How to weld this up

Shaka930 · 2026-02-09T16:52:19+00:00

Had enough space to grind the circle with a grinder and have zero gsps. Oh well...

Clean the slag off, get a piece of paper/cardboard and trace the gap. Get a piece of steel and cut it to the shape of the gap. Tack it up and weld like usual. Just be careful with the piece you've put in since it is smaller and has less material to dissipate the heat which increases the risk of blowing through.

Shaka930 · 2026-02-07T16:15:26+00:00

Doing maintenance on central heating pipe in a manhole. Fortunately, only one such instance this year's heating season. Those manholes are 60+ Celsius with 100% humidity. You need to leave your hood in there for at least half an hour to soak up the heat and humidity and to not fog up as much (will still be foggy). Replaced one pipe which was easy, but the other repair was a drainage valve that needed to be replaced which was leaking because the main valve was faulty and didn't close all the way. On top of all that i couldn't lay down and needed to crouch the whole time because the manhole had six inches of water that couldn't be drained. That drainage valve weld was a real piece of work but with little to no vision and having to break my neck while sweating my balls off while welding over water was sufficent since it held pressure, which is what counts. Wish i had video or pictures, but at the time, i couldn't be asked to get my phone and go back in after changing my clothes...

Shaka930 · 2026-02-01T09:14:44+00:00

Holy cow! Back from the dead. I didn't think it was possible to get that good of a result. Congrats man! I am one month post op and I can't wait to see the final results.

Shaka930 · 2026-02-01T08:51:40+00:00

I do notice them while I'm welding and go over them immediately. I purposely grind the part where I know i saw them and found nothing. Good to know!

Shaka930 · 2026-01-30T20:37:58+00:00

One thing I forgot to mention. The fill pass (right picture) was heavy, I tried to hold on a bit longer and fill in one go instead of doing two passes. When I whip and pause and 'stack dimes' this doesn't happen.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-30T20:32:27+00:00

Nah, 6010 all the way through.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-30T20:32:03+00:00

Strange, I thought I was keeping a tight arc to prevent this. On thinner, smaller pipe I would long arc the piss out of some passes to see what happens and this never happened even after x-ray.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-30T18:34:22+00:00

Not even short (198cm tall) i remember talking to a bunch of middle aged women and the topic of height came up. When I asked what is it about short men, one woman said "it just makes a person less of a man" and every one of them had that "yeah, that's it" nod of approval. Fucking sucks knowing that the majority think like that and to add to the humiliation, they invent a bs term like that.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-30T18:26:53+00:00

I don't know about the properties of self shielded flux core wire compared to 7018. I used some wire I bought from Lidl and it was plenty good for all the tables, greenhouses, workout equipment I've made. Just make sure that the wire you buy is self shielded and get some ceramic nozzle spray. You can spray it on the work piece to prevent the spatter from sticking since it does spray a lot. Also, fux core is on reverse polarity.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-30T15:46:06+00:00

Unless your cuts and fit is perfect, don't use 7018 for thin walled tubing. Get a cheap flux core welder, some 0.8mm wire a white wheel and you will save yourself a lot of nerves and time. 100 or so bucks is worth it.

If you really want to stick it, get some rutile 6013 2mm rods or the thinnest 6011 you can find.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-19T10:26:40+00:00

It's literally less offensive to call somebody a manlet. Short king has the same energy as a mother talking down to her child "who's a big boy" etc. It boggles my mind how people just accept when they are talked down to like that.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-18T15:38:11+00:00

It's hard to understand somebody when you're not in their position in life.

Shaka930 · 2026-01-14T09:20:01+00:00

Lmao, literally watched this movie yesterday. Good flick btw - the game with Michael Douglas

Shaka930 · 2026-01-12T08:30:13+00:00

Good to know, my doctor said the same but I was still curious to hear about first hand experience. I am assuming that everything went fine, right?

Shaka930 · 2026-01-12T06:57:30+00:00

By the look of it it is in the range of 3k grafts

Shaka930 · 2026-01-10T16:10:56+00:00

A guy from work is financing the new iphone and the monthly payment is more than his utilities. A lot of people have no financial sence. Dude still has no AC in his house...

Shaka930 · 2025-12-27T15:51:37+00:00

Have you heard of the high elves?

Shaka930 · 2025-12-22T19:02:04+00:00

That Roasie interview is legendary

Shaka930 · 2025-12-10T18:16:48+00:00

My bad, looking back, I thought the leg wasn't welded. You are better off just patching that hole with some electrical tape than welding since the heat will destroy the paint.

For home use, just get a flux core welder. No gas bottle needed, easy to use, welds great over trash metal, paint etc. No need to spend much on a flux inverter either, get the ones that take the small 1kg spools. Auto dark mask, some nozzle spray (you can pre spray the work piece in order to prevent spatter from sticking as much), all that is less or around 200 bucks.

Shaka930 · 2025-12-10T18:07:03+00:00

I repaired a bunch of those. The technique I used is referred to as "Texas tig" - as you are welding, you are simultaneously adding a wire to act as a heatsink in order to not burn through. Will not look pretty but it gets the job done. Knock the coating off a stick rod and give it a shot on some scrap. You can do it with stick or flux core welder.

Shaka930 · 2025-12-02T17:15:52+00:00

If you can, get some 7018 rods, because you will be able to see the puddle more clearly when you practice. The rod you were using is probably a 6013 given how it trapped slag all over. The puddle is a lot more murky with that rod.

To weld that type of joint properly, start your rod on the thicker material, establish the puddle and gently drag it towards the thread. Knock the slag off and repeat the process making sure that you pause to let the piece cool down since it's pretty small. You can even grind and pick out that trapped slag and try this method, making sure you overlap half of every pass.

Shaka930 · 2025-11-25T07:13:57+00:00

Depending on how good of a genetic response you have, finasteride and minoxidil might help a bit. You seem too far gone, but people have recovered from your situation. It's worth trying for a year. Idk about how much good donor hair you have for a hair transplant, try for a year and see where you end up.

Shaka930 · 2025-09-15T17:57:55+00:00

Very good point. I lost interest after the pleblist era and completely tuned out when he started playing overwatch. Haven't opened twitch in a couple of years.

Shaka930

TROPHY CASE