Day 3: Lincoln Electric's GTAW (TIG) welding class

Day 3 kicked off with a lecture on AC welding on aluminum and magnesium. We only practiced on aluminum, but the techniques and machine setup are similar between the two materials. Both materials form oxides on their surface that melt at much higher temperatures than the parent metal underneath. These oxides need to be removed while welding, and the electrode positive half-cycle of the alternating current is what breaks them up. We discussed the AC balance on the machine and the pros and cons of more cleaning action (balance towards more electrode positive) and more penetration (balance towards more electrode negative). We also discussed the frequency of the AC cycle, and how a higher running frequency results in a tighter arc and deeper penetration. It's amazing all of the technology that goes into AC welding and the resulting flexibility the adjustments provide. I made quite a mess of some nice coupons of 6061, but I was having fun doing it. I also did a few more tubing samples towards the end of the day.

Butt weld

Added a T joint

Lap welds

Started getting out of hand. See that big puff of black? Yeah, I hit the tungsten with the filler rod.

Edge weld

Outside corner

Trying to get into a tight spot. Well, maybe a tight spot for a beginner. Note the TIG Finger Heat Shield in the background. Very handy.

Tubing attempt #4

Tubing attempt #5

Tubing attempt #6

 Tubing attempt #8

That's about it for day 3. I've been adding more photos to the Photobucket gallery HERE. Thanks for reading!

Day 2: Lincoln Electric's GTAW (TIG) welding class

Day 2 was all about stainless. We began the day at 8am with approximately 90 minutes of lecture. We started with some basic metallurgy and went over the different families of stainless. We then talked about some of its physical characteristics and really focused on its thermal conductivity and why stainless wraps the way it does. Then we went into machine settings and techniques. Pulse was introduced and we were encouraged to experiment with high frequency pulse to reduce heat input and (hopefully) warpage. A little Q&A and then we were off and running. Bob cruised around all of the booths and did some demos for us. But really, it's been all about booth time. I've been skipping lunch and staying late. The six straight hours of uninterrupted practice has been fantastic. Here are some photos. Please be kind. With only a tiny bit (maybe an hour total) of previous experience, these are some of my first attempts at welding of any kind. The entire album can be seen HERE.

The booth.

Lincoln InvertecV205-T

16 gauge carbon steel butt welds

16 gauge carbon steel T joint

16 gauge stainless butt weld

stainless T joint

my first tubing sample attempt

There's a lot of photos showing a ton of nasty welds in that gallery link I posted above. Fun stuff.

Thanks for reading!

Day 1: Lincoln Electric's GTAW (TIG) welding class

Hi everyone,
As part of my long-term plan for Zanconato Custom Cycles, I am attending Lincoln Electric's 1-week TIG welding class this week. I love lugs. Let me get that right out there. I want to build lugged bicycles for the rest of my career. They are uniquely beautiful, and that beauty was one of primary motivators that drove me to build my first frame back in 1998. But I've wanted to learn to TIG weld for a long long time. Welding opens up so many options. From being able to build frames in different materials to having a more cost-efficient steel option, welding is an extraordinary process for building sweet bikes. And when I look at my mission statement, the focus is putting great fitting, great handling, and great riding bikes in the hands of as many people as possible. This is the next step in accomplishing that mission.

Lincoln Electric has a world renowned welding school on their monstrous Cleveland, OH campus. The company was founded in 1895. At the time, they were building electric motors. They introduced their first welding set in 1909 and they began training welders in 1917. The welding school grew from there and now they have offerings that range from a basic 1-week intro to welding class to a 16-week comprehensive course that offers the student intensive training in all common forms of welding. Other interesting courses include two different motorsports TIG courses that focuses on some of the more exotic materials such as titanium, magnesium, and inconel. I'm taking the 1-week Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (TIG) class. The focus of the course will be welding carbon steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.

Day 1 began at 8am with a class introduction and a quick safety discussion. Our instructor, Bob Gardner, gave a bit of his background. He's been associated with Lincoln for nearly 40 years and has been a teacher for 28. Talk about experience. He did a fantastic job all day explaining concepts and techniques at a level everyone could understand. Great stuff. The class has 11 students. We went around the horn introducing ourselves. There are eight of us that are here for career reasons and three doing it more for recreation/hobby reasons. Seven have zero TIG experience. So it is a good mix and nobody should feel tentative about coming to the class due to lack of welding experience.

After the intros, we spent about an hour going over some basic concepts and the differences between DC and AC welding. We also had a high level discussion on AC frequency, balance, and waveform, AC and DC pulse, and purging/backpurging techniques. That all took about 2 hours and we were out on the floor doing some demos by 10am.

The setup out on the floor is pretty sweet. There are huge bins of pre-cut coupons in various sizes and thicknesses ready to go. And there are rows of separate booths for each student. There's plenty of room in the booth. They have a variety of machines that they use depending on what the students will be using after the class. I got set up on an Invertec V205 because I plan on using an inverter machine for building bicycle frames. The machine had a 9 series torch. The guys who are going to be using transformer machines got set up on Precision TIG 275 machines. Very nice all around.

