A little progress XL H-58

[914pete]

Yeah, I've been slackin' again. I've been enjoying our "Spring of deception" while it lasts.  I have managed to fit up some more tubes. Pipe straps keep them located.


I lost a day trying to figure out what was going on with my new found TIG skilz. The more I practiced, the worse I was getting. Frustrating, to say the least. Went back to square one, and found the tungstens that I had just been sharpening were contaminated and causing the puddle to look wonky. (technical term.) I'll practice some more today before tacking these tubes..

Chuck, did you find that the tungsten were getting contaminated from sharpening with tools used for other things? I bought a TIG last year because I was interested in welding aluminum and used a couple different shop tools to sharpen the tungsten. I practiced through an entire tank of Argon. It seemed sometimes I was "getting it" and next day not so much. As a beginner, I found that I was sharpening the T often. I haven't had a chance to get a new tank of gas. Wondering now if I was contaminating the tungsten.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Pete.. you know the old saying, "Those that can do, and those that can't teach?"    I can teach TIG welding..
I've contaminated the tungsten in every way possible, I think.
(1) touching the filler to it
(2) dipping it into the puddle
(3) not enough flow of Argon
(4) post flow too short
(5) moving the torch away from the puddle before post flow is over
(6) getting the tungsten too hot when grinding, especially using a cut off wheel to shorten it. Don't do that.. just break it to shorten it.
(7) moving the filler rod away from the argon before post flow is over. This contaminates the weld on the next start.
Yesterday, I found another. I was tacking in a cabane when the furnace kicked on and blew the Argon away.
When you do it right, the tungsten stays shiny after welding.
I still can't weld worth a crap. My rebuilt left hand is the biggest issue because of the subtle movements needed with the filler rod.
Edit: forgot #8 Have a dedicated tungsten sharpening station. I use a belt sander.

[Theodore]

i watching this, yep
i read about sharpening axial direction, i using small diamond wheel on dremel, also lantthium(spelling) breaks down not sure how fast.

Thank you!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Cabanes tacked in. The plumb bob says I still haven't "lost the rabbit." 

[914pete]

Pete.. you know the old saying, "Those that can do, and those that can't teach?"    I can teach TIG welding..
I've contaminated the tungsten in every way possible, I think.
(1) touching the filler to it
(2) dipping it into the puddle
(3) not enough flow of Argon
(4) post flow too short
(5) moving the torch away from the puddle before post flow is over
(6) getting the tungsten too hot when grinding, especially using a cut off wheel to shorten it. Don't do that.. just break it to shorten it.
(7) moving the filler rod away from the argon before post flow is over. This contaminates the weld on the next start.
Yesterday, I found another. I was tacking in a cabane when the furnace kicked on and blew the Argon away.
When you do it right, the tungsten stays shiny after welding.
I still can't weld worth a crap. My rebuilt left hand is the biggest issue because of the subtle movements needed with the filler rod.
Edit: forgot #8 Have a dedicated tungsten sharpening station. I use a belt sander.

LOL. O/A welding was so much easier to learn IMO. I was using this little diamond disk from HF on my drill press which works really well to sharpen tungsten but I also used it for other things probably contaminating the rods. Nice work BTW. Always enjoy your posts.

[mike ketteman]

you will get there,when built mine I tacked with mig then finished weld tig. Got in the air late 2016,about 220 hrs so far.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Here's my tungsten grinding station. 



Naturally, nothing else touches it.

One thing nice about TIG, is you don't have to make elaborate fixtures to hold the tubing while tacking.



Another bite off the elephant. 
 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Time to address bending the seat tube. Packed it with playground sand, laid out the arc on the bench, and tried not to set the bench on fire, with mixed results. 
Got it pretty close, then tweaked it with my little HF bender.
The cad says it is 34.78" radius. I laid it out 34 3/4".



Ready to tack in..



Now, I can finally tear down the fixture and clean up the mess. Yay..3 tubes to go, and I can start thinking about a rotisserie for finish welding.
Gratuitous picture.. 

[Dan_]

Lookin real fine.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks, Dan. 

Here's the tube I was looking for.. the last one.



Shook *every* tube hard enough to move the table just to make sure noting was going to come loose when I tore down the fixturing.
Did that. 



Oh, forgot to tell what radius the seat back is. The cad says 34.78" I'll edit the post with that dimension in case someone is looking in the future.

[Kamcoman77]

Great looking fuselage! Super strong sawhorses.

[CHARLES DEBOER]

Don't do as I did.  Forgot all the little tabs.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Great looking fuselage! Super strong sawhorses.

Thanks, Keith..  The best thing about these saw horses is the top 2X4 is easily replaceable. I was looking on Youtube for something to do while (im)patiently waiting.. and waiting.. for my materials kit. Saw those.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Don't do as I did.  Forgot all the little tabs.

Uhh, guilty on the first airplane I built.  I learned then that it had to be completely assembled with everything working before tearing it down and finishing it. Fortunately, that will be pretty easy with this one.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Well, naturally, I had to weigh it.  Looks like about 28 pounds. More importantly, I can get rid of this giant bench I've been walking around for months..