How much do gunsmiths use a welder???

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  • praff

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    So in the past, my tig welder has been used to fix mistakes. I find myself using it more and more on a regular basis as my skills continue to improve.

    The following is a really good example of proactively using the welder for a customer project. I am fitting a new frame, slide, barrel to an existing set of small parts and grip. The thumb safety proved to be non-functional when the parts were assembled. The sear pad had been cut just a little to far for this combination of frame and old parts. So...out comes the tig welder. I was able to weld uo the sear pad and re-cut which saved the customer 60-100 in parts as well as additional labor to fit and blend the new safeties.

    How much does everyone else use the welder???





    5vp3r9.png
     

    Leadeye

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    Tig welding is one of those skills I wish I had, fixing parts that aren't made anymore, priceless.
     

    praff

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    I have Tig and a Mig. I need to start using them both again as this is a perishable skill.

    I agree that you need to keep up some practice. My skills have improved 10 fold and I find more real uses for it in the shop every month.
     

    AllenM

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    I picked one up a little while ago and am learning how to use it. Fortunately I have a guy right down the road that tigs daily and he has helped out when needed. best thing I have used it for is welding up improperly cut sight dovetail for recutting
     

    JeepHammer

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    TIG welders *Sometimes* come in handy, 'Stick' welders are useless, MIG welders are next to useless.

    It's often the Heat Zone that's the issue, annealing is a huge issue when trying to repair/build heat treated parts.

    For blemish repair, silver solder often works without reaching temps that screw up heat treating.
    Good for filling in dings & gouges since finishes will stick to it.
    Making new SECTIONS and grafting on replacements for mangled areas often is a viable alternative for complicated parts that have something simple wrong with them.
    An example is oval shaped holes that need to be round, drill out round, silver solder in a sleeve.
    Levers, like hammers, often have pivot holes misshapen, and milling off the mangled part, then grafting on a replacement with silver solder often works.

    TIG welding is far more precise than Stick or TIG, and it has a smaller heat zone around the weld. Welding heat dam material will lessen the heat zone, I have switched to plumbers putty, re-useable and works just as well, maybe better than the actual welding stuff.

    Depending on skill level, you can lay down some fairly hard surface material with TIG.
    I'm no weldor, but I employ one that can weld almost anything (including titanium) and he can work miracles in some stuff.
    He isn't bashful about telling me what welding WON'T work on, the mark of a REALLY good weldor!

    Welder = Machine
    Weldor = Man Doing The Welding

    For those of you wanting to do silver soldering or brazing, consider an induction heater.
    This makes silver soldering or paste brazing stupid simple.
    Very little I weld anymore since the weldor showed me how easy paste brazing & silver soldering is with an induction heater.
     

    churchmouse

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    TIG welders *Sometimes* come in handy, 'Stick' welders are useless, MIG welders are next to useless.

    It's often the Heat Zone that's the issue, annealing is a huge issue when trying to repair/build heat treated parts.

    For blemish repair, silver solder often works without reaching temps that screw up heat treating.
    Good for filling in dings & gouges since finishes will stick to it.
    Making new SECTIONS and grafting on replacements for mangled areas often is a viable alternative for complicated parts that have something simple wrong with them.
    An example is oval shaped holes that need to be round, drill out round, silver solder in a sleeve.
    Levers, like hammers, often have pivot holes misshapen, and milling off the mangled part, then grafting on a replacement with silver solder often works.

    TIG welding is far more precise than Stick or TIG, and it has a smaller heat zone around the weld. Welding heat dam material will lessen the heat zone, I have switched to plumbers putty, re-useable and works just as well, maybe better than the actual welding stuff.

    Depending on skill level, you can lay down some fairly hard surface material with TIG.
    I'm no weldor, but I employ one that can weld almost anything (including titanium) and he can work miracles in some stuff.
    He isn't bashful about telling me what welding WON'T work on, the mark of a REALLY good weldor!

    Welder = Machine
    Weldor = Man Doing The Welding

    For those of you wanting to do silver soldering or brazing, consider an induction heater.
    This makes silver soldering or paste brazing stupid simple.
    Very little I weld anymore since the weldor showed me how easy paste brazing & silver soldering is with an induction heater.

    I will only disagree with "A wire machine is useless" as I have laid down miles of wire with great success. The key (as with Tig) is prep. Clean and dry. No oils solvents or coatings.

    Years behind a torch brazing/Silver soldering. Same thing. Prep.

    Never done the induction thing but have seen it used in certain applications.
     

    JeepHammer

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    If you are going to quote, at least get it right...
    I said NEXT to useless, simply because it's not precise and builds way too much heat.
    I can say this because I've ruined parts trying to build up with MIG welding, not just firearms parts.

    As for induction heating, much more precise than flame heating, and no contamination in the joint.
     

    churchmouse

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    If you are going to quote, at least get it right...
    I said NEXT to useless, simply because it's not precise and builds way too much heat.
    I can say this because I've ruined parts trying to build up with MIG welding, not just firearms parts.

