Anything welding

Am I missing something? Yes a spindle will require more torque, but I see no reason why a plasma torch and a spindle could not be run on the same CNC table.

Making wood tracing patterns seems like a big waste of materials and time. You can do all the design work on the computer before you make your 1st wood or metal cut.

 

Question of ambition/stupidity for you experienced folk.

Been TIG welding (mostly steel, little aluminum) for about a month and a half or two. It’s been fun. Pretty okay at it for a newb.

Would it be entirely too soon for me to tackle a custom pie cut exhaust for my bike? Haha

I’ve never welded stainless (or anything else besides mild steel and aluminum).

But I have my bike all apart and the stock exhaust without the ugly heat shields is just as ugly and the mufflers are huge. As soon as snow flies and I can’t ride anymore I’d like to try to tackle it (and get that Cat out of there along with a smaller hanger that I can make of steel)

Any tips from those who have done it before?

I don’t really have access to a lot of stainless or other metal here but can ask around or order some practice tube… any tips where to get practice material from thats not too spendy but not trash? Ha thanks for any insight.

 

I don’t know shit, but my two cents follows.

The only way I learn is diving in. I say get going with it. Weld metals online has pie cuts for practice. I am not 100% if they have pie cuts in stainless but they have stainless in coupons for practice. You have been doing steel so you will recognize the puddle characteristics already. You will obviously need different filler and there are some fillers for mild carbon to stainless blend if necessary. I can’t remember the number off the top of my head. Wider gas flow, furic cup 12 is nice for stainless, don’t forgot to leave the post flow over the puddle until cool to shield it. Other than that the exhaust isn’t holding pressure and won’t be for art and coloring won’t be an issue.

 

Only you know if your comfortable trying to do this job.

Any Local Stainless steel or Fab shops local to you lots of time they will sell cheap or give drops ?

Get comfortable on welding the round tube if you have never done it before

Do you plan to back purge the exhaust ??

Get the correct filler for the grade Stainless your using .

 

As someone who TIGs more than anything else, stainless just eats a bit more heat than mild, otherwise it flows pretty much the same.

 

I think the real question is how are you with fitting the parts your welding. For something like that, with the experience you have, poorly fitting pie cuts can make your project a nightmare. You’ll also want to set yourself up with a way to backpurge. I wouldn’t waste your time with the solar flux. You can order pre-cut pie cuts from ticon as well as other places.

The only other advice I can give you is to take your time, give the metal a break so you can keep the heat soak to a minimum. And if a weld starts to fall apart or keyhole real bad stop and walk away for a minute, or at least move to the other end of the part. 90% of the time if that happens it only goes south if you continue on the weld.


Edit: 1 more thing, you can’t weld and farther than you’re gas coverage, think about doing it in small increments, so you don’t outrun your argon.

 

I’ll order some stainless from them to practice for sure. Thank you!

 

Haven’t found anything local yet. Talking to my local school to ask if they source any from local next week.

I’ve welded round steel pipe, albeit much thicker, so hopefully that translates.

I’d have to buy/bottow/steal a way to back purge. Solving the how to get practice problem first haha thank you!

 

This is actually quite comforting, thank you. I’ll dig in as soon as I get some practice metal.

 

I’m pretty good at cutting, grinding, fitting to parts but being my first exhaust I planned to just order the pie cuts once I feel confident. The hope is that all the screw ups go into some practice pieces and no issues arise at d-day, but we all know how plans go.

As I stated above my process is step one, find some practice metal, and then of course step two would be start worrying about my gas situation. I’m assuming a hose and end cap can’t be that spendy but haven’t hit that stage yet. Thank you for your replies!

 

Before all the fancy backpurge plugs we used any hose we could get to fit the y-valve at the regulator and aluminum foil at both ends.

 

We do little enough purge welding that we still do that. Most of ours is machinery repairs but I work in food so everything is 304/308/316

 

I do so little exhaust welding I do the same. I always want to buy plugs, but once I see the price, and think about how rarely they’ll get used, I can’t justify it.

 

Anyone ever trade an acetylene bottle for argon?

 

Depending on your distributor I have traded all kinds of cylinders for different ones.Customer owned cylinders !!

My distributor will take any cylinders and also out right sell any size last I dealt with them

It comes down to they buy your cylinder and you buy the cylinder you want that is how I have always done things.

 

i'll def give it a shot!

 

@koditten

I am getting close to being operational. I can drive the torch around the table with no problems.

Still need to install my automatic torch height control electronics, and decide how to connect my plasma cutter to the ECU driving the steppers. Plasma unit has a CNC port, but the maker of the stepper driver ECU says my model, along with quite a few others, has reported some board failures if connected through the factory CNC port on the cutter. They recommend direct connect to internal points for the trigger control. That would likely void my plasma warranty, so I still need to talk to Primeweld and get direction.

My base worked out well. Still rolling easily with the full setup and most of the water in the tank. I am going to add an outlet box for powering the ECU and my laptop. Might also throw some LEDs here and there for Winter when all the garage doors are closed.

Also, I have some PICO Quench G water treatment ordered to prevent rust and algae. I bought a Rural King 15 gallon sprayer unit for fluid storage. Hooked up to the drains with PEX and used some braided flex hoses so it's easy to remove the tank lid. Each drain line has an in-line shutoff.

Everybody in my family is getting a sign for Christmas. Eliminating 100% of that shopping will be worth the price of the unit!

 

I still haven't hooked up my THC. I plan to do that when the weather turns.

Your table looks awesome!

Welcome to the club!

 

Your ECU should have extra outputs for accessories. You will need a relay to fire the plasma torch. I found the 2 wires that activate the torch. I tied in my relay there at the plasma cutter board. This way I can still remove my torch from the CNC table and still use it as a hand cutter. I hope that makes sense.

 

I grabbed one of these. Magnetic base is Uber strong. It works great since I'm never sure where I want to have an outlet, and it works double great since I'm constantly changing my mind.

The USB charge ports work great for powering my Lazer cross hairs(which are not mounted yet).