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#1
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Welding techniques for 4130?
I am going to begin an aircraft project this winter and it looks like I have a
LOT of welding ahead of me. I'm curious as to the different methods, ie brazing vs. arc, etc., and what the benefits or drawbacks of each method may be. Is one style better? Stronger? Easier? I will be working with a buddy who owns a machine shop and he has just about all the equipment I could ever ask for. Given that availability of equipment, what would you welders out there recommend or prefer? Thanks. |
#2
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"Building The Perfect Beast" wrote in message ... I am going to begin an aircraft project this winter and it looks like I have a LOT of welding ahead of me. I'm curious as to the different methods, ie brazing vs. arc, etc., and what the benefits or drawbacks of each method may be. Is one style better? Stronger? Easier? I will be working with a buddy who owns a machine shop and he has just about all the equipment I could ever ask for. Given that availability of equipment, what would you welders out there recommend or prefer? Do a course in your local trade school or collage, this will save you a lot of time and meterial. -- .. -- Cheers, Jonathan Lowe modelflyer at antispam dot net Antispam trap in place Thanks. |
#3
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Tig if not then oxy/ac
"Building The Perfect Beast" wrote in message ... I am going to begin an aircraft project this winter and it looks like I have a LOT of welding ahead of me. I'm curious as to the different methods, ie brazing vs. arc, etc., and what the benefits or drawbacks of each method may be. Is one style better? Stronger? Easier? I will be working with a buddy who owns a machine shop and he has just about all the equipment I could ever ask for. Given that availability of equipment, what would you welders out there recommend or prefer? Thanks. |
#4
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On 28 Aug 2003 02:00 PM, Building The Perfect Beast posted the following:
I am going to begin an aircraft project this winter and it looks like I have a LOT of welding ahead of me. I'm curious as to the different methods, ie brazing vs. arc, etc., and what the benefits or drawbacks of each method may be. Is one style better? Stronger? Easier? I will be working with a buddy who owns a machine shop and he has just about all the equipment I could ever ask for. Given that availability of equipment, what would you welders out there recommend or prefer? I'm going to assume you will be welding 4130 steel structures exclusively. If you are a relative novice to welding, use oxy-acetylene equipment and mild steel rod. Do a Google search on this newsgroup, paying extra close attention to posts by Bruce Frank and a guy named "Highflier." Also, the EAA puts out an excellent publication on aircraft welding. As for equipment, if I were buying new equipment I would buy one of the standard cutting/welding kits from Victor or Harris (now owned by lincoln electric) mainly to get the regulators and hoses. The torches that come with those kits are on the large side for welding thin material, so buy a smaller torch which will be more maneuverable, especially around fuselage clusters. I've heard good reports about the Meco Midget, the Smith Airline, and the Henrob (people who have used the latter find it a bit heavy). Unless you are already an accomplished welder, ignore suggestions to purchase an expensive TIG welding machine. It is not necessary and may lead to undesirable results unless you have already mastered the basics of welding with oxy-acetylene equipment. I use a small TIG machine and like it, but I also use it for other things (like aluminum and automotive projects) and had quite a bit of oxy/acetylene experience before trying it. If I couldn't afford a TIG unit, I would weld together my airframe using oxy/acetylene with no hesitation. ---------------------------------------------------- Del Rawlins- Remove _kills_spammers_ to reply via email. Unofficial Bearhawk FAQ website: http://www.rawlinsbrothers.org/bhfaq/ |
#5
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Tig if not then oxy/ac
"Building The Perfect Beast" wrote in message ... I am going to begin an aircraft project this winter and it looks like I have a LOT of welding ahead of me. I'm curious as to the different methods, ie brazing vs. arc, etc., and what the benefits or drawbacks of each method may be. Is one style better? Stronger? Easier? I will be working with a buddy who owns a machine shop and he has just about all the equipment I could ever ask for. Given that availability of equipment, what would you welders out there recommend or prefer? Thanks. |
#6
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#8
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Thousands of A/C have been welded up with Oxy-Acetylene. Why not go to an
EAA Sportair workshop? They run both Oxy-Acetylene [& TIG] welding sessions. A 2-day hands-on class will get you started off right. http://www.sportair.com/ nuke "Building The Perfect Beast" wrote in message ... I am going to begin an aircraft project this winter and it looks like I have a LOT of welding ahead of me. I'm curious as to the different methods, ie brazing vs. arc, etc., and what the benefits or drawbacks of each method may be. Is one style better? Stronger? Easier? I will be working with a buddy who owns a machine shop and he has just about all the equipment I could ever ask for. Given that availability of equipment, what would you welders out there recommend or prefer? Thanks. |
#9
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I have just been surfing through the EAA members only area of the website
under the homebuilt section/articles/welding and working with 4130. It seems to me that all of the articles were written in the early and mid 90's. A lot has changed since then and some things have had time to prove themselves. I think that the EAA would be doing everyone a service if they would update the information with current knowledgeable people writing the articles. -- Have a good one! Steve www.americanspiritppc.com "Matthew P. Cummings" wrote in message news On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 19:46:36 -0400, nuke wrote: Thousands of A/C have been welded up with Oxy-Acetylene. Why not go to an EAA Sportair workshop? They run both Oxy-Acetylene [& TIG] welding sessions. A 2-day hands-on class will get you started off right. At Oshkosh the instructor in the EAA welding forum said that due to new information they now weld airframes with 4130 only, never ever use RG45. I don't quite believe them and will do like Budd Davidson does, and nearly the rest of the universe and weld with Oxy/Acetylene and RG 45, no fancy Tig stuff for me because then I wouldn't be doing it. Did anybody else attend the Welding forum and get that same information? I'm wondering if the old guy was losing it, I think he's the same one on the EAA tape, and there he goes with what most agree on, at Oshkosh he was almost backwards on everything. In fact, some of the things he said, when you got to the next instructor he would say don't do that, it's wrong, and the student would argue that's what the other fellow just told the class. So, I'm wondering what the value of this class is if the instructors disagree among themselves, or was this just a bad day for that guy. BTW, they were using RG45 rod that day. |
#10
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I'm going to assume you will be welding 4130 steel structures
exclusively. If you are a relative novice to welding, use oxy-acetylene equipment and mild steel rod. Do a Google search on this newsgroup, paying extra close attention to posts by Bruce Frank and a guy named "Highflier." Also, the EAA puts out an excellent publication on aircraft welding. Thanks Del. That's what I was looking for. I did a Google search and just came up on too many hits. I was hoping that I might get it narrowed down and you've done just that for me. Unless you are already an accomplished welder, ignore suggestions to purchase an expensive TIG welding machine. It is not necessary and may lead to undesirable results unless you have already mastered the basics of welding with oxy-acetylene equipment. I use a small TIG machine and like it, but I also use it for other things (like aluminum and automotive projects) and had quite a bit of oxy/acetylene experience before trying it. If I couldn't afford a TIG unit, I would weld together my airframe using oxy/acetylene with no hesitation. Luckily I've got a buddy who is going to build with me and he is a master welder. I plan on learning a lot from him. As for my experience, well, most of it is on farm equipment and about all I've ever used oxy/acetylene for was cutting stuff up. I'm a fair stick welder but I know I've got a lot to learn. And I'm looking forward to it. Done properly, do you feel that there is any difference in the quality of weld produced by oxy/ace vs. TIG? Is the TIG just less hassle or what? |
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