Welding Stainless Steel?

[whisper]

Originally Posted by Rokraider

I bought a Tig welder to do some stainless fabrication. I did a lot of research before buying a Lorch T220 (German) AC/DC, (as I am doing some aluminium stuff as well). The machine is the dogs doodads,it is the upper end in price, but has excellent support and is good value in my books.

LORCH - So geht Schweissen

However, learning to use it is another story. I have been Mig welding for 25+ years but that is a doddle compared to Tig.

I would say the key is in getting all the settings right before you start. Once it is set up to suit what your doing, it is not too bad. I would advise getting on a course somewhere and learn how to do it properly. I am paying a qualified Tig welder to come and teach me on site and I am still crap at it!
It is worth paying attention to how the settings work. I hate menus where one knob and display does 100 different functions. I find I am constantly referring to the handbook as I can't remember where to locate the setting I want. The Lorch is very good and intuitive on this front.

I found this site to be very informative with lots of vids showing what to do.

Welding Tips and Tricks - TIG, MIG, Stick and a pantload of other info

Good luck.

Thanks for the info and the link, I like the TigFinger Heat Shield

I think I would like to try it out before I buy one, the local welding course is £300 for 10 weeks at night school and I'm not even sure it covers tig

[martini]

Originally Posted by whisper

I think I would like to try it out before I buy one, the local welding course is £300 for 10 weeks at night school and I'm not even sure it covers tig

Those who can't, teach

Much better off if you can find a pro who's willing to spend a few hours in the shed with you. I've done it for a few people, stainless is a piece of p**s

[whisper]

Looks like I'll be buying a box of Tetley then

[PeterM]

Originally Posted by martini

Those who can't, teach

Much better off if you can find a pro who's willing to spend a few hours in the shed with you. I've done it for a few people, stainless is a piece of p**s

my old man did a course....learnt sweet FA ! Then spent some time with airframe welders ....he reckoned 10 minutes with them was more then the whole course !

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by martini

Those who can't, teach

Much better off if you can find a pro who's willing to spend a few hours in the shed with you. I've done it for a few people, stainless is a piece of p**s

To be fair, the guy who teaches that particular course is an exceptional welder-and a pro who does it for a living during the day.

He's not a very good teacher though. It's a shame because the last tutor was a good teacher and the welding shop there is fantastic.

Originally Posted by whisper

Looks like I'll be buying a box of Tetley then

Buy loose leaf-on your first few tries you'll probably make a bit of scrap into a teastrainer

[whisper]

I think I've got enough practice pieces to build a tea strainer

[Nathan k]

Originally Posted by whisper

there were so many things to look at in your rather awesome workshop.

[Festinghouse]

i think that to start off with you should have bought a cheap scratch start tig without any fancy features and just played with it - thats what i did and very quickly got the hang of it and produced extremely good welds. i still use that set now, but now i also own an ac/dc set that will do ally as well.

[Anchorhandler]

Once you have picked up the hang of it, do you think you'll be doing much fabrication work? If its only to knock up a few flare box brackets then you might find it more cost effective to just convince a welder near you to spend a bit of time showing you how its done..... I know a fee friends who thought similarly, bought a cheap(ish) dc set, got some 316 rods, opened an account to get a bottle of gas used the set on and off for a month or two to fabricate what they had to fabricate then got fed up seeing nearly a grand's worth of gear sat collecting dust in the corner of the garage..... :-(
I justify the set i use in my workshop (a couple of K's worth of AC/DC machine) because it pays for itself after a few years based on the number of both stainless/ ally jobs that come in... If i didnt have the demand i would get fed up pretty quickly with the rental cost of my 3 bottles let alone the investment of the gear sat doing nothing.....
As many have said, if you can justify it, try to buy a decent set from a reputable manufacturer, i have always found that where welding is concerned ( especially tig'ing) it pays to spend that little bit more....

Simon

[whisper]

I haven't bought one yet but I am still keen to try one, the tig will be used for my ribbing hobby and also I have always wanted to learn how to weld.

I have spent the last 20 years working with copper and iron tube so I hope that I can use some of those skills to bend and cut 316 SS tube.

I am quite keen on this one:

Tig Welder DC, 160Amp DC Inverter Tig Welders, Tig Welding Equipment

A large bottle of gas is £101 for the first purchase and then about £60 for a refill.

I guess I will be looking at £500 to buy this lot with a few rods etc, they do have a factory shop that's not too far away so I can collect it.

Or there is always the secondhand option that I could have a look at?

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

[guernseylee]

ive got a parweld txi181 with pulse

Parweld Machines

i use albee gas rent free

Rental Free Cylinders - Air Liquide

160 for the bottle 50 quid refill (new bottle with builtin reg and flow ) take it back get £100 back

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by guernseylee

ive got a parweld txi181 with pulse

Parweld Machines

i use albee gas rent free

Rental Free Cylinders - Air Liquide

160 for the bottle 50 quid refill (new bottle with builtin reg and flow ) take it back get £100 back

Damn shame they don't do oxy acetylene.

[guernseylee]

Originally Posted by Nos4r2

Damn shame they don't do oxy acetylene.

they will be in 3-4 quarter of this year

if you want a good heat i use map gas+ blow torch

[Anchorhandler]

Originally Posted by guernseylee

ive got a parweld txi181 with pulse

Parweld Machines

i use albee gas rent free

Rental Free Cylinders - Air Liquide

160 for the bottle 50 quid refill (new bottle with builtin reg and flow ) take it back get £100 back

WTF!.... My contract here in France is with Air Liquide and the buggers are stinging me for 176euros rental on each bottle every three years :-(
I have 5 bottles with them ( including oxy/acet ) so have to pay nearly 1000euros rent!!! The bottles are all 'half heights' with 'mini top' reg's built in too.....

Will be speaking to Mr Air Liquide shortly me thinks..

Simon

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by guernseylee

they will be in 3-4 quarter of this year

if you want a good heat i use map gas+ blow torch

I've got a mapp gas torch, but some things (bronze welding,corroded bike exhausts etc) you just can't beat using Oxy kit.

[whisper]

Got a welder today

[Downhilldai]

Originally Posted by whisper

Got a welder today

What's his name?

[whisper]

Tigger

He's an R-tech tig160pdc.

[guernseylee]

Originally Posted by whisper

Tigger

He's an R-tech tig160pdc.

did u get

collets
ceramics
tungsteins
reg
flow meter
rods
bottle key

[Nos4r2]

Nice one Giz a ring later Alex.