Please help me learn how to make wire sculpture for Christmas light framing. I use 8 or 9 gauge wire, and glue just wont stand the wind on the porch. I tried a heavy duty sodering gun, I have tried all sorts of epoxy resin, and now have an 80 amp inverter arc welder using 3/32 stainless steel rods. I can weld side by side wires about 1/2 the time now and am confident to get better, but mostly I need to weld crossing wires with small overlap and I can not get a fair stick without burning one of the wires or ruining the spot smoke slag, etc. Am I using the wrong machine or the wrong size rods or should I give up altogether?
Thanks,
Hillsman
Thanks, for the interesting suggestion. I am not sure how portable this is and it is pretty pricy. I will ask my dentist.
Hillsman
What about using a thinner wire (say 18 or 20ga), twisted, to hold it together? Kind of like safety wire. A couple of wraps, twists, and a snip, and you've got crossing wires held together pretty darn well.
Thanks very much and this is all in all the best practical idea so far.
Hillsman
welcome to the world of welding.
I got into welding through art and have worked for 2 metal artists over the years. Welding for art can be tricky.
It's possible to weld 8 and 9 gauge which is approx 1/8" however crossing pipe is a hard joint design to weld like that, as it butted flatt to round. I can't speak much about the arc welding since I personally hate to arc weld and vowed never to do it after I got cert'ed. It's going to be very hard to control the heat and as you can see there's very little place to go, you're essentially trying to start an arc on a spot, which will overheat, blow thru, ball up etc etc etc.
Really I would almost want to say this is unweldable with arc at least with a 3/32 rod which is almost the diamter of the wire.
try using a smaller rod/ with lower current that should give you a little time to make a joint before the metal overheats, and you blow through.
Essentially this is an issue with trying to use stick welding. It would be much easier welded with thin wire MIG, or TIG... Even Gas welding probably wouldn't be all that bad. of course that's more money for a hobbyist.
Thanks so much for your reply. The smallest rod I can find is 1/16 and it failed. Is there a smaller size. The only place I could find reference to that might is K and S welding supply in New South Wales, no website. Also do you think this IS accomplishable with a mig welder?
Hillsman
I would suggest a 115 volt spot welder. Miller & Hobart sell them, and there are cheaper look alikes made in China available too
Thanks very much for replying. The only spot welders I see are stationary tabletop models. If there were some that had the spatial flexibility that the arc welder does, this would be a real solution. Any possibilities?
Thanks again, Hillsman
Hello hillsman, I believe Dave may have been suggesting the portable tong-type spotwelders that Miller makes. They are equipped with over-center clamping type tongs and are probably available in either 110 or 220 volt versions. The economy types are hand-held and you have to count how long you apply the current when you are using them, the more expensive versions have timers to control the on-time for the welding cycle. You also have to determine how much clamping pressure to apply by using a trial and error type of approach along with the on-time application of the current. As Dave said, check the Miller website for the offerings that are available and then start looking on craigslist or ebay, or if you don't mind spending the bigger money go directly to you local Miller dealer and drop your coin. Best regards, aevald
Yes, as Aevald surmised I mean the hand held unit. Mine is a 230 Volt Dayton brand, used to have a timer, but now You just hold the lever untill it "looks right".
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