I would like to spot weld some thin stainless and titanium for jet pipes etc. Can anyone recommend any simple inexpensive equipment for doing this as useage would be very low .

Secondly, can anyone rcommend a really good simulator, with first class graphics anda jet style model,(BobCat ?) which can be used with a JR 10x transmitter so I can get some practice during our flying bans due extreme fire risk.

Any help on these matters would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

David Gladwin.

Hello David,
I use this simulator. AFPD every day. You can use your 10X and there are many jets for free to download. It is very realistic IMO. The models and environments can be tweeked. Let me know if you need help or want to trade some models and scenery.
http://www.aerofly.com/

HTH

Joe

Not sure if you can spot weld those dissimilar metals, stainless should fill all your needs. You can make a spot welder;

http://www.5bears.com/welder.htm

You will have to make a delivery setup. I made 3 exhaust systems using this setup.
Jack

David you can find good deals on portable spot welders on E-Bay, I have made a few pipes out of .007 SS and the process is quite easy once you get used to the welder.

[link=http://cgi.ebay.com/PORTABLE-ELECTRIC-AUTO-BODY-STEEL-SPOT-WELDER_W0QQitemZ320067780715QQihZ011QQcategoryZ464 13QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem]Ebay spot welders[/link]

As for a good r/c simulater look into Realflight G3, you can download a demo from [link=http://www.knifeedge.com/]knife edge software[/link]


Alan

David,

Those metals are hard to solder or spot weld. You have to use argon gaz to solder them, otherwise they would oxidate in time.
If your parts are small, I could do it for you. You can check what I did in the Savex L39 thread for my thrust pipe.
Spot welding is not as strong. If you want to make you own device, you need a powerful transformer.
For the simulator, give me youe address, I'll send you a copy of aerofly. Mine is already a copy of a copy of a copy...

Yann

Hi David,

Wren have plans to make a DIY spot welder. It used a redundant microwave transformer.

Jason

Aerofly pro deluxe definately.

Ant

It takes a tig welder and gas to weld stainless,I sold and serviced miller and lincoln welders and know it takes a tig to weld dissimilar metals,take a wire welder and try to weld a cat converter and youll know it cant be done cuase weld wont stick to it.

If you want to build a spot-welder, the plan for the Wren version (as used here at the factory and also by dozens of homebuilders) is available. Price is just 1 GBPound plus post - which can be paid in cash next time you see me.

Sara Parish
Wren Turbines

I use this spotwelder from Harbour freight.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=45689

anyone who is saying welding SS is difficult is just plain wrong .. I have used a $60 Ebay bough spot welder to make pipes from anything between .006 - .01 SS... After a few practice welds and getting used to the flick of the switch to get the weld just right, it was a piece of cake. Making a 2 wall straight pipe is very straight forward and easy ... The first pipe i made was a bifurcated and curved pipe for a turbine heli. The biggest challenge was getting the geometries of the pieces right so as to end up with the proper shape after bending and welding into place ...






here is an example of a spot welder that can be easily used. The tongs can be bent and formed to diferent shapes if needed so as to fit into tight spaces for unique pipes if needed.

http://cgi.ebay.com/115-V-ELECTRIC-S...QQcmdZViewItem

# 220067487969 if the link does not show ...


Voy

Aerofly Pro, head and shoulders better than anything else (for feel)

m

David,

As others have said here, spot welding titanium to stainless steel isn't practical, but spot welding titanium to itself IS possible without using TIG equipment & shielding gas (usually argon). There are several inexpensive spot welders on the market that do the job fine, as well as Ebay is a great source. Shipping is typically the costly part as they can be pretty heavy. I haven't seen Wren's plans, but I'm sure they would work also. Please be careful as you're working with a signifigant amount of heat & current.... be safe!

Biggest enemy of spotwelding is dirt & oils on the surface. Also, try to get as good of a fit as possible. In my work (I design & program robotic welding systems, specializing in thin metal TIG welding) most of the time is spent in perfecting the parts layout & fit. If those are good then the weld itself is simply a matter of getting the proper amperage & speed.

Be aware that if you do choose to spotweld titanium you'll most likely get some corrosion over time as it really needs to be shielded with an inert gas. The oxygen surrounding the molten metal will contaminate the weld.

Take a look at www.design2fab.com for a demo of some sheet metal layout software. I'm sure there's many others on the market geared towards HVAC systems.

Bob

I built the spot welder from Kurt's website at:

http://www.5bears.com/welder.htm

It features a timer and foot switch so you can control the weld very accurtately. I have found that good welds need a very short time, as in a few hundreths of a second.
This setup lets me repeat the process reliably. And it's a pretty inexpensive device.
I made 18 inch arms to build a 36 inch tube for my large U-2.

Works well on stainless - don't know about titanium.
Paul

Hi everyone, I like the Aerofly Pro Deluxe sim , I just got it and am looking for a realistic f-16 to fly on it , does anyone have a nice f-16 that I could download?? Thanks Jack.

I've tweaked the standard F16 of aerofly deluxe a bit.

PM me your emailadress and I will sent it to you.

greetzz,

Koen

Many thanks to you all, RCU at its best. I am not planning to weld titanium TO stainless just each metal to itself so I'll try the system Wren is using, thank you Sara. Not going into the tailpile business just making up a couple of dummy gas turbine starter exhausts for my AW Hawks. (using some old tailpipe stainless so they look realistically burned)

The Aerofly looks very good and has a BobCat so thats what it will be !

Again, my sincere thanks to you all.

David Gladwin.

David, let me know if you want to swap some planes and scenery when you get get AFPD. I love the Casa C-101 that just came up on the free down load site.

Hope you fire season goes away quickly. We certainly have our share here.

Regards,

joe kelley

Roger on that Joe, Yes i hear there are fires in california , hope they keep on top of them. Got really nasty at home last Jan, fires got very near but at least we had marvellous views of the firefighting helicopters doing their thing.

Thanks again, David.

Just a note to tell you guys that your advice was first class. I bought the Aerofly Pro and have installed it on my laptop, I'm highly impressed. Don't have Tx with me in London but I can see the efforts of the models trying to fly with the absent transmitter 'default" values, full throttle and all controls in the corner, cant wait to try it with a Tx and get the add-on to include a Bobcat. !

and a public thank you to Sara at Wren, I now have the drawings for my spot welder, thank you again, Sara, and to you guys for your help.

David.

I just bought one from harbor freight for $159. it did a great job on stainless and galvanized.

David , You can Download a nice Bobcat for free from the Aerofly site, Make sure you download the quick installer utility first it makes adding planes easy. Good Luck Jack.

Here is the link www.ipacs-sim.com.

This thread made me want to finish my spot welder, that has been lying around in pieces for years now.
Because of the size of the wire and the available space in the transformer, I cant get more than 3.6 Volts on the secondary side.
Now I can just barely weld two pieces of .012" steel together (0.3mm), Ideally I want to be able to weld two .025" together.

To those of you that have a sucessful setup: How much secondary voltage do you have, and how thick can you weld?


Regards

Lars

Any advice on setting up the BobCat in Aerofly Pro Deluxe? It is realistic at speed, but unlike the real thing, the simulator version seems to lose elevator authority at low speed.