I'll bring my camera with me tomorrow to get some photos. We started on some 12 gauge carbon steel coupons and did some butt, lap, and T joints. Bob was cruising around and was looking over each of our shoulders, gave out tips and advice, and did some demos in each of our booths. I also focused a bit on 16 gauge material because I wanted to start getting some time with some thinner material. I also have some tube samples that I brought with me, but I want to get some booth time in me before attempting those. We had a 30 minute break for lunch in the middle of the day. I stayed until about 3:45, even though the class officially ended at 2:30. Nobody was kicking me out, so I took advantage of the time.

So that's a wrap for day one. The rest of my updates will be more photo heavy and have less text, but I wanted to get this info out there. It covers a lot of the questions I had in my mind going into it. There isn't a ton of info on their website, so I figure this might help you in your decision making process if you are considering attending the class.

Thanks for reading!

Fluxed

Gooey

Which leads to crackly.

114 braze-ons

in the past 2 days.

Time to build some frames.

Prep

Shrapnel

I've been putting in lots of OT since getting back from NAHBS. I just did a big upload of photos to customer galleries to the left. It's spring, and I know folks are anxious for new bikes. I'm anxious and excited to get them out. I'll have my nose to the grindstone to make it happen. Hopefully, I won't give Keith a heart attack with the barrage of boxes that will be showing up at his door.

zank

Article on NAHBS blog

A little love from Matt Shields, one of the official NAHBS blog editors. Thanks, Matt.

Zanconato Custom Cycles

zank

First report from NAHBS

Greetings from Austin, TX. What an incredible city; it's the perfect venue to host this show. It's got a fantastic bicycle culture, incredibly warm and welcoming residents, and amazing food and drinks. I'd come back here in a heartbeat.

I didn't get much of a chance to walk around the show yesterday. In years past, Friday was usually a slightly slower paced day and then Saturday was insane, but yesterday was pretty busy and there was a constant stream of folks coming through the booth. I did take a quick stroll and all I can say is "WOW!" What an incredible time to be in the market for a new bike. All of the booths and bikes look incredible. I'll get more pictures today and gather some more thoughts.

Here are some pictures of my booth. My theme, as it's always been with everything I do, is clean and simple. I wanted a lot of room for people to be able to move around and not feel cramped or pressured to move on. I'm happy with how it came out and I've received some positive feedback. I'm banking on my choice to pay off today, because the powers that be at NAHBS are predicting an incredible attendee turnout.

Thank you to everyone for all of the well-wishes by phone, email, forum posts and PMs, Facebook, and Twitter. You all are the best. I feel so fortunate to have such great supporters.

More from the show later. Have a great day.
zank

NAHBS show bike #3

This one was a blast. Combining some old school pipes with new-age shifting may raise some eyebrows, but I say why the heck not? Who says you can't cross generations?

I carved up this set of Max lugs to look a little different than the last set. The goal here was a slim profile and a little less glitz. I've also learned that the seat stay attachment is a little stronger and cleaner looking if I add a skirt to the back of the seat tube. That way, I get a nice full miter of the seat stays to the seat tube. I made a few other changes outlined in some previous blog posts. I've enjoyed refining my techniques with this set. It's too bad they are disappearing so quickly.

Integrating the full internal Di2 wiring kit cleaned up the look of the bike even further. Word to the wise. Test all of the Di2 stuff before installing everything. I had to a bad Junction B and had to pull everything apart. Chad and the guys at Shimano came through for me though. Lesson learned.

Keith pulled off a stunner of a paint job. All of the bands and lettering are painted on and there isn't a bump or ripple anywhere. It will glow under the show lights.

Thank you, Bryan! What a pleasure this whole process was. I can't wait to get your feedback on the ride.

NAHBS show bike #2

A bike hasn't affected me in this way in a long time. Crazy emotions ran through me as I put it together. Memories started coming back. I started with the parts laid out on the bench and all of that polished aluminum simply gleamed. And as each part went on and the bike started coming together, I got a little giddier. Now look, I'm usually not one to hark back to days gone by pining for what was. Technology and fashion move on. I tend to adapt. I try not to get wrapped up in trying to control things that are out of my control. But I found myself thinking about this bike a lot starting from when Paul and I started talking about the build. And every thought would bring me back to memories of rides and bikes gone by. I guess today is one of those days when I wished all bikes looked like they did a generation ago. Alas, time moves on. But it's nice to know there are still a few companies that allow us to indulge these thoughts and desires.

There are more photos here.

Thank you, Paul.

NAHBS show bike #1

We are one week away from the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show in Austin, TX. It's getting a little crazy around here as the time winds down. I'll have three bikes with me and here is the cyclocross machine. I love it when big bikes don't look particularly big. This one will be tearing up the Mid-Atlantic this fall. Many thanks, Bill! I can't wait to see photos of it all dirty.

There are more photos here.

Bikerumor gave me some love

Bikerumor.com is doing a build up to NAHBS with a series of mini interviews. They just posted mine up. Thank you to Thom P and the gang over at Bikerumor!

Race To NAHBS! ADHD Interview – 11 NAHBS-Related Questions For Mike Zanconato