Text 21764, 137 rader
Skriven 2006-01-10 10:11:03 av Roy Witt (1:1/22)
  Kommentar till text 21546 av Michiel van der Vlist (2:280/5555)
Ärende: WTC fire         (was; La
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09 Jan 06 17:48, Michiel van der Vlist wrote to Roy Witt:


 MvdV>>> Language issue here. I thought hat by "wire welding" you meant
 MvdV>>> welding with a torch.

 >> OK, I'll give you that one. We call that type of welding, with
 >> a torch, using filler rod (here they're about 3ft long).

 MvdV> here they are 1 metre long. Thickness 3 or 4 mm.

Yeup. 36 inches equals 3ft, 1m = 39 inches. The thickness is the same,
1/8th to 5/32 of an inch, which equals 3 to 4mm. In contrast, the wire
used in a wire fed MIG welder is about 1mm, a bit bigger if it's flux core
wire.

 MvdV> The ones used for brazing are excellent for making an HB9CV fox
 MvdV> hunting antenne. I made many of them. I also used the steel filler
 MvdV> rod to make antennas but they are no good for permanent use at they
 MvdV> will rust.

You can prevent rust by spraying them with a clear coat paint. It's non
lead based, so the antenna won't know it's been painted. I made a stacked
pair of Quagi's out of brazing rod. It too will corrode, so I sprayed it
with clear paint and they lasted a long time. I used PVC pipe to make the
boom and that will deteriorate in the sun. Which is why they don't exist
today. I should put a photo of those on a website sometime.

 MvdV> We once made a dozen for the local scout group here to have fox
 MvdV> hunt during a JOTA.

Alright.

 MvdV> So much for history. I have been lending my callsign to the local
 MvdV> scout group for the JOTA for some twenty years now. This year, well
 MvdV> last year actually, just befoe I was going to call them to remind
 MvdV> them of the need to register, they called me to tell me that this
 MvdV> time they would dispense with the JOTA part and do participate in
 MvdV> the JOTI only. <sigh>

Time marches on. I once led a club I was a member of in Poway, CA on Field
Day. Our score surpassed all the years before me and we did it two years
in a row. Then, the club got tired of doing Field Day. I then became the
repeater custodian until they got tired of maintaining it. It was then
that I realized their interests and mine didn't jive and I quit. I went on
to set up a couple of repeaters of my own, but sold them a while later
because I lost interest. One of them is still on the air, high atop Mt
Palomar in northen San Diego county.

 >> Wire welding is with the MIG machine and the wire is on a spool
 >> that is regulated by the MIG machine.

 MvdV> Yes, I know about the MIG welders with a wire spool. Never used it
 MvdV> myself though.

I think they're the cat's meow when it comes to ease of welding. No torch
to light, no gas required, just turn it on, select your amperage and off
you go. Oh, you might have to clean the splatter out of the gun after a
lot of welding, but that's not hard to do.

 MvdV> I have a simple transformer for arc welding. 140 Amps maximum. I
 MvdV> actually bought it for my son to practise, but he soon lost
 MvdV> interest so I kept it for myself.

What do you use for rod?

 MvdV> I have some pictures of it that I still should put on my webiste on
 MvdV> the "mistlamp op de kar" sub page. maybe I will find the time one
 MvdV> of these days...

I'd be interested in seeing it.

 MvdV>>> I never claimed to be an experienced welder. In fact I am a lousy
 MvdV>>> welder.You may remember me and Jack Yates discussing welding and
 MvdV>>> me admitting to it. I am good at soldering though..

 >> I never wanted to be a welder, because you can lose your
 >> eyesight very easily. I've had 'sand' in my eyes more often
 >> than I care to. That's what it feels like if you've been
 >> overexposed to the bright light of an arc welder.

 MvdV> I never had that myself. But I have worked in an eye hospital and
 MvdV> so I have seen the results of exposure to UV. Because it is not so
 MvdV> much the brightness of the light as the UV that causes "welder's
 MvdV> eyes". Doesn't happen if you are careful but if you are sloppy with
 MvdV> the hood....

It wasn't that I was sloppy, it was because I was the setup person and got
the flash off the walls. (I hadn't learned how to weld yet) I spent nearly
6 hours in that weld shop, so I was hurting quite a bit the next day.

 >>>> (that's why you use a flux, heat the material and melt the rod).

 MvdV>>> The flux is to clean the surface and screen the material from the
 MvdV>>> atmosphere so that it does not oxidize.

 >> Correct. That's what the gas used in MIG and TIG welding does.

 MvdV> And the slug around the electrode for arc welding...

Yeup. We call it flux rod, but you probably have a different name for it.

 >> There is a flux wire for the MIG, which means you pay more for
 >> the wire, but you don't have to spend the money on gas.

 MvdV> Then it isn't MIG anymore..

Correct, although it's used in the same machine.

 >>>> Otherwise, there would be no weld. And you're right about too
 >>>> deep penetration; that would occur if your weld burns holes
 >>>> through joint.

 MvdV>>> Which is why I am a lousy welder. I don't know how to properly
 MvdV>>> regulate it. Especially with thin stuf, I often burn through it.

 >> That was my dad. He used to weld exhaust systems, using a
 >> torch and clothes hanger wire, which could be made of anything.
 >> He burned a lot of holes, but with persistance, he got the job
 >> done. But, once you learn to use the proper wire, it's not that
 >> hard to weld thin stuff. Knowing the tempurature colors involved
 >> in welding helps a lot.

 MvdV> I have no experience with a torch for welding, just for brazing.

Well, clothes hangers are made of the worst steel you could possibly find.
You don't know what you're getting into until you try that. It's nearly
impossible to get a good weld with it.

 MvdV> With the electric arc welder, you don't see colours...

But you can see the puddle.


Roy
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