s'less welding in a "box" filled with Argon - fanciful or practical?
My intention is to start a TIG welding business doing stainless steel as my regular work.
"Penetration" stainless welds with just the torch argon supply look horrible underneath (fillet welds are fine with no other protection? - they look so if you don't melt through the thickness of the sheets being joined).
There is back-purge. You would certainly do that for a long butt or corner-joint.
For more complex shapes which are not long, such as s'less kitchen and household objects, back-purge is less easy to apply (?) while OTOH the entire object could be welded in a "box" full of Argon.
That "crozzle" which you get on the top bead even when correctly using torch shielding -- how is that affected by working in a tank? Do you have less cleaning to do if you weld in Argon?
Do people have arrangements where they have an air-lock and pass sheet metal in and finished objects out, thereby limiting the amount of shielding gas used?
There is Ar/H gas mixes for s'less. If find the market's there, could imagine having two types of gas (pure Ar for all other purposes). Have never seen these, but if Hydrogen does for s'less TIG penetration and heat what it does for "stick" (SMA) it must be useful (?). Are there any issues to using Ar/5%H with a "box"/"tank"?
(there's an adddition advantage to welding in a "box"/"tank" - I don't have a dedicated workshop at present and it would be useful to make the welding unintrusive to those around)
Richard Smith