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micro-tig/mig

Hi

Can anyone help advise me about a really small tig welder? I'm thinking about somewhere between 20 and 200 watts maximum power in a very small space. It it possible? That's about one amp at 18 volts ...

Also the same questions about a similar mig welder?

Commercially available?

If not I can build the power, 0.1 mm wire-feed, gas supplies etc, if I know what they have to do.

I want to make maybe 3 inch long welds between one inch dia components weighing a half ounce or two, without distortion. Perhaps I'm thinking in the wrong way?

They also have to have high temperature performance close to the best larger-scale welding - it's for rocketry.

I have considered diffusion brazing, where you can diffuse the melting point lowering components of the braze metal so much that you get the joint metal close to the base metal's melting point, and some weird stuff whereby you can get an even higher melting point for the filler - don't ask about that unless you want a lot of incomprehensible math and chemistry - but it's going to be a lot of work to get even the simple diffusion brazing version working.

Thanks!

Reply to
Peter Fairbrother
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This URL talks about a laser welder. It's for jewelry so it may not do what you want. $32,000. :-)

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Peter Fairbrother wrote:

Reply to
Al Patrick

Can you strike a decent arc with only 18V ? I would have though for these kind of size parts you might be able to weld them in a little glovebox contraption, so you wouldn't need to provide a fancy torch, but you would need to cool the electrode.

I have a glovebox I made for a capacitor discharge project, I could let you have it if you are anywhere near Manchester UK.

Steve

Reply to
Steve Taylor

There have been some Linde Plasma Welders on ebay recently. They will go way small in power.

"By calling attention to 'a well regulated militia', the 'security' of the nation, and the right of each citizen 'to keep and bear arms', our founding fathers recognized the essentially civilian nature of our economy. Although it is extremely unlikely that the fears of governmental tyranny which gave rise to the Second Amendment will ever be a major danger to our nation, the Amendment still remains an important declaration of our basic civilian-military relationships, in which every citizen must be ready to participate in the defense of his country. For that reason, I believe the Second Amendment will always be important." -- Senator John F. Kennedy, (D) 1960

Reply to
Gunner

Can you strike a decent arc with only 18V ? I would have though for these kind of size parts you might be able to weld them in a little glovebox contraption, so you wouldn't need to provide a fancy torch, but you would need to cool the electrode.

I have a glovebox I made for a capacitor discharge project, I could let you have it if you are anywhere near Manchester UK.

Steve

Reply to
Steve Taylor

Reply to
Al Patrick

thinking

Yes. Look at micro-tigs from

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Those are the machines used to weld pacemakers and similar stuff. They are expensive.

The power supply is a simple constant current source, but at those low amperages the trick is to start the arc.

components

thinking in

How thick is your material? And what material is it anyway?

melting point

Mmhh. Maybe you could weld your stuff by running current directly through it. Look how bandsaw welders work.

Reply to
jerry_tig2003

You might find that the bigger TIG welders will go low enough to do the welding that you want to do. When I was taking a class I ran a bead across the end of an aluminum pop can with a welder that was rated for at least 250 amps at the high end. The bigger welders will typically go lower in current than the welders that will only go up to 175 amps.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

thinking

components

thinking in

melting point

desperately

Reply to
microwelder

thinking

components

thinking in

melting point

desperately

Reply to
microwelder

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