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View Full Version : I Need TIG welding, in Bay Area


AaronHorrocks
06-15-2009, 10:16 AM
Anyone have a TIG welder in the area?

I have an AK flat bending jig where the welds are starting to break, so I'll need those rewelded.
I also took a hair too much material off of one of my AK rails, and I need a little bit of metal tapped back on there.

Heatseeker
06-15-2009, 10:49 AM
See my reply on your bending party thread.

AaronHorrocks
06-15-2009, 10:55 AM
I can repair you jig, but I don't know that I'd want to mess with your rails. I'd hate to screw someone else's receiver up...Shoot me a PM to see if we make arrangements.

My reciever is already screwed up, so where's the problem? :p

If you ruin the rail, I'll just have to rip it off them have another one spot welded in.

supra95tt
06-15-2009, 11:01 AM
I've got a mig welder and skills I can help you out with.

AaronHorrocks
06-15-2009, 11:46 AM
And where are you located?

supra95tt
06-15-2009, 1:52 PM
Antioch. My welder is at work right now. I can bring it home tomorrow.

thedrickel
06-15-2009, 6:15 PM
What happened to your rail, did you grind on the ejector? If so, I would pop it off and put a new one on there. And probly drill a few holes in the receiver and have it tig'd in ;)

sava6e
06-15-2009, 6:40 PM
I've got a mig welder and skills I can help you out with.

+1 here in concord

Seesm
06-15-2009, 9:45 PM
Anyone have a TIG welder in the area?

I have an AK flat bending jig where the welds are starting to break, so I'll need those rewelded.
I also took a hair too much material off of one of my AK rails, and I need a little bit of metal tapped back on there.

Hey man we spoke on this awhile ago.. (I think it was about another gun however?)

Come up I can help you and do it right with a TIG welder not a MIG (sorry mig guys) They are just not the right thing for a firearm IMHO anyway.... Let me know Aaron.

sorensen440
06-15-2009, 9:56 PM
I have a tig at work but am out of practice

If you cant arrange it with anyone else let me know

supra95tt
06-15-2009, 10:52 PM
Hey man we spoke on this awhile ago.. (I think it was about another gun however?)

Come up I can help you and do it right with a TIG welder not a MIG (sorry mig guys) They are just not the right thing for a firearm IMHO anyway.... Let me know Aaron.

A MIG will work just fine since this is just plain steel. A TIG is more for specialty work such as Aluminum. He wants to repair a steel bending jig and build up some metal on his reciever. Just my .02 cents.

AaronHorrocks
06-16-2009, 10:18 AM
What happened to your rail, did you grind on the ejector? If so, I would pop it off and put a new one on there. And probly drill a few holes in the receiver and have it tig'd in ;)

I had to. The ejector was grossly oversized. When the bolt was installed, the bolt would kink up on the ejector. The problem is that I took too much off. When you're building an AK, you need to do some grinding. The top rails need to be cut down, and you can't even get a mag in unless you trim those rails down too. :p

TonyM
06-16-2009, 10:25 AM
I had to. The ejector was grossly oversized. When the bolt was installed, the bolt would kink up on the ejector. The problem is that I took too much off. When you're building an AK, you need to do some grinding. The top rails need to be cut down, and you can't even get a mag in unless you trim those rails down too. :p

This is really good information that I'm sure thedrickel was unaware of. Thanks for the help.

gose
06-16-2009, 10:34 AM
This is really good information that I'm sure thedrickel was unaware of. Thanks for the help.

What does drick know about AKs anyway?

MrNiceGuy
06-16-2009, 11:50 AM
What does drick know about AKs anyway?

Not a darn thing.....:P

AaronHorrocks
06-16-2009, 3:54 PM
Did you know that some ejectors are oversized? It seems the other rails (that came with the flats) I have are okay...

Seesm
06-17-2009, 1:42 PM
A MIG will work just fine since this is just plain steel. A TIG is more for specialty work such as Aluminum. He wants to repair a steel bending jig and build up some metal on his reciever. Just my .02 cents.

forgive me I was not knocking your abilty or anything more the ability of a MIg to really do any sort of nice job as even set well they are blob and splatter throwers compared to a TIG...

