what cfm do you guys have your tig welder set at for welding stainless
is everyone here using a gas lens ??
what cup size is eveyone using ??
what do you guys use to clean the metal with ?

just some input wanted from other fabricators who weld stainless

i use 15 -20 cfm of argon a gas lens and a 7 ceramic cup

 

I use around 25 cfm and a size 7 cup. I also use a gas lens cup and wire wheel the pipes.

 

CFM depends on what size cup you're using and other external factors such as wind and what angle you're welding at (upside-down, horizontal, flat, etc.). Your goal should be to have the puddle, tungsten and filler rod all protected by the shielding gas.

As far as cup size goes, you want to go with the largest possible cup you can while still having the tungsten at the appropriate distance away from the puddle. Smaller cups should only be used to get into tight corners or other places where you couldn't use a larger cup.

I use a wire brush (mild or stainless steel depending on what metal I'm welding) and acetone to clean off all of the dust and crap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by backpurge &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">CFM depends on what size cup you're using and other external factors such as wind and what angle you're welding at (upside-down, horizontal, flat, etc.). Your goal should be to have the puddle, tungsten and filler rod all protected by the shielding gas.

As far as cup size goes, you want to go with the largest possible cup you can while still having the tungsten at the appropriate distance away from the puddle. Smaller cups should only be used to get into tight corners or other places where you couldn't use a larger cup.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well said...I agree with all of it...and do the same myself. I even got a JUMBO gas lens for a WP17 torch (big monster) and rigged it to fit on the smaller torch (WP17), so I usually use a cup that's about 3/4" opening.

People need to consider that, especially with smaller cups, more gas is not always better, as it can create bad turbulance that can bring oxygen into the weld and onto the tungsten. With a large gas lense, more gas will usually keep the oxygen farther from the weld...but at some point, it will actually blow the melted metal around and begin to have a cooling effect.

I NEVER weld with my gas under 25. I usually go with 30 minimum. Gas isn't cheap, quality isn't either. Repairs cost even more.

 

ITS CFH cubic feet per hour not min.
The smaller the cup the smaller you can weld. You don't use a big *** cup with .040 tungsten.You use small tungsten and a small cup when your welding small stuff.But I'm just a header builder just like somebody thinks they are.

 

#7 .040 tungsten and you can get away with your gas set as low as 12 if you back purge it, but usually i set mine at 25 when welding stainless. im not a stainless guru although i do work with it from time to time. whenever you have any other questions go to http://www.burnsstainless.com i have a friend that works there and when i started messing with stainless they gave me all the correct info i needed.

 

~30

 

Guess I'm the exception. 10cfh and don't have a problem.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kb58 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Guess I'm the exception. 10cfh and don't have a problem.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Cup size?
I can be money that your travel speed is rather slow if you're getting good coverage with 10cfh.

 

yes i have played with travle speed and flow and i must say youdo need to turn it up the faster you travle, right now i run at like 115amps on 8gauge to 1/2'' flange with flow at like 25-28 and welds turn out so nice , but at 15 they where not as nice , so i know there was not as much covergae for shure now,

 

Good tread here, prolly something I'll try cause I had great weld at 15 - 20, I'll try tomarrow @ 25 CFM if I can get the damn furnace to work tonight...


Kranked

 

Yeah, you can "get by" with less than I typically use, but I'd rather make sure I have good coverage, even if a little wind blows into the garage, or if somebody opens a door or something. I'm fine with getting a refill on the argon bottle a couple days earlier...as long as I don't have to grind out any porosity from my shield blowing away during the time I'm using it.

 

I've been having a problem with my welds turning grey colored and getting scale on them. What am I doing wrong? Sorry no pics at this time, but if you like I can probably get some.

Im using a ThermalArc 185
100% argon. Anywhere from 25 to 35 CFM
Cup is either a 6 or 7 (i have both sizes), but forget which im using currently
3/32 Pure tungsten
308L rod in both 1/16 and 3/32
Welding 304 stainless. Amperage is usually set to 90 but may only use between 65-85 amps.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 93LSivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I've been having a problem with my welds turning grey colored and getting scale on them. What am I doing wrong? Sorry no pics at this time, but if you like I can probably get some.

Im using a ThermalArc 185
100% argon. Anywhere from 25 to 35 CFM
Cup is either a 6 or 7 (i have both sizes), but forget which im using currently
3/32 Pure tungsten
308L rod in both 1/16 and 3/32
Welding 304 stainless. Amperage is usually set to 90 but may only use between 65-85 amps.</TD></TR></TABLE> I run 1/16 tungsten up to 125 amps. Also, pure tungsten is for aluminum/ac welding only. You should be using a 2%thoriated tungsten, ceriated, lanthinated, or a tri mix tungsten. I prefer the lanthinated or the classic thoriated..

 

i'm at around 10-15. after reading this post, i'll try around 25. i need to get a gas lense and a purge setup.

mild flange to stainless pipe, 309L filler.

 

the cfm im running always changes depending on what im welding.... with thinwall ss (say .065) i run about 10... it welds better for me... when i first started messing with the settings for stainless i would turn it up more and the weld would get worse... i use 1/16th tungsten and a big cup... not sure on size (i never change it... i have a quick change torch with multipe heads) but def bigger than what u would normally use... )

aluminum on the other hand i dont get nice beads unless i crank up the cfm

 

I leave ours at about ~ 30 with a gas lense, around 220 amps 3/32" tungsten but we weld 1/4 - 3/8 plate Steel on ours, not manifold or header fabrications like most of people on here

 

I typically like to use a smaller cup size(not tiny but not the monsters yall are talking about). Ive found that i do better welds with a smaller cup with slightly more electrode extension and the gas set around 22-25cfh. I tried like 5 different setups on 3/8 plate and had them all bent...not only did that(mentioned above) look better but it also had better fusion(less stress marks on bend).

It really comes down to the welder. Mess around with it and see what you like best. Some people like more travel speed and some people like to go nice and slow(like me).

 

nice and slow...

 

my teacher told us to ALLWAYS set to 30