What a TWAT !

[Banus_radio]

I might adopt this twats tig welding technique

What a twat !

[Radio Garfield]

Well what? That supposed to be funny? Ironic, Sarcastic? What a waste of time and recources

[thewisepranker]

He's taking the piss. I think he's a decent guy - try some of his other videos.

[Albert H]

I know Big Clive. He has a weird sense of humour, but he's sound when it comes to stage lighting and most general electrical work. He also enjoys taking the piss out of the Chinese junk from Ebay!

[Maximus]

Yep I'm also a big fan of Clive. Decent guy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Banus_radio]

Oh ok
I was searching tig welding as I'm trying to learn to make my aerials neatly.
This come up and I thought what the hell lok

[thewisepranker]

TIG welders capable of welding aluminium cost about a grand up and the TIG technique is difficult to grasp, even when using a DC machine to weld low carbon steel. Welding aluminium is difficult - far more so than welding stainless steel, which is more difficult than welding mild steel. You must have an AC TIG welder in order to weld aluminium.

There are a few decent aerials out there that you can buy off-the-shelf, for far less than the expense of a tenth of a TIG welder, plus at least two different bottles of an inert gas (the gas you need to use depends on what material you are welding), bottle rent x2, electrodes (two different types), ceramics, the cost of the materials to make the aerial itself, etc...

Unlike MIG, if you mess up with a TIG welder you also more often than not mess up your tungsten electrode. You will then need to smash the end off with a hammer, re-sharpen the end or throw it away completely if it gets too short. This means you will also need a bench grinder with a suitable grinding wheel. You will find yourself getting through wheels quite quickly, too.

It is much cheaper to pay a fabrication shop £30 or whatever to weld your bits up each time you need them doing, unless you are making hundreds. If you're serious about learning how to weld, you won't let this put you off, however it is not worth the expense and the amount of failures you will experience to just weld up one or two aerials.

If you have any questions about welding feel free to message me. I was* a coded welder and have a fair amount of experience welding aluminium, copper and stainless steel, which are materials of interest when building aerials. I can gas, arc, MIG and TIG weld.

Brazing is another technique you could look into which is a lot more accessible for the DIYer than TIG welding.

* Was because the codes are non-transferrable between employers and I don't need to weld at my current employer.

[NTR]

Been watching Big Clive for a while now - I find him entertaining.

[Banus_radio]

TIG welders capable of welding aluminium cost about a grand up and the TIG technique is difficult to grasp, even when using a DC machine to weld low carbon steel. Welding aluminium is difficult - far more so than welding stainless steel, which is more difficult than welding mild steel. You must have an AC TIG welder in order to weld aluminium.

There are a few decent aerials out there that you can buy off-the-shelf, for far less than the expense of a tenth of a TIG welder, plus at least two different bottles of an inert gas (the gas you need to use depends on what material you are welding), bottle rent x2, electrodes (two different types), ceramics, the cost of the materials to make the aerial itself, etc...

Unlike MIG, if you mess up with a TIG welder you also more often than not mess up your tungsten electrode. You will then need to smash the end off with a hammer, re-sharpen the end or throw it away completely if it gets too short. This means you will also need a bench grinder with a suitable grinding wheel. You will find yourself getting through wheels quite quickly, too.

It is much cheaper to pay a fabrication shop £30 or whatever to weld your bits up each time you need them doing, unless you are making hundreds. If you're serious about learning how to weld, you won't let this put you off, however it is not worth the expense and the amount of failures you will experience to just weld up one or two aerials.

If you have any questions about welding feel free to message me. I was* a coded welder and have a fair amount of experience welding aluminium, copper and stainless steel, which are materials of interest when building aerials. I can gas, arc, MIG and TIG weld.

Brazing is another technique you could look into which is a lot more accessible for the DIYer than TIG welding.

* Was because the codes are non-transferrable between employers and I don't need to weld at my current employer.

I wasn't intending on buying one, I've got access to various tig welders at work which are used for aluminium pipework stitching.
Currently I've been using brazing rods but the decent ones need around 480degrees and it's tricky not melting the aluminium tube because of its thin walls. There are lower 300degree Brazil rods I've got but nowhere near as strong

[thewisepranker]

Well, that changes everything.

It's not really a function of temperature, more power density. If you use a smaller tungsten and keep the arc nice and small (for TIG) or use a fine nozzle (for oxy-fuel torches) you will be able to weld thin material with whatever filler rods they've got laying around.

300 °C is far too low for brazing, as is 480. You're going to need to be above 600 °C to braze aluminium.