Welding course to make your own gantry?

[ReefMagnet]

There is a way to use a cheap bender to do a half decent bend that involves filling the tube with sand and temporarily sealing both ends. There are clips on youtube showing how this is done. I can vouch for the method because I have used it in the past with good results. Not as good as a "proper" bender, but acceptable. On the welding TIG is the best way to go, but it is a harder skill to learn then stick. Most of the cheap inverter welders these days have a scratch start TIG capability. With sufficient practice you should get away with doing a half decent job, but the question will be just how much practice it will take.

The other thing is cleaning of the stainless once welded. Polished tube will need pickling and re-polishing around the welds to restore the corrosion resistance and lustre.

 

[dgadee]

As a test of your welding skills, you could make a bender yourself:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Build-Pipe-Bending-Machine/dp/1878087215

 

[myquest]

Unfortunately a cheap hydraulic bender won't do the job with or without the correct formers. They're OK for bending scaffold tubes but not thin wall stainless which will dent and it is impossible to accurately position the bend. You will not be able to weld 1.6mm wall stainless tube with an arc welder. Not sure what the reference to a 'small cylinder' refers to but Argon in the largest sized commercial cylinder is about £70 plus annual hire charge for the bottle.

Hobbyweld. 9litre cylinder, £60 one off charge per cylinder, £24 per refill (I think) thereafter.

 

[GrahamM376]

Hobbyweld. 9litre cylinder, £60 one off charge per cylinder, £24 per refill (I think) thereafter.

Just had a look at their site, looks good for DIY use. I gave up my BOC cyliners due to high rental charges and being away sailing 9/12.

 

[John the kiwi]

As a young engineer i trained to professional standard in Manual arc, Mig, Tig, and Gas welding.
Best training for TIG is gas welding of mild steel using a filler rod.
Best training in not touching the filler wire to the tungsten electrode is to have a <100Volt Open circuit system. It was illegal even then but who cared? You learned not to short circuit the thing cos your eyes lit up and your heart missed a beat or two! you certainly didn't fall asleep!
I have laid down miles of Mig weld and still don't rate it for amateurs. The reason is that with Mig it is easy to lay down weld that looks the part but has not penetrated the parent metal. I used to have some good catastrophic failure examples to illustrate this. Manual arc is cruel and unforgiving in showing up your failures of technique, but if it looks ok, more than likely it is at least getting there.
Tig welding ss is different. if it looks ok it probably is. It is a satisfying skill cos you can make neat tidy welds.
You can learn this skill without being a multi- talented engineer.
But self taught welding means simply that you have been taught by an ignoramus! Do go to night school. Many/most tutors have a wealth of tradecraft to share and there is always more to it than meets the eye.
cheers

 

[timmygobang]

As a young engineer i trained to professional standard in Manual arc, Mig, Tig, and Gas welding.
Best training for TIG is gas welding of mild steel using a filler rod.
Best training in not touching the filler wire to the tungsten electrode is to have a <100Volt Open circuit system. It was illegal even then but who cared? You learned not to short circuit the thing cos your eyes lit up and your heart missed a beat or two! you certainly didn't fall asleep!
I have laid down miles of Mig weld and still don't rate it for amateurs. The reason is that with Mig it is easy to lay down weld that looks the part but has not penetrated the parent metal. I used to have some good catastrophic failure examples to illustrate this. Manual arc is cruel and unforgiving in showing up your failures of technique, but if it looks ok, more than likely it is at least getting there.
Tig welding ss is different. if it looks ok it probably is. It is a satisfying skill cos you can make neat tidy welds.
You can learn this skill without being a multi- talented engineer.
But self taught welding means simply that you have been taught by an ignoramus! Do go to night school. Many/most tutors have a wealth of tradecraft to share and there is always more to it than meets the eye.
cheers

Thanks for the heads up, and indeed everyone elses comments.

I've found a college that does a 10 week evening course in Walthamstow, just waiting to hear back from the tutor to see if the course covers what I need to learn. I'll be asking him if he covers Tig welding. It doesn't start til September thats the only downside.

It sounds like there's a lot more to learn than can be taught over a weekend, otherwise I'd ask if anyone here fancied giving up their weekend to show me the ropes for some extra ££

On a separate note. I've just booked a 5 day MCA Marine Diesel Approved Engineering course for £475 + vat for July, as I know bugger all about engines

 

[ffiill]

Stainless stick welding I find is some of the easiest when working plate or square section.Problems arise when welding tube particularly light guage 2 mm or less in that if there is anything ressembling a gap in the joint its very easy to burn a hole rather than weld the two bits together.Preparing a gap free joint if welding tube at an angle to another tube is very difficult.
The other thing that I always have difficulty with is distortion.I weld at 60amps using a 2.5mm rod.