Newbie Help please

[S-Rail]

Evening all , I am new here and have found the site a great source of help , thankyou

I can mig weld quite confidently as used to do some work for my late father inlaws business , but here comes the dilema .

When my father inlaw passed away I was given his personal plant from home , it is am R-Tech TIG160PDC . I have been slowly practicing and very slowly making progress , very very slowly lol .

Anyway , I am currently in the middle of my workshop rebuild and need to create some structural trusses out of 100x50x5 mild steel section . All the joints would be prepped in the same manner . The question is that , is this welder capable of welding 5mm Mild steel in TIG function .

It does come with the Stick welding leads but I have never stick welded and am leaving that to another day . Since his death my fatherinlaws company was sold so I no longer have access to MIG plant .

Any advice , re filler rod size etc would be greatfully received .

Cheers Sam

 

[Wendelspanswick]

I would have thought the TIG would be fine if very slow, your fit-up would need to be good, minimal gaps etc and you would need to think out your design to minimise distortion.

 

[S-Rail]

Hi wendel , thanks for the quick reply . I have had all the metal cut to order at a local steel fabrication business , so I know the joints will be good . To give you an idea of what I am doing , here is a pic .

 

[S-Rail]

 

[Tinbasherdan]

I'd be more tempted to ask on here if there's anyone local thatll do it for some beer tokens/beer with a stick

 

[Richard.]

The machine Should be ok to get a strong weld on 5mm. You'll be at the top end of it's duty mind. (140amps roughly)
The question is can you?
No offence but if your new to the process and slowly getting better should you be building a roof out of steel to withstand structural forces? Mma would be a better solution but if you've done none of that I'd leave it aswell. You really need to be confident and competent before going into that build I would say.

 

[S-Rail]

Thanks for your replies guys , I dont plan to jump in on this myself , one of my fatherinlaws has been kind enough to offer ( beer / fags and some bacon sandwhichs ) to do the welding and I have worked onsite with him plenty and would trust him with my wife , I mean life ! He is a time served welder and I have no doubt of his capabilities .

I suppose I am trying to save him the hassle of trying to organise it all as he is doing me a favour , so want it all here ready for him , no hassle . I would be confient of my own welding if I had a mig plant to hand as have dealt with worse myself . The truss in the pic is one of 4 and other steal section is incorporated to build the roof .

With oout sounding daft , I have a selecton of filler rods up to 2.4 , would this suffice or should I get something bigger ?

 

[Richard.]

Well with a bit of experienced help at hand it should be a good project. 2.4's are fine I wouldn't go any bigger use a 2.4 tungsten electrode also.

 

[S-Rail]

Thanks for your reply Richard , and dont worry , I know I am learning so no offence taken . I have got some thoriated tungstens but will have to check for size . I do have bundle of 2.4 M/S and S/S , so I wont need to buy anymore but will check on the tungstens , i have a feeling they are 1.5 ?

I will keep you posted on the progress as the metal in now ready for collection and I will need them in about a fortnight .

thanks for all your help so far .

cheers sam

 

[Robotstar5]

I think you should invest in a rod holder & cable to plug into the TIG set, your welding father-in-law will probably thank you and get the job done a lot quicker. You can learn to stick weld yourself later with the kit too.

 

[S-Rail]

Hi Robotstar , it does have the stick welder leads , I suppose I am just a little biased to mig and tig as that was what I was familiar with in his business . I do have some 2.5mm stick rods , would that be enough for 5mm , when v jointed ! or would you recommend something a bit bigger . I bought the rods in mind of when my workshop is up and running I could have a play and try and learn to produce more than bird poop .

cheers

 

[Richard.]

2.5's are capable of doing that job in the right hands. 3.2 would be a lot better mind. And a lot easier to control for a newbie too.
There is never any harm in pulling some out and getting a couple of kg down on steel and practice. There is a lot of harm in telling us you can't do it when you have the whole kit there ready to use. You'll get a good telling off

 

[S-Rail]

So true , I do expect a verbal spanking for my efforts , I have 3/4 of the gear , 1/5th the idea and a 100% Mug , i mean mate who can do the hard part and I can then post pics of his work and blag it off as mine lol .