[Jewelry making - Article 00187] - Re: [Orchid] More TIG type welding for jewelry

[DK Duncan]

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Hi Kevin -

>     Consider that it is very difficult for me to join a fiction post to
>     10 X 10 earring plate. The post wants to melt away from the plate.
>     After a tiny connection between the post and plate is made the post
>     then can have a base fillet added with greater ease. I believe this
>     is because the post becomes part of the total 10 X 10 area in which
>     electrons are energized. I encourage you to try some welds. Find a
>     machine that can do spot welds as well as continuous runs of welds.
>     See what happens and let me know. 

    I've been experimenting with some 24ga sheet and 20ga wire. I see
    what you mean about welding the post in place. I currently am
    experiencing about a 10% success rate. The wire melts very easily and
    very suddenly. I use thin leather gloves while TIG welding. I
    immediately noticed the amount of heat being conducted up the silver
    wire. Contrasted to steel the difference is quite remarkable. I'm
    using under 20amps. A spot weld might be ideal for attaching a post. 

    One of the major problems I'm having is that the arc doesn't
    initiate at the point of the electrode but often starts around the
    cup. When this happens it makes a mess of things. I rarely see this
    at higher current levels used on thicker gauge steel. I need to play
    with argon flow rates to see if I can clear this up. The other
    problem I'm having is with my helmet as it's a #12 fixed shaded
    helmet - my autodarkening helmet is on the fritz. It's very difficult
    to weld at low current levels with that degree of darkness. The issue
    I'm having with the poor arc start could also be attributed to my
    inability to see and position the electrode properly prior to
    squeezing the pedal. A magnifying lens in the helmet would help too. 

    I don't think any of the problems are insurmountable. Practice will
    improve the success rate. Using a different alloy or hardness of the
    post might help too. Something that really helps is cleaning the
    parts thoroughly prior to welding. 

    What is the thickness of the 10x10 part you are attempting to weld? 

Don
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