Fancy laser welding

[andyvh1959]

so, those fancy looking "lazer" welders on YouTube and FBM, real or just more AI BS? They show quick, no filler wire or rod, perfect welds, no prep. Gotta be fake right?

 

[scooby074]

There is a place for Laser, but these import lasers being shilled on YT are going to get someone in trouble, either from bad welds or laser vision damage. There are a couple guys talking about the dangers, but a lot more shills doing it for the sweet referral money that companies like xtool offer.

 

[CraigStu]

My experience w/ tig says that no filler rod welding has limited use. Picture making an aluminum box so you have a sheet that needs the edge welded to the edge of another sheet at a 90deg angle. In some situations I can do it w/o filler but I end up w/ less than sheet thickness of material right at the welded joint. The more perfectly fitted the 2 pieces are the better of course. Sometimes when welding on the outside, I will hang one edge over the other a tiny amount to have the extra material to take place of filler rod. Doing this by welding the inside of the angle like in the still shot for the last video I really can't see how you do that w/o filler. Unless you are OK w/ a thin joint.

 

[andyvh1959]

That makes sense. Stick has filler rod, MIG uses wire, TIG uses filler rod and/or parent material. Even forge welding, red hot metal hammered together, moves metal into one fused joint, displaced metal forced together. Damascus blades are basically forge welding. Some of the YT videos show inexpensive lazer welders bonding thick to thin joints perfectly, but no details on the actual strength of the joint. And then there are more commercial style lazer welders for $13,000:

Portable Laser Welder

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fslaser.com

So lazer welding is legit. But the welds shown on the YT videos are suspect, like everything else YT.

 

[ng8264723]

I have welded stainless exhausts with my laser welder. It does a fantastic job but it has limitations. The pieces need to have "ZERO" gap and be really clean. If that is done the welds are very nice. Like most stainless welding on exhaust pipes back purging is needed.

 

[no704]

3/16 od Titanium tube with end plug welded in. No filler.

 

[CraigStu]

Maybe it's just me but I see a reduced OD at the weld. If that is acceptable for the resulting piece, then it is a beautiful weld.

 

[Hohn]

so, those fancy looking "lazer" welders on YouTube and FBM, real or just more AI BS? They show quick, no filler wire or rod, perfect welds, no prep. Gotta be fake right?

Go Packers! (family is from Shawano-- 5 generations buried there).

I now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[no704]

Maybe it's just me but I see a reduced OD at the weld. If that is acceptable for the resulting piece, then it is a beautiful weld.

Part is pull tested after welding. And I agree, it’s a tube with a solid plug press fit into it. Specs are not to exceed ** OD. When tested to failure the tube usually necks down and fails. The od of the assembly is 3/16. The end plug has a step that is inside the tube 1/8”. So we kind of like a little penetration into that “core”.

 

[andyvh1959]

so some of these lazer welders actually use filler wire like a MIG welder:

versus:

 

[no704]

so some of these lazer welders actually use filler wire like a MIG welder:

versus:

Yes comes with a separate box, pretty much like a mig welder with out the welding bit.

 

[KurtMacColl]

3/16 od Titanium tube with end plug welded in. No filler.

wow this is so beautiful and precise.

 

[no704]

wow this is so beautiful and precise.

Thx, modified a spindexer with a stepper motor. Pretty much all automated except for placing the part.