[erikk]

Could sosmeone please simply explain how to spotweld the rails with a HF spotwelder. I have adapted the tong with the tubing and copper rivet but not sure how to proceed fron here. Do I lock the tongs in place and then hit the juice or position them where I want to spot and then hit the juice with the tongs open and then lower them to the piece to be welded?

Thank you

 

[scubadvr]

Could sosmeone please simply explain how to spotweld the rails with a HF spotwelder. I have adapted the tong with the tubing and copper rivet but not sure how to proceed fron here. Do I lock the tongs in place and then hit the juice or position them where I want to spot and then hit the juice with the tongs open and then lower them to the piece to be welded?

Thank you

The tongs have to be closed on the metal you wish to spot weld. Remember timing is everything. Do several tests first, making note of the result and time number of seconds it takes to do the job nicely. To long and you will melt the metal of your receiver.

 

[mike]

spot weld

Could sosmeone please simply explain how to spotweld the rails with a HF spotwelder. I have adapted the tong with the tubing and copper rivet but not sure how to proceed fron here. Do I lock the tongs in place and then hit the juice or position them where I want to spot and then hit the juice with the tongs open and then lower them to the piece to be welded?

Thank you

test your welds on the scrap ends of your receiver blank. use the cut off ends to practice with. it will only take seconds to weld. when you weld your receiver place a book or something under your receiver so its not hanging from the tongs.this will keep the tongs and the receiver at a 90 degree to each other. wear safety glasses the welder can spark.

good luck rick

 

[Toten Kopf]

Modified my spot welder but haven't used it yet. I made the rivet head and tong tip bigger (both are .242"). As it comes from Harbour Freight the tips are very pointed and I think add to the chance of burn through. I also made sure that when the metal is in the welder and the handle is down the tips are aligned. Don't know if any of this matters but will find out when I start to use it.

Edited to add: In the picture of the 2 rivets, the large portion (.242") is the head. The small end is soldered to the brass pipe.

 

[erikk]

Thanks guys for all the tips. I got solid copper rod from Mcmaster-carr $7.50 andfiled a flat on the end. Drilled & tapped it and used the point off of the old tongs. Tried it out on some washers & worked slick. Now just waiting for the rest of the parts to arrive so I can have at it...

 

[Grendeljaeger]

Hey Toten Kopf, thanks for the pics of your mods! Nice work.

 

[TheRedHorseman]

hey toten kopf, how did you attatch the copper tubing to the rod? is that just jammed on or did you sweat it on?

 

[mbadboyz]

I used the existing rods that came with the spot welder and just skimmed down the one tong to fit through the receiver. I noticed when I did my first set of rails that the points on the end of the tongs were to pointy. Because of this, it did burn through kind of fast. I did a couple more and the same thing occured. I took both points and grinded them down to be more flat and now it seems to give a more stock look to the welds. No burn though and just had to squeeze the handle a little bit more, with about a 2-3 second hold on the trigger.

 

[Steelcore1964]

same as above for me

 

[Rhino_66]

Toten Kopf, I think it's time for a .PDF tutorial for the spot welder mods and usage.

 

[Toten Kopf]

The above info has changed, I found a better way of attaching the tip. Of course the hollow tube used as a tong isn't the best but I don't have access to any machines to make a heavy duty tong. Other have posted how they have accomplished this.

Even though the hollow tube isn't the best, it does the job and I haven't had any spot welds fail.

Below is the link for additional info on the 115/230 VAC spot welders.

http://www.gunco.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2095

The new tip installation method better because when the tip becomes damaged (after doing about 10 spot welds) it's very easy to replace. I reccommend only one tip per receiver (the tips are cheap). Also the tighter and more even you get the tips (on the material) the better the weld.

Oh, I will be doing a tutorial on how I spot weld the lower rails when I get to that part of my build.

 

[7.62x39]

More info here.

http://www.gunco.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2061&highlight=spot+welder

 

[Toten Kopf]

More info here.

http://www.gunco.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2061&highlight=spot+welder

Yeah, 7.62X39... I wish I could machine my tongs like you did. Well, maybe someday.