    As for induction heating, much more precise than flame heating, and no contamination in the joint.

    Hey......37/38 what ever works.

    In its proper vein Migs are great. Outside of that they can be "Next" to useless.

    When I do the solders I am in a place that the induction thing is not an option. I am pretty slick with a torch. I stopped burning stuff up a long long time ago.

    I have a few friends that torch weld aluminum. They are amazing. They also do this all day most every day.
     

    praff

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    So, keep in mind, mig is only minimally used depending on application. If I am wanting to build post samples of heavy framed receivers that have been torch cut... (have a couple I am gonna tackle this summer), wire feed is not a bad application. In fact, you could almost argue it would be easier to use than tig for that application.
     

    praff

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    Another application for tig that hasn't been mentioned is for pin and weld of barrel extensions. That can be steel or titanium. I am tackling my first titanium pin and weld on monday actually.
     

    churchmouse

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    Another application for tig that hasn't been mentioned is for pin and weld of barrel extensions. That can be steel or titanium. I am tackling my first titanium pin and weld on monday actually.

    Never tackled the extreme metals. Usually steel. Some stainless.

    Proper tools for the job at hand. Sometimes we learn to use what we have in areas we are told it will not work and have some success.
     

    Clay Pigeon

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    Another application for tig that hasn't been mentioned is for pin and weld of barrel extensions. That can be steel or titanium. I am tackling my first titanium pin and weld on monday actually.

    I have done some titanium aerospace parts a few years back. Are you going to weld in a gas box? I will say make sure it's clean, clean, clean. Lots of gas and let it cool super slow.
    Please post some pictures when your done.
     

    praff

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    I have done some titanium aerospace parts a few years back. Are you going to weld in a gas box? I will say make sure it's clean, clean, clean. Lots of gas and let it cool super slow.
    Please post some pictures when your done.

    No plan to weld in a gas box. I will rig a purge outside of the gas cup as well as the gas cup. Yes clean is very important from what I understand. It isn't gonna take much heat as I am gonna press/mushroom a little excess of the pin and barely melt it into a puddle
     

    JeepHammer

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    I'm NOT a weldor (or THE weldor I employ),
    I watched some of the titanium heat shields being welded, with gas capture fed by inert gas on the backside, flood cups pouring gas on the front side.

    I burn stick & MIG wire, TIG isn't more art than I'm capable of, way too many variables controlling the welder controls, torch, feed material, etc for me to keep track of. It's coordination & art in motion I don't have.

    Any chucklehead can burn rod, and with a little practice it will actually penetrate instead of being bird :poop: , I'm proof.
    The sheer weight of bird :poop: kept my earliest welds from taking off...

    MIG is stupid easy, even I can do it, the heat, spatter, inaccuracy doesn't particularly lend itself well to gunsmithing.

    There is no way I would stick or even MIG weld a heat treated receiver, some riveted slab sider maybe, but not a heat treated tube receiver. I wouldn't want a customer eating the bolt & back of the receiver...
     

    ditcherman

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    Funny you should ask, although I am no gunsmith. At all. In any way. But I did royally screw up a lower Friday, tried to use a drill bit instead of a mill to drill out the hole for the trigger, and it wandered bad. First pic is the wandered hole.
    GmR3g7LYRamPwt2ZbmTW3A.jpg
    Here we are with the tigged part, not a good fix at all and my jig is worn so I got the sidewalls too thin anyway so gave up on the whole lower, but did learn I 'could' weld on something this small/light if I had too, with some practice. Will keep practicing, but probably on farm equipment/truck parts.
    VcawCzjLQL6cs6V8A3Vg7A.jpg
     

    ditcherman

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    I'm NOT a weldor (or THE weldor I employ),
    I watched some of the titanium heat shields being welded, with gas capture fed by inert gas on the backside, flood cups pouring gas on the front side.

    I burn stick & MIG wire, TIG isn't more art than I'm capable of, way too many variables controlling the welder controls, torch, feed material, etc for me to keep track of. It's coordination & art in motion I don't have.

    Any chucklehead can burn rod, and with a little practice it will actually penetrate instead of being bird :poop: , I'm proof.
    The sheer weight of bird :poop: kept my earliest welds from taking off...

    MIG is stupid easy, even I can do it, the heat, spatter, inaccuracy doesn't particularly lend itself well to gunsmithing.

    There is no way I would stick or even MIG weld a heat treated receiver, some riveted slab sider maybe, but not a heat treated tube receiver. I wouldn't want a customer eating the bolt & back of the receiver...
    I did MIG the pin of the flash hider on a 14" barrel once because MIG is all I had. Nervous as all get out, I mean by that time you're almost done with the whole thing!
     

    praff

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    There is no way I would stick or even MIG weld a heat treated receiver, some riveted slab sider maybe, but not a heat treated tube receiver. I wouldn't want a customer eating the bolt & back of the receiver...

    People have been migging machine gun parts kit receivers for decades. Everything from Brens to DPM’s to galils to uzi’s to mg42’s etc. if done correctly with good penetration and solid welds, there is no issue.
     
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