After a super busy day, I got in some more welding. I am starting to get the hang of welding this thick stuff. I have resolved that I need to get some slightly thicker filler metal as the thin stuff I have now is melting back too fast for me to keep up a good rhythm. I'm still improving and will keep it up!
I start out with cleaning. I used acetone to get the residue from the sticky foil tape off the merge pipe then sanded it with sandpaper on the outside and a cartridge roll on the inside. The inside needs to be cleaned, too!
I was tying to make my life easy but clamping this in my vise:
But I realized I really didn't want to try grounding the whole thing through precision machined jaws. I also totally forgot that the el needed to be cleaned up, too!
After I took it apart and cleaned up the 90* el, I changed game plans and got my (still less than ideal) purge setup installed and let the gas flow!
Here's a close up of the clean up:
I tacked the pieces together, checked fitment. Again. And again. And then I got down to welding!
I'm starting to get the hang of it:
When I was wrapping around the sides, I ran into some undercut:
I will fix that for sure, but after I tack the other side together. I was starting to scorch the blue tape holding the joints together on the other side. I'd rather they not come apart just yet. LOL!
More undercut to be fixed:
After the other leg is tacked up, I'll finish welding that section together.
Why do you backpurge? To get a clean inside joint, like this:
No, it isn't fully penetrated, but there is no "sugaring" of the backside which is basically oxygen contamination that will eat away at the stainless from the inside out, especially when exposed to very high temperatures found in it's intended application!
I start out with cleaning. I used acetone to get the residue from the sticky foil tape off the merge pipe then sanded it with sandpaper on the outside and a cartridge roll on the inside. The inside needs to be cleaned, too!
I was tying to make my life easy but clamping this in my vise:
But I realized I really didn't want to try grounding the whole thing through precision machined jaws. I also totally forgot that the el needed to be cleaned up, too!
After I took it apart and cleaned up the 90* el, I changed game plans and got my (still less than ideal) purge setup installed and let the gas flow!
Here's a close up of the clean up:
I'm starting to get the hang of it:
I will fix that for sure, but after I tack the other side together. I was starting to scorch the blue tape holding the joints together on the other side. I'd rather they not come apart just yet. LOL!
More undercut to be fixed:
After the other leg is tacked up, I'll finish welding that section together.
Why do you backpurge? To get a clean inside joint, like this:
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