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About TIG welding, a little of my own amateur experience ----- studio construction overview

a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
I don't weld very often now, so there are no recent photos or videos. There are some pictures from a long time ago.



My first welding job was to add an attic to the storage room of my own home. The most direct thing I could feel when I first started to contact TIG welding was difficult, especially the welding material was galvanized square pipe, which was about 2015. The welding was ugly, but the welding fastness was OK. It's been a long time, and I don't know where to put the photos.

The second welding job was my first workshop. A complete garage, about 40 level.
2018_11_06_10_18_IMG_5077.JPG
This photo was taken after the move, and then came the new studio, which had a larger area and much better spatial planning


.Moved to a different studio
IMG_4595.JPG IMG_4751.JPG IMG_4903.JPG IMG_4964.JPG IMG_4981.JPG 2019_04_10_20_20_IMG_7649.JPG 2019_04_11_09_08_IMG_7660.JPG 2019_04_13_20_07_IMG_7704.JPG 2019_04_16_08_22_IMG_7745.JPG 2019_04_16_08_21_IMG_7735.JPG 2019_04_20_11_29_IMG_8018.JPG 2019_04_26_21_38_IMG_8139.JPG

2019_04_27_18_12_IMG_8189.JPG


New studios take a lot of time, about three years
2019_05_07_07_35_IMG_8736.JPG 2019_05_08_13_05_IMG_8811.JPG


This is the continuation of square pipe, welding technology has made great progress, in fact, the improvement of technology must have enough hours for training, voltage, current, argon, duty ratio and many other parameters need to be comprehensively matched, in fact, I am still confused today.
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Compared to the shelf in the previous studio, this time I chose a thinner mounting size: 20mm+12mm=32mm

Use 40*40mm; The 40*20mm (wall thickness 2) square pipe is covered with high-density composite floor with 12mm thickness. The overall thickness is 52mm or 32mm. The visual effect is very good, and the bearing capacity is sufficient. It's pretty, too. Even the paint can be omitted. Moreover, all the board fixing is first drilled and then taper wire, countersunk hole, and then screw tight, resulting in a lot of time!
2019_06_23_18_10_IMG_0327.JPG
 
Nice work!
I’m always surprised at just how much time it takes to put together something like your shelves.
I see it and think, I should be able to throw that together in no time. Meanwhile, weeks later….

I’ve been practicing my TIG welding, but have a long way to go. Every once in awhile I manage a few inches of great looking weld, and then it all goes to hell.
If I really want to get something done, I break down and pull out the MIG. That still doesn’t make me a welder, but I can stick some metal together much faster than I can with the TIG.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
@a smile do you rent the space for your studio? Around here it would be a lot of money to rent. I hope you don’t mind me asking. The storage above the door is a good idea. Looks great.
 

a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
It took me about nine months to do the shelving, not exactly eight hours, but still a long time.

I also have MIG welders, but there are sparks and you need to polish the higher solder joints frequently, so I give up this more efficient machine. Moreover, welding techniques also need more practice to improve, so I got more practice opportunities.

So don't let it become a burden, time runs fast when you have a passion for learning. You'll get a lot done before you know it, and you'll look back a few years later and be surprised that you accomplished more than you expected.

I have learned a lot of skills in the construction of this studio, which I will show gradually in the later reply, as a praise for my early work.

This is another space. The main space is for parking. I also welded shelves on the surrounding walls to increase storage space 2019_09_16_16_30_IMG_1997.JPG

Some pictures of the welding process 2019_06_22_08_04_IMG_0242.JPG 2019_06_22_08_26_IMG_0246.JPG
2019_06_22_08_31_IMG_0254.JPG 2019_06_22_18_09_IMG_0262.JPG
 

a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
@a smile do you rent the space for your studio? Around here it would be a lot of money to rent. I hope you don’t mind me asking. The storage above the door is a good idea. Looks great.
I don't mind your question. The studio space is not rented, it is a fully owned house, originally a garage. That's why it takes a lot of time and long-term planning. It's not very expensive. It's about 10 years of my salary. (Fortunately, I have other sources of income besides my salary, so it is not too heavy a burden for me.) Since machinery is the love of my life, I have very few other recreational activities. I spend most of my spare time here. Basically, I spend all my time making small and large parts and improving my tools. Then I registered a small company (late 2020), but it never worked. Later I found that my crafting could be made into products, as a new feature tool. So I started to plan the commercialization of the work, but it was still mainly entertainment, and I didn't try very hard to promote it. In 2022, I think I can sell them on Amazon, and then I began to learn the sales of Amazon. However, due to my weak interest, I learned slowly, and still spent most of my time on hand-making.
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
Quite the big project. You've been very very busy. I like the security door over top of the doors and windows.

