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Thread: The Arc!

  1. #1

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    Julian

    The Arc!

    The Arc!

    34mm, 1/60th sec, f/2.8, ISO800
    Olympus OM-D E-M5, M. Zuiko Pro 12-40mm f/2.8


    Comments and criticism are most appreciated.

  2. #2

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    Richard

    Re: The Arc!

    I've never tried to photograph the welding process, it looks like you have done quite a good job. If you know the welder tell him he really should wear a leather glove before he does permanent damage to his skin. TIG welding produces an awful lot of UV. My eyes are still 'fuzzy' from a few hours welding at the weekend in spite of using a top quality auto-dimming helmet, maybe I'm just getting old. I'm also curious about the amount of smoke/vapour, what on earth was he welding?

  3. #3

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    Ted

    Re: The Arc!

    Nice!

    Wondering how that would look if shot with a full-spectrum camera (no hot/UV mirror)?

  4. #4

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    Re: The Arc!

    Quote Originally Posted by DickyOZ View Post
    If you know the welder tell him he really should wear a leather glove before he does permanent damage to his skin. TIG welding produces an awful lot of UV. My eyes are still 'fuzzy' from a few hours welding at the weekend in spite of using a top quality auto-dimming helmet, maybe I'm just getting old. I'm also curious about the amount of smoke/vapour, what on earth was he welding?
    All your advice is appreciated and understood. Clearly you have experience or you would not be giving such accurate recommendations! However, I think you'll feel a little better after you hear about the circumstances.

    This is, as you can probably tell from the photo, welding inside of a car. The weld length is about 1.5 inches, times six welds. It is overhead too and so it is a bit of a pain in the ass because the shielding gas (Argon) doesn't like to stay where you put it. Running about 55-65 Amps at the arc. Total arc time here is maybe 3 minutes accounting for all welds.

    The smoke is from car paint. We cleaned off the weld surfaces, but the paint just a little ways away was cooking and smoking. It's a bit of a hard thing to factor, you clear more paint you get less smoke, but then you have a bunch more area to repaint. There was at least enough paint removed for a good quality weld.

    No glove here because feeling the radiant heat of the metal is important. If you start heating up the roof too much you'll begin to blister the paint. Knowing when to stop was important for the welder, so he didn't glove for this part. It didn't help that the angle was super awkward and the glove damaged required dexterity.

    Finally the smoke is almost certainly toxic. The method used was to have a big fan at the ready. The weld has to be done without air movement, so the welder holds his breath, does the weld, and then calls for fan. We blow all the crap out of the car, then breathe easy and prepare for the next weld.

    With the low amperage and short arc time, no glove seemed to be a tenable solution to not overheating the metal. Rest assured, we're not doing production welding without better protection. If you're curious, here is how one of the final welds turned out. Note that one side of each tab was welded on a bench with glove.

    The Arc!


    Quote Originally Posted by xpatUSA View Post
    Wondering how that would look if shot with a full-spectrum camera (no hot/UV mirror)?
    Through a UV camera, probably a lot like it does now! The arc would be the UV source in the scene, so it would just end up illuminating everything in a similar way. Behind the welder is a front windshield, I believe those either reflect or absorb UV fully. Therefore it would either be black or bright in the background ruining it or making the image great.
    Last edited by Astramael; 28th June 2016 at 12:28 AM.

  5. #5

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    Lew Lorton

    Re: The Arc!

    What are you welding on the roof of a car?
    Welding the sun roof closed?

  6. #6

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    Re: The Arc!

    Quote Originally Posted by thetraveler View Post
    What are you welding on the roof of a car?
    Welding the sun roof closed?
    Sort of. The sunroof operates inside of a cassette mechanism between the roof structure and the headliner. Here's a photo of the one from this BMW:

    The Arc!

    There are larger more complex ones these days that fold upwards out of the car, and panoramic ones that slide elsewhere... but the standard sunroof and moonroof in most cars works by retracting into the cassette between the roof and the headliner.

    This has a few ramifications. Number one is 1.5-2 inches less headroom than the slick roof version of the same car. Number two is the mechanism is quite heavy, 40-60lbs depending on how big and whether or not it is glass (giant panoramic sunroofs can weigh hundreds of pounds). This weight is also at the highest point in the car, which means it has a very long torque arm with which to act upon the vehicle. Sunroofs are a negative influence on car dynamics during all phases of driving.

    To address this we pulled the sunroof mechanism out and got back some lovely headroom (very important for helmets). Then we welded the metal sunroof panel to the ceiling of the car with tabs shedding about 30lbs of weight from the roof. Finally we will seal the gap with an industrial seam sealer. The car is becoming a race car, so next after this is a roll cage...

    The Arc!
    Last edited by Astramael; 29th June 2016 at 04:47 AM.

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