The custom fabrication thread! (Post pics of stuff you have made)
#561
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I guess its almost the same material costs if you're not buying the CX-Racing crappy bends and are getting like vibrant quality or better aluminum bends. The only real downside I've found with the twain CX-Racing bends is that occasionally you'll just hit a really thin spot and end up with 1/4" hole before you can get off the pedal.
Once you do a lot of aluminum you get used to playing with the feed speed while you go around and see it widening out.
Its the nature of the beast for mandrel bent elbows vs extruded elbows.
HellaFab Turbo GXP intercooler kit by HellaFab, on Flickr
#563
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Biggest thing is making sure that your tungsten is 100% clean.
Everything else is pie.
The weld above-virtually no prep. Cut the pipe with band saw, sand edge of cut with belt sander, weld.
Dont use a grinder wheel on aluminum... pounds air into the metal and it comes out when you weld.
If you dip the tungsten, you HAVE to clean it and the tube or whatever your welding with a brush.
I have tried a multitude of tungsten and the green tungsten and red tungsten would work fine for a second and then randomly just go black and really **** the weld up. go get some purple e3's if you havent already and you will be good to go.
Everything else is pie.
The weld above-virtually no prep. Cut the pipe with band saw, sand edge of cut with belt sander, weld.
Dont use a grinder wheel on aluminum... pounds air into the metal and it comes out when you weld.
If you dip the tungsten, you HAVE to clean it and the tube or whatever your welding with a brush.
I have tried a multitude of tungsten and the green tungsten and red tungsten would work fine for a second and then randomly just go black and really **** the weld up. go get some purple e3's if you havent already and you will be good to go.
#565
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120a, 120hz, ac balance around 10 o'clock (cant remember off hand what the number is in that area)
No preflow (but 1s would be better) and as much post as I need to get the tungsten cooled before it shuts off... usually about 10s.
Using 1/16" purple e3 tungsten, but a 3/32 would hold up a little better I think. If i mash the pedal and hold it, the tungsten begins to melt... but you dont need that much amperage on this 0.065" wall aluminum for more than a few seconds to get going.
No preflow (but 1s would be better) and as much post as I need to get the tungsten cooled before it shuts off... usually about 10s.
Using 1/16" purple e3 tungsten, but a 3/32 would hold up a little better I think. If i mash the pedal and hold it, the tungsten begins to melt... but you dont need that much amperage on this 0.065" wall aluminum for more than a few seconds to get going.
#569
Here's something I made to speed things up, and increase quality, since I weld dozens of these ******* every week. Previously I would go about a 1/6th of the way around, and then I would let the glowing orange bung cool down with the 15 second post flow. At best, I would get a purple color, hardly any blue, never any gold or silver. I've used aluminum to suck the heat out of many header flanges I've welded, so I made this device. U cut the "fins" carefully by hand on the vertical bandsaw, obviously to add surface area. It works so ******* well, I could do the whole sensor in 1 pass in theory (I'm only capable of doing half at once right now), and it never glows any more than any other regular weld when I'm finished.