I decided that before I launch into a rebuild of my Savage I needed to get some more skills up and running so have been trying to learn to Tig weld. Been going pretty well except for once when I got distracted and let red hot filler rod tip burn straight through my other glove and a good bit of skin.
Just been practising on scrap but am going to move to actually doing bits on motorcycle frames soon (my XS650 then a Savage build).
Any tips? specifically about but welding brackets onto curved frame pipe?

My welder buddy told me the one tool every welder needs is a good grinder.  

My problem with welding is.....sometimes  months or year goes by between welding sessions.  Most of the time that I need to get my sheilding gas cylinder filled.....the tank needs to be pressure tested and certified again.

It is impossible to get really good at it when so much time passes between welding adventures.  And that is with a Mig....with the Tig I would have to learn how to use my foot as well!

I got a Tig Welded stainless megaphone from Burns Stainless....and the welds are beautiful!

yeah I think the machine makes quite a big difference with welding. I have a clarke mig and it is only good on one setting (for about 2-3mm) and even then sometimes it's spot on and sometimes its a mess. With the cheap migs the wire feed isn't very sophisticated so the settings aren't really accurate.
Tig I've found difficult but more consistent in the end. Your right though Dave about breaks. I'm actually thinking of putting an ad in the paper to do welding for beer money so that I can try to keep working on this skill.
I actually enjoy it. Apart from the burn.
That muffler welding is way out of my league. Looks almost seemless.

strang wrote on 05/06/14 at 04:30:20:


If you have the surface area you can drill a couple holes in the brackets and plug weld it to the pipe then run a bead along the seam, much easier for someone not so experienced.

I have been thinking on getting a tig from harbor freight...not all their stuff is crappy, plus I have a warehouse about 45 min from the house.

I have purchased a few things from them and all of them have worked to my satisfaction so far.

Lots of good tips here.  Plus one on TSC's welding supplies, most of it, at least in this town, is Hobart.  Another farm store chain, Rural King, also sells Hobart equipment.  And the quality and capacity of the welder does make a huge difference.  Not knowing anything about the low cost imports I would rather buy an older Miller.

The thickness of the material is everything when making the weld.  It is easy to make beautiful welds on 1/8 inch and thicker material.  When you get down to 16 gauge and thinner it is much more difficult.  

When butt welding the surplus heat must dissipate or you burn a hole in the material.  In a butt weld the heat only has one direction to go on each piece so it burns through easier.  Welding a bracket onto tubing is a better situation for the tube because the heat can go out in all directions and it will be the edge of the bracket that will tend to overheat unless you make the bracket of thicker material.  So design of the bracket is important.  

When butt welding pieces of tubing together to make an extension first get a short piece of solid round stock or a smaller diameter of tube to fit snugly inside the tubing you want to weld.  This has several benefits, 1) it adds mechanical stiffness, 2) it backs up the metal if you start to burn through and 3) you can make those plug welds that strang mentioned. Plug welds are easy to make and add a lot of strength.

I hear the 190 is the way to go... either 110 or 220, and i'm not looking at welding 1/2" thick stuff any way.
There is a chart on the welder, and the wire they send is supposedly crap and you should buy some other stuff/w acid flux core? don't remember  exactly but would print it out if I do go get one.... I been watching a few of the vids and even joe smo who can't weld is welding without gas and just small popcorn splats, which can be chiseled off.

I was pretty good back in the day with a stick welder, learned from my pops who had a big ol' 400lb craftsman welder. Welded on tractors, trailers, bailers and even once on a bulldozer, he said I had "the nack for it".