Just got my Plans, tig or Oxy Act.

[Labrat]

Just got my plans and videos in the mail today. So many questions, looks like a bunch of guys to ask. So here is my first, my neighbor does welding, so I ask about oxy act. and he said yes, it works good, but he will lend me a tig, help me get started. So, Oxy act. or Tig for the welding? and why?
Thannks 
Ken

[CHARLES DEBOER]

Depends on your experience with each.  I TIG'd my fuse but wished i had OXY to get into a lot of tight joints and clusters.  Either one takes practice but is not beyond an inexperienced welder to get good results.  I had no experience at all but went with TIG because EAA was offering three day seminars for TIG and I got a good price on a TIG welder.  Even after the seminar I took a class at my local community college.  Which ever way you go just practice.. practice.. practice!

[Jlwright]

I do tig welding as part of my work repairing die cast dies but elected to oxy weld the fuselage together. I had zero experience welding with a torch but found it was not hard at all. I read everything I could find on the subject and practiced welding on scrap tubing. I will use the tig welder on some of the brackets just to make a nicer looking weld but for the most part all the welding was done with a torch. Check out the torch Sam Buchanan used. It is the bomb for this application.

[CHARLES DEBOER]

One other thing, you  will need a torch to bend the bottom longerons or have access to one.

[Mike Gracey]

My two cents you should use a torch there are a lot of other things you may need it for as well plus once you get good at doing it you will have fun with it.
Mike
XL

[Tom H]

Overall, the torch is more versatile.  I have found that tigging the tight clusters buried within the fuselage structure is very difficult - hard to get your head, with the hood, where you can see the weld.  Also hard to get the tig torch into some spots.  At least with the equipment that I have.  The gas torch is better in that respect.  I used gas for the bulk of the fuselage, used tig for almost all other welds.

[docmatt]

I plan to use a torch.  I've done a little TIG and it is good, but I just find welding thin steel with a torch to be a real pleasure.  Plus it is less fussy about little breezes in the shop and I like the old timey feel of it.  Most would agree that you can get very good results with either process.

[sonicapollo]

I plan to get a victor performer medium duty setup here myself, shortly. I'm going to practice practice practice.

[docmatt]

I very highly recommend the Meco Midget torch.  Lightweight so you can hold it like a pencil.  Get a really good face sheild or goggles too.  The Tin Man has some nice ones.  If you are over 40, get a pair of strong readers from the drug store, even if you wear bifocals.  The full magnifying lense lets you look any direction and still see.  You can't weld if you can't see.

[Sparetime]

The price of a tig machine isn't what it used to be.

Please excuse the extra code, the software is overwhelmed with my iPad.

[font='Segoe UI', 'Helvetica Neue', 'Liberation Sans', 'Nimbus Sans L', Arial, sans-serif]http://www.amazon.com/AHP-AlphaTIG-Stick-Welder-PULSE/dp/B00REX6USW/[/font]

[font='Segoe UI', 'Helvetica Neue', 'Liberation Sans', 'Nimbus Sans L', Arial, sans-serif]I bought a similar model from everlast and the learning curve has been fairly easy.[/font]

Jim

[scottiniowa]

While this is a old topic, some new readers getting caught up might enjoy the spin with either choice if they know of a very simple way to practice.

• take 6 square pieces of metal, 4" x 4" and have them range from very light, .028 thickness up to .100 thickness
• with a couple holding blocks (heavier blocks of metal) tack a corner 90 degree for the two pieces of metal
• Repeat with two more pieces, then check both for 90 degrees (make them so by bending exactly to this- your tacks should allow this)

You just learned two things, how and if metal reacts to heat and your welding ( it will) and how to make tacks (you will do this often) and how to do so with either tig or torch
  you also learned how to get to a desire position with your metal  i.e. 90 degrees

• now take these two pieces and set on your flat weld table and but the corners til you have a open ended box. So your tacks will be vertical and you will have two more corners for tacks
• when these next two corners are tacked, you should have a open ended box 4" square

Now you have learned that different thickness of metal reacts and tacks differently, maybe even how easily thin edges can burn back, don't worry this is why we are practicing. Every bit of this can and will be applied to your airplane building in the future.  This is NOT wasted time. And you have learned all this in 30 minutes.  There is more and again, in very little time, your learning a lifetime of welding secrets.

• Now we attach top and bottom to the box with your remaining two pieces... again with tacks.
• Now we have a box,  it should be square, it should be what you intended it to be.  If not, why?  With a little study, figure out what may have gone wrong and with the tacks, corrects if needed can be made
• The fun, with this all done above, you can can then fully weld each edge.   You will quickly learn that different thicknesses of the edges will weld differently. 
• by learning to understand how your weld bead looks-which will determine how much heat and fill rod to use, you will again learn a lifetime lesson on welding.
• And finally, you have a fully welding box...all sealed up.. Be proud...You have done more welding than most before starting the airplane..but oh so helpful. 
• I strongly suggest welding lines, across your sides,  with your box on the table , you in your chair, elbows on the table,  see how nice you can make a X on a side, welding to and away from you
• Another side you can simply make 4 lines in one direction, noting the thickness of the metal will strong dictate how you do these lines.
• Your imagination for the balance.  But simply said - if the box is fully covered with bead lines... your ready...for your aircraft,,, Granted I didn't go into the whole coupon and destruction thing which is certainly ok...but this box covers so much more.    Length of beads, difference of metal thickness, holding a angle, tacking, edges, so many things.

Enjoy!

[Dan_]

There's this...
http://www.airbum.com/articles/ArticleZenWelding.html

And a lot more to consider in the attached PDF from the same author.

[Dan_]

One more welding tip that applies to any process...

When you have a thicker member being welded to a thinner one, or an edge being joined to a side...   This also applies to a member with more of a heat sink.

You will need to angle the torch (or stick or mig nozzle) such that even heat will transfer to the 2 pieces.  Stipulate that an edge or thinner piece takes less heat to weld...

So how do we get that perfect angle that gives the edge the heat it needs while giving the flat what it needs..?

You first make an educated guess at an angle biased to the piece with its side being joined and apply heat.  

When both pieces start showing "color" you withdraw the heat and note which side needs more.  

Adjust the angle and repeat until you find the correct torch angle allowing both pieces to reach welding heat at the same time...

Stick or mig operators have to make the educated guess and adjust on the fly, or deal with the results with a grinder or second pass...

[Dan_]

You will need to angle the torch (or stick or mig nozzle) such that even heat will transfer to the 2 pieces.  Stipulate that an edge or thinner piece takes less heat to weld...

Skip to 10:50 for an extreme example...