Dutchman's got a point. Cycle tubes are very thin wall. Even with good mitre-ing, it's very difficult not to blow holes. I've gotten better at it, but my homebuilt is quite ropy in the MIG welds department. I bit the bullet and got an oxygen-propane kit which makes brazing a breeze. It's far...
Try your local freecycle. They're great for keeping stuff out of the dump, and I've gotten several items of workshop furniture (that would've cost me hundreds) free from it. There's always a bike on offer. If you don't have one, set one up! Search on Freecycle on t'interweb. It's a Yahoo thing.
WeldingArtisan's suggestion about going back to Flamefast has been a good one, though the answer they've offered is not good news. It seems that the hearth had/has the wrong torch attached to it. The correct, compatible torch will set me back quite a few of your quaint English pounds. Ah, life...
Hmmm. I may well be out'a luck then. Mine doesn't have a forge, only a torch. I do recall though, being able to braze with a similar setup some years ago at a school at which I worked. I'll give Flamefast a try and see what they've got to suggest. Hopefully...
Hi Guys, and thanks for taking the trouble to answer.
In response to rtbcomp, I have shielded the work with firebricks to keep the heat in and prevent draughts.
Weldingartisan, how do I know if it's got the correct jets? It's got whatever it came with, so I guess it's natural gas if...
Hi
I bought a brazing hearth and torch from someone who clears old school equipment. It seems to work well. I'm running it on butane and it has a blower onboard for a compressed air supply. It produces a nicely shaped flame with a bright blue centre cone. The problem is that I'm not getting...
Hi again.
My technique has improved on the thin (0.9mm) bicycle tubes that I started working on, but now I've gotta weld some 3mm to a piece of thick walled (2+mm) tube, and I'm worried that I may not get enough penetration for full strength as it's a suspension/steering member.
The...
Hi Experts!
I've started today on doing the job for which I took my welding course. It's welding bicycle tubes into new shapes - I'm making a recumbent tricycle from ex-bicycles. These tubes are much thinner steel than I've been using to practice with, and I guess it's inevitable that I've...
Well, it's starting to work better.
I've now discovered how to regulate the gas flow, and discovered that if you don't turn on the gas at all it's tough to regulate that flow and VERY difficult to get a good weld!
But there're a couple of annoying niggles that I'm certain that every one...
Silly me! The big black knob on the regulator isn't on/off, <shouts> it's a control valve! For controlling the rate of gas flow! So it can be turned up or down! D'Oh!
I've used up the remains of the roll of wire which came with my second hand machine now too. I thought my vernier caliper...
Thanks for your quick replies!
I don't think that it's leaking, I only wondered how it operated in principle. But Ian's suggestion about 'cranking it right down' sounds like a start to what I do need to know. Crank >>what<< down exactly, that's my issue! I don't know how to adjust the...
Hi.
I've got a little hobby MIG welder - Telwin summat'r'other. Not terribly nice, wire's always live so it's gotta be handled a bit carefully. Anyway, my questions may be more generally applicable, but I don't know.
First, can someone tell me please, whether the gas flows only when the...
Malcolm
I did quite a good one term (10 weeks) course at Plumpton Agricultural College in Sussex a couple of years ago. I believe that it's still going. Good tutor. Covered MMA and MIG. Second term available for more advanced topics.
cheers
denis