seperate filler. Either way it's a poor aesthetics attempt.

I see this method used all the time. Usually when these 'welds' fail the weld only fused to one piece of the work and seperated cleanly from the other. My favorite is when each 'coin' is complete with a crater in the center (since MIG welders don't have postflow), and glassy slag inclusions.
ugh... :sick:

Try this. run a fillet joint, stopping halfway then restarting. Then flip it over and look at the Heat Affected Zone on the back. Notice the lack of continuity? Now try nothing BUT starts and stops with the zap-zap-zap method...

The flatter and more uniform the face of a weld is, the easier it will channel stress and the stronger it will be. If you must have the stacked coin look, whip and pause the gun, but don't interrupt the arc (or shielding gas).

 

[ProFabTeck]

hey whats up guys im currently writhing articles on off road fabrication techniques and im about half way done with and article on mig welding tubing. check out my site and see if it helps at all http://www.profabricationtechniques.com/mig-welding/

heres a couple of my welds on tubing

 

[MikeGyver]

lol this thread was put to bed over 2 years ago...

 

[Taco4life]

lol this thread was put to bed over 2 years ago...

But it was resurrected for good information. I would rather consolidate knowledge on a single topic in a thread than start a whole new one. Nice information, I briefly read through some of it and plan on reading more into it tomorrow. By the way, welcome to the site ProFabTeck!

 

[Shawn]

hey whats up guys im currently writhing articles on off road fabrication techniques and im about half way done with and article on mig welding tubing. check out my site and see if it helps at all http://www.profabricationtechniques.com/mig-welding/

heres a couple of my welds on tubing

Nice, I wish this website was up when I was learning. I just glanced at it, but there are some good pointers to read. I'll spend more time on it later and read more.

 

[Herzog]

Nice, I wish this website was up when I was learning. I just glanced at it, but there are some good pointers to read. I'll spend more time on it later and read more.

I agree! I'm going to revisit my technique, just in time for a ton of welding on my chassis too.

Thanks for the link!

 

[iamsparticus]

the best tip i can think of is use your pinky finger or other fingers as a pivot to go around the tube it steadies your weld and makes the bead stronger by letting you keep the angle to the metal the same and looks way better. and practice practice practice