I want to put an addition on my garage and I was thinking big block tile flooring might save money. Can you roll a heavy machine across those tiles? They look really heavy.
 
Very nice, I think you have put 90% of us to shame with your efforts, me for sure.
Steel must be reasonably priced over there, I shudder to think what that much tubing would cost here.
 

DavidR8

Scrap maker
Administrator
Moderator
Premium Member
购买该钢材将使我的退休目标日期延长数年。

干得好!

Buying that steel would extend my retirement target date by several years.

Nice work!
 

a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
相当大的工程。你一直非常非常忙。我喜欢门窗上方的防盗门。

我想在我的车库里添置一些东西,我在想大块瓷砖地板可能会省钱。你能在那些瓷砖上滚动重型机器吗?它们看起来真的很重。
I used natural granite slabs, 800 by 400 by 80mm, which were heavy, but I was strong enough to move and smooth them.

If you need to move large machines on top of it, then you need to use concrete on top of the foundation, and if you do construction like I do, it will sink and even crush the slabs, I mean if it's heavy like a ten ton truck -----, because I don't need large equipment in my position, so I chose to use sand for the bottom, and there's no vibration to tamp the foundation. But if it's just 2-4 tons of mechanical equipment, like the DECKEL-FP3(a little over 2 tons), there's no problem at all.
 

a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
非常好,我认为你的努力让我们 90% 的人感到羞耻,我当然如此。
那里的钢材肯定价格合理,我一想到这么多管子在这里要花多少钱,我就不寒而栗。
I don't think the price of steel is a problem for you! Convert the exchange rate: Canadian dollar: RMB =1:5, then, the largest size steel pipe 40*20*2 (wall thickness), the price is 50.00 RMB /6M, into Canadian dollars, only 10 plus won, is it really expensive?

My daily salary can buy about 15M. How about yours? Ha ha ----- you guys are a little proud!

I hope I will go to Canada to live in the future and play machinery quietly! In the process of immigration! Maybe I will go to your studio to communicate sometime!! 2019_06_13_11_38_IMG_9964.JPG
 

a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
购买该钢材将使我的退休目标日期延长数年。

干得好!

Buying that steel would extend my retirement target date by several years.

Nice work!
Convert the exchange rate and you'll see how happy you are ——————————————————————————
 
I don't think the price of steel is a problem for you! Convert the exchange rate: Canadian dollar: RMB =1:5, then, the largest size steel pipe 40*20*2 (wall thickness), the price is 50.00 RMB /6M, into Canadian dollars, only 10 plus won, is it really expensive?

My daily salary can buy about 15M. How about yours? Ha ha ----- you guys are a little proud!

I hope I will go to Canada to live in the future and play machinery quietly! In the process of immigration! Maybe I will go to your studio to communicate sometime!!View attachment 31789
You are welcome to drop by and visit anytime, I look forward to the possibility of meeting.
 

a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
Great work!

Is this the main floor of your home ?
No, living in China is different from living in Canada. There are about 700 families living in this relatively closed and managed area. I am one of them
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
I don't think the price of steel is a problem for you! Convert the exchange rate: Canadian dollar: RMB =1:5, then, the largest size steel pipe 40*20*2 (wall thickness), the price is 50.00 RMB /6M, into Canadian dollars, only 10 plus won, is it really expensive?

My daily salary can buy about 15M. How about yours? Ha ha ----- you guys are a little proud!

I hope I will go to Canada to live in the future and play machinery quietly! In the process of immigration! Maybe I will go to your studio to communicate sometime!!View attachment 31789

So for 150RMB you can buy 6 metres long of 40mm by 20mm by 2mm square tubing?

Steel here in smaller quantities is approximately generally $2 to $4 per kilogram.

I think that material would cost $35 or $40 here not $10.
 
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a smile

Lifelong hobby - cold iron
Premium Member
So for 150RMB you can buy 6 metres long of 40mm by 20mm by 2mm square tubing?
I don't know the price of this galvanized square pipe in Canada or around you, but the average salary in my place is 120RMB/ day, and in Canada, it is also calculated according to 120 Canadian dollars/day. My daily salary can buy about 15 meters of this size square pipe, but 120 Canadian dollars should be able to buy 30 meters, or even more -- maybe 40 meters? So please don't worry about your income to price ratio, we are the ones who should be worried and worried - ha ha
 

Janger

(John)
Administrator
Vendor
This is all in imperial. Roughly close to the sizes 40mmx20mmx2mm

It’s $53. For 24 feet about 7m.
 

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