Piper Aircraft building a Cub

Yep. That one is great!

Aye, that was a great video. One thing that stood out (besides the highly competant workforce) was the amount of dope they used without any breathing apparatus beyond a filter. I hate to think of the long-term results to those guys after years of doing such a job.

Jon

Yahbut - it's a happy shop!

Indeed, and they probably saved a lot of money on drinks after their shift!

Jon

Interesting that gas welding is used...

David Lesher fired this volley in news:jns0ja$9b0$1 @reader1.panix.com:

I do fusion welding all the time. I was once told by a "master welder" that it was the most diffult thing of all to learn, and "almost magic".

Because of that, I _never_ tried it until about (what?) a year or two ago.

I was able to make the prettiest welds on my second try (and with friggin' coat-hanger wire as a rod, no less!) that I could not believe my eyes! I'm talkin' "row of dimes" type welds... far better than I muster with my MIG.

Now, it's second nature. With the proper rods, I'd recommend it over any other method for welding thin-walled material. It's _easy_!

LLoyd

In 1943, that was what they used for welding thin-walled steel tube, as on the frame of a Cub. The EAA guys who build that way often still use it.

I don't know if the Cub was made of 4130 ("shrome moly"), but likely so. There was, and still is, some controversy over using electrical welding in life-dedendent welding of thin 4130 tube.

It appears to be mostly hogwash, but it is a controversy. d8-) Tig gives you a very abrupt HAZ and Mig gives you that plus cold starts. Still, both are used in commercial production of plane kits for home builders.

Weeeelll, I dunno about "easy". At least for me. I have to work at it a few hours before the dimes show up... And even then, they seem a few cents short now and then.

But yes, it IS the preferred way to weld thin wall tube.

They did switch over to 4130, sometime in the '50s IIRC. But the first decade or so was all 1025.

There wasn't any other way to do it in those times :-)

I did it the other way round. I learned to weld thin tubing with oxy-acet and when I was exposed to TIG for the first time found it amazingly easy to use :-)