Sod the soddering. Why do many people pronounce "idea" as "i-dear" or "i-dee-ar"? I heard Dave and Big Clive saying it like that. What's the "IDR" behind the "r" at the end? Not judging or criticizing - just genuinely interested.
well a solder joint is hard to measure and stuff because its small. You can't set it up right easily (for instance look at braze joint strength vs spacing, it peaks around 0.004 inches filler gap.
What percent of nominal failure force at that application did the weld fail at? Like weld size in reference to its say, 75% of nominal for quality amateur work, derated of course, tensile strength. ?
If it stopped at 'sodder' it would be bearable,
but there are other variations too I hear creeping in, like Sata and Sardur (Lord Of The Universe? fast acting migraine killer?)
Sorry gents, the sodder vs solder debates may rage on as they will with no truce in sight, but it does say SOLDER on the packaging not SODDER.
Soddering iron and soddering tips and techniques doesn't sound quite right either.
May I add further I don't care to be in that 99.999% club mentioned earlier,
I get along super with all brits, yanks and cauncks
thank yoll very much.
I get shocked when I see DIY trailer welding that's been done by beer swilling neanderthals,
how do they get a roadworthy cert for such slag infested, porous, spray painted bird sh!t beads ?
Most of the times I've seen welded joints fail they've failed at the side of the weld, I.E. the original metal tears, the weld is usually intact with a piece of the structure attached to it.
That would indicate to me the design was placing undue stress on the frame and/or the welding process has somehow softened the material it was intended to 'join'
Thick enough (and ugly) works as long as the heat goes in deep in a few spots and the sides get a good cooking.
If running a gas MIG indoors it's do-able. With stick and gasless MIG it may get tricky.
How well 'thick enough' holds out in a few years time is anyones guess or gamble
Welding is pretty complicated (to get 100% right) compared to the usual soldering routine (clean, flux, solder, clean, inspect, done)
Once you zap metal and filler metal with an arc it will expand and not contract back where you want it, and parts of the metal grain structure may weaken or distort etc even if the bead/joint looks good.
A solder joint you can blow on to cool it off faster and move on to the next one.
Not so with welding, you have to watch the work subject temperature on a larger project, otherwise amperage settings go out the window if the work piece gets too hot.
As you stated earlier, the only way to verify weld integrity is to trash a sample and see what the real deal is.
Hey, who says it can't be fun too...
After having watched many USA based videos already, it's a given I will never be a real welder,
it takes a lot of commitment and time to study and learn the craft PROPERLY
QuoteAfter having watched many USA based videos already, it's a given I will never be a real welder,
it takes a lot of commitment and time to study and learn the craft PROPERLY
It's a trade/industry. There are a few hoops to jump thru, tuition and respect/dues to be paid, ladders to climb. Just like any other source of income which doesn't really require much special talent.
Yeah, it's harder than soldering. If you want to tackle something truly difficult, try sewing.
The trailer thing wasn't a welding thing. It is a structural engineering conundrum. And the guy knew a good way to fix it because he was an experienced "trailer fabricator." Not because he had mystic knowledge of welding, lol.
As for OP, I think this applies to most skills on Youtube. It's a matter of monkey see, monkey do. In the old days, if you wanted to share knowledge, you wrote a book. Today, you can record something and upload it the same day. There are a few people who make a good living doing this, and there are a heck of a lot of other people trying! It's not a matter soldering standards. The only standard that matters is views.
I remember watching a wranglestar video a few years ago. He was demonstrating a skill. I can't even remember what it was. Let's just say he was building something relatively small but useful. Let's call it a widget. He was dropping all kinds of knowledge bombs on why this was the best way to build the widget. Then 10 minutes into the video, he drops the little nugget that this was actually the first time he was building a widget, but he was an expert because he watched all the other Youtube vids and used Google search. If this makes him an idiot, I'll gladly be an idiot for several hundred thousand $ a year.
...I remember watching a wranglestar video a few years ago. He was demonstrating a skill. I can't even remember what it was. Let's just say he was building something relatively small but useful. Let's call it a widget. He was dropping all kinds of knowledge bombs on why this was the best way to build the widget.
Then 10 minutes into the video, he drops the little nugget that this was actually the first time he was building a widget, but he was an expert because he watched all the other Youtube vids and used Google search.
If this makes him an idiot, I'll gladly be an idiot for several hundred thousand $ a year.