I can get color in the welds only if i run a small weld real fast. i've tried running a wider weld but it just turns out grey. the uniform looks alright but no color. if i am understanding correctly, i need to speed up. more heat and travel faster?

 

CR
Don't give up penetration to get color it kinder sounds like thats what you are doin.
It also sounds like your weldin s/s, if your doing thin stuff like the tubes on here you should be able to get a nice straw color useing a gas lenses and #7 cup and still have penetration.

 

Use a sharp tip on your tungsten, but dont have it be a long tip, make the sharpened part be short, maybe only 3/16" of an inch long, also make sure its not sticking to far from the cup itself, id say about 5/16"

Make sure you have enough sheilding gas too. i suggest 20ft/min, keep amperage low too, what causes welds to turn that gray shade and not a bright color is when you burn to hot, burning the chromium and magnesium out of the stainless steel.

 

Thanks, i know for sure that i am hangin the tungsten out to far. i do have a #7 so i'll start with it tomrw. if u really want to see some pics of the last mani i welded up just go check ebay under tubular manifold. the pics r fair so maybe it will be a little easier trying to tell me what i am doing wrong.
Cates Racing Fabrication (crfab)

 

cr
It looks fine, seems to have penetration and good size weld for sch 40.
I would try backup gas next time and maybe clean the welds with s/s brush on air motor and then weld a light cool pass with a weave. It should look great and you will get your color. practice on some scrap with that cover pass first

 

so you mean do the bead like he has them there and then after he is done go back over them with just the torch to get the coloring?

 

He may need to add a little .030 rod to make it uniform. The weld on the butts should be above the base metal about the thickness of a dime

 

you guys are very helpful. i'll try a few of the things all of u said to do and we'll see how it goes. i'll post back tonight and let u know something. thanks

 

Its all practice

 

the colors come from heat treating the metal via the torch...

 

from my very little experience. If you use just enought heat to penetrate slowly you will get the nice color you are looking for.

 

that is the idea , controled heat so you dont over heat the steel and burn off the cromium,

 

when i got to the shop this morning i tried some the tips that u guys gave me and with a little time the color started to come through. the welds are looking much much better. now all i need to do is sell some manifolds. i really appreciate all the help.

 

how about some pics of the welds? o btw what welder do you have?

 

u can view the pics in the forced induction classifieds under b-series equal length manifold. i am using a miller syncrowave 180 that i bought last year and i like it. i have never even tigged before but i have done plenty of mig welding.

 

The easiest way to consistently get colour in your welding is - gas lens, gas lens, gas lens.
I use the largest gas lens I can get away with and am often using my largest one which is about 20mm (3/4") orifice diameter ceramic which is more suited to titanium welding. I run Argon gas at a flow rate of 7.5 litres per minute but I measure it at the torch because the gauges can be very inaccurate.
On stainless welding, use the lowest amperage you are comfortable with and also use LOTS of gas post flow. If the weld turns blue when the post flow finishes then you know that your post flow is insufficient.
I also use this same method on Crome/Moly and get that nice colour the race teams get on their chassis'
Regards Andrew.

 

Although I don't think the tungsten grind will fix your problem, I will tell how I grind it... As a general rule, I grind a taper that's 2 to 2.5 times as long as the diameter of the tungsten. So, for 1/8" tungsten, grind back 1/4-3/16".

As mentioned, gas coverage and heat are the factors that change the coloring characteristics. You are likely running too hot or too slow, possibly both.

About the penetration: In most situations, penetration is not all that important, depending on the joint design. In other words, if you have a butt weld on 1/2" plate with no bevel, it will get less penetration than the same amperage and other parameters than you will get by welding thinner material. Therefore, if you want the penetration, you can achieve it by means of a bevel or other joint design. The actual penetration of each weld pass is not going to be very important in most situations though. I hope this isn't confusing.

 

when i was at the shop today working on the a/c compatible mani, i tried using some of the tips u guys have given and now my welds r starting to get the color that i was wanting. i know all of u know that it just takes time when u r trying to learn without anyone physically showing u what to do. u all have given me more help than the guys here locally. big thanks