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Linde Plasma Needle Arc Welder?

Ive got the opportunity to pick up for nearly nothing or trade..a box which I believe is a micro-tig unit. The owner called me and asked me if I wanted it and gave me the info on the front panel

Union Carbide Linde Plasma Needle Arc Welder

I saw the unit a couple weeks ago for a few seconds, and it indeed does have a tig torch tip with tungstun needle and coolant lines and all that stuff. Its about the size of a bread box or a large old style Kenwood stereo, typical Linde yellow face, lots of dials and knobs and whatnot. I believe its 110v. There is an multipin jack for a "remote" but there is no peddle.

I was a bit put off because there are two gas input lines in the back. One for argon, and one in and out for a gas I dont remember..CO2? Must be the coolant line that goes out to the torch?

it is NOT this one:

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though its somewhat similar.

Is this something I want to futz with? Is it suitible for doing small gun parts and such? The last Tig I used was a Miller 2500..and this is a much different kettle of fish.

Ill be looking at it again sometime later this week. Any information as to what this critter is good for, would be appreciated.

Gunner

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Reply to
Gunner
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I occasionally use a 'L-Tec' micro-plasma welder for joining small section stainless steel parts. I think this machine is very similar to the Linde machine you describe. Now, I am NO welder but with a bit of practise I have managed to join wires down to 0.6mm ( about .024" ). The gases used are Argon and a mixture of Argon and Hydrogen at about 7%, although this can vary depending on the work you're doing. It is only good for stainless steel, titanium and copper. The one I use is a noisy unit with the cooling pump running and interferes with any radio ( and possibly TVs nearby ). Quite honestly, while welding is stronger than brazing/soldering, I think I could do just about everything needed with good quality hard solder. The main reason I use the plasma welder is for chemical requirements where I cant introduce a second metal ( the solder ) to the work.

Hope this is useful, Dean.

Left wing loonies believe in freedom of expression - as long as you agree with them. If you dont, then they will put their point across with a megaphone jambed into your ear. This tends to persuade me not to agree anyway.

Reply to
Dean

I worked at a place near 20 years ago, that used these (I don't recall if they where Linde, however) for fusing together thermocouple wires for use as temp sensors on jet engines. It was described to me as "being like a small heli-arc welder. Mostly pretty tiny stuff, and the "purity" of the joint was important, ie minimal contamination to form secondary t/c junctions. I never ran one, but they where way up there on the "Gee-Whiz-cool" factor.

I can't advise as to wether or not you want it, but I would find it hard to resist. Though I'm not sure what I might use such a thing for...

-AL

Reply to
Al A.

IIRC, they were used to weld titanium aircraft components.

Steve

Reply to
SteveB

Gunner --

Looks like it might be similar to units made by PUC and ABI intended for jewelry and precision small-parts welding use. If you don't wind up wanting it, I might be interested -- have always wanted an ABI Pulse-3, but balked at the price!

Regards,

Bob

Reply to
Bob Edwards

Cool, and relatively small/light. I don't know what the resale value would be if you wanted to sell it, or what exactly I'd use it for (thermocouple probes are one example, but 15A is pretty low- would that weld a 1/4" 316SS tube?), but I'd be tempted to grab it anyway if the "price" is low enough.

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

replying to Al A., Gareth wrote: They're great for Custom Gunsmithing where you don't want to overheat the surrounding areas. They can also be used to repair knives and other edged tools without disturbing much of the rest of the tempered parts....

Reply to
Gareth

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