I weld chromoly, stainless, Titanium, aluminum with my TIG and most just tractor, and trailer and truck stuff with my mig... I am pretty good at all of it but just am not a fan of a MIg uness I have to use it..

We do some smithing and I would personally never see any reason to use my Mig over my TIg to work on ANY part of a firearm, that is all I am saying.

Sorry if I ruffled any feathers people.

Heatseeker
06-17-2009, 4:14 PM
forgive me I was not knocking your abilty or anything more the ability of a MIg to really do any sort of nice job as even set well they are blob and splatter throwers compared to a TIG...

I weld chromoly, stainless, Titanium, aluminum with my TIG and most just tractor, and trailer and truck stuff with my mig... I am pretty good at all of it but just am not a fan of a MIg uness I have to use it..

We do some smithing and I would personally never see any reason to use my Mig over my TIg to work on ANY part of a firearm, that is all I am saying.

Sorry if I ruffled any feathers people.

I agree with you about the difference between the two mentioned welding methods.

MIG is a good high production steel welding method where neatness is not a major concern. I have seen very few welders who were good enough with a MIG to work on a firearm. I'm definitely not one of them.

TIG is definitely a finesse process. You have more material placement/heat control and no spatter with a TIG. And TIG affords the versatility of being able to weld many materials. A well laid TIG bead is a work of art!

Asphodel
06-17-2009, 4:39 PM
If nothing else works out, give me a PM on the site here.

I've a TIG machine here, and have been doing argon-arc welding for years and years (years ago, I did some rather fancy argon-arc welding....if I do say so myself......for some prototype munitions items, some of which are now in use), but I get to be 'retired' these days, so I don't solicit any work.......but I'll do occasional small items to 'help someone out'.....no problem.

I'll have to agree with those who said that the argon-arc is preferable to MIG for any repair, modification, or 'one-off' work generally, when weld strength, full penetration, and minimising warpage are the considerations.

Note that any welding on a heat-treated steel part destroys the heat-treated characteristics of the part, to the extent of the area brought past the original draw temp of the part.

I've generally found that 316 stainless filler rod alloys well with the generality of mild steels, minimises the chance of porosity in the weld due to impurities in the parent steel, and is preferable for 'one-off' work, albeit there is a colour match problem for blued or parked parts......which there will be with any weld, of course, just not to such an extent.

(to be sure, MIG is far preferable for speed in steel fabrication work, altho MIG work can have embrittlement problems if not done optimally......if done correctly, MIG welds are good sound welds in fabrication practice)

Fair warning........some of the 'steel' being rolled in oriental mills these days is pretty bad stuff (the melts are apparently just recycled misc ferrous scrap, anything which can be picked up with a magnet), and will fracture in any cold forming.

I know nothing of Kalashnikov rifle receiver work, and would fear that you may be trying to form some parts from low-quality steel.......if so, if you have steel which is cracking in a forming operation, you really should get some better grade of steel.

cheers

Carla

supra95tt
06-17-2009, 10:01 PM
No feathers ruffled here. I was just saying that a MIG welder (when an experienced user works it) works just fine on steel. Certainly a TIG welder produces extraordinary welds on just about any metal but it also requires a skilled person to get the extraordinary welds. I was offering to help a fellow member and since I am fairly new here it would be a way to meet some of you guys.

On another note, I sometimes have some aluminum projects on some of my cars so it's nice to see some guys around here have TIG's. Maybe someday, I'll come knocking.....

AaronHorrocks
06-21-2009, 9:02 PM
I know nothing of Kalashnikov rifle receiver work, and would fear that you may be trying to form some parts from low-quality steel.......if so, if you have steel which is cracking in a forming operation, you really should get some better grade of steel.

The cracking that is forming is on the receiver stamping jig. We've stamped out some 50+ receivers on this jig and a couple of the welds are starting to give. It doesn't seem outta place to me that the welds were just not up to par.