PhilDAS learns to glue (mostly) metal

I've just placed an order with R-Tech for a TIG machine. I've only ever done some MIG before however I think having done some brazing, it will help with the learning curve given the two handed technique and feeding the filler.
I suspect it will be a long time before I have had enough practise to be able to fully weld up a frame without blowing holes here, there and everywhere but hopefully it won't be too long before it will become useful for tacking frames in the jig to take out and braze. I hate tacking with brazing because of the cleanup

Did you buy a pedal?

I didn’t buy a new one but @Biggles567 has kindly gifted me his warranty replaced one which may have a minor fault but will be good enough the get me practising while saving a few quid.
I’ll be in for the best part of a grand once I’ve bought gas so any savings for now are appreciated.

what gas supplier are you going for? While its a bit of a pain, you can save a fair bit by going with the big distributors like air products. Theyre difficult to deal with at times, but not awful, and compared to london gases, for example, they offer way more gas for the same money.

Yeah I was just going to go straight to London gases. Haven’t really done a search, I already have oxygen and propane from them

sorry i totally forgot to reply. London gases are good, but you can get a lot more gas for the money from air products. (like 4-6 times) but air products charge for delivery and are a bit annoying to deal with. Maybe worth it depending on how much you use.

No worries. Might just go for London gases for now for ease. Then reassess in the future
R-Tech machine arrived yesterday. Got the CK9 flex torch too and an auto darkening lid. They didn’t have some of the consumables in stock so I’ve only got some very narrow tungstens and a kg of 312 stainless rods
Will pick up some other sizes and materials in the coming weeks for practise

awesome! Thats exciting. What size filler/tungsten have you got? Its nice to have a mix of different sizes and alloys. I have a stash of 312/309/er70s2 in 1mm and 1.6mm that covers pretty much everything.

Just 1.0mm filler and I think only 1.0mm tungstens too as the 1.6 I was going to get was out of stock. I only got a handful of those though so I’ll pick up some 1.6 when they’ve got it back in

I got lanthanated tungsten. I read they’d work fine and I think they’re a bit less radioactive :)

nice, yeah i use lanthanated as well, never tried anything else but it works fine. and being less radioactive is handy too hah. I tend to grind them outdoors and with a decent mask on just to make sure.

Well I've had the welder for a long time and have barely touched it. Decided to get it out for a Sunday afternoon of tinkering.
By no means pretty but this is the first thing I've ever welded aside from some mig.

This is 1.5mm stainless steel plate

1 Attachment

That looks a success :-)

Any holes?

Looks pretty tidy. Now try internal fillets!

Yep, a few. They were at the ends of the joints, in the corners. So easy to just melt away metal.
I was able to seal them all back up though.
TIG welding is hard. And anyone that produces uniform "stacked dimes" and says "it's easy, practise makes perfect" is being humble and a liar.

I've bought some steel plate to make a little raised platform for welding on so I don't set the kitchen table on fire. Obviously I first need to weld this together which will involve some internal joints. Seems like it would be the hardest to get into. I've done a couple scraps butted up against each other, a couple lap joints and the external angles on the cube but no internal edges

Awesome, looks better than my first attempts. If you need any scrap tubing to practice with ive got a fair bit of offcuts and chopped up frames. Just shout if want em.

Idk if you drilled a hole somewhere, but be wary welding things shut, its easy to build up pressure inside, then when you do the last little bit of weld it spits the puddle at you as the pressure escapes. My welding helmet has many little melted marks on it because of this :)

Good enough. PM me your address and I'll post you a gearbox ;-)

1 Attachment

It's basically a big brompton that doesn't fold at the front.

And I'm not taking out liability insurance so for now I will remain unable to build you the world's biggest mountain bike

For little or no practice those welds look really really ok.
You should see the welds we regularly get on stuff from our suppliers...

If you ever feel the need to practice more, lets say in something that would look more like a tall stack stem. I'll be happy to take it off your hands.

lets say in something that would look more like a tall stack stem

You wanna send me a message about it?
(I will practice more first)

Planning ahead. Surprise new bike for SWMBO

Probably a bit ambitious but I have supervision now to hopefully not let me fuck up too badly.

Columbus Max
Flat mount disc brakes
1-1/8" HT (not sure whether bi-lam or not)
Fillet brazed
Latte powdercoat
Couple of cute heart features because I'm a soppy bollocks
All internal all the things
T47
700x32c, full fenders and dyno
Try keep it light
Undecided between QR and TA
Maybe a rack as it will be 99% commuter

1 Attachment

Nice project. What forks?

All internal all the things

Tell us more... Some kind of wizardry within handlebars and stem, or simply into the top/down tubes?

What forks?

I'd like to make them too.
Max blades, disc brake.

We don't have scales so I can't be sure and I'd probably get a smack for asking but she's probably only 40 something kilos so it should be fine

Tell us more

Some wizardry that I haven't fully figured out yet

Cool, I am excited to see how this turns out.

There was someone on here who did a bunch of custom internal routing, I can't recall whom.

I might cheat with the gears and buy Rival AXS if it ever becomes in stock with the distributor

So just hiding brake hoses and dyno wiring