[BrownstoneMetal]

Hello Everyone,
Just thought I would post a few pictures of the enclosure that I am building. It is constructed of 2 separate frames. 1 upper and 1 lower. Both are made of aluminum. The lower is made of aluminum tubing and is tig welded at the joints. It is covered on the front and sides by aluminum diamond deck. The bottom and back sheets of aluminum are plain.
The upper is made from aluminum architectural angle and is also welded at the joints.

The sheets of aluminum attached to the bottom frame rise above the frame to allow the top to set just inside, stopping any chips from escaping and also allowing for easy dis-assembly which was a good thing since I live in an apartment and needed to be able to get this thing through the door!
The lower frame is lined with vibration absorbing material so that none is present when the top is installed.

There are a total of 14 lexan sheets which are held in place by screws.
I will be hanging the lifting struts for the door and the door it's self this weekend.

As soon as the last piece of Lexan comes, I will be adding exhaust fan mounting holes and run dryer venting to the exhaust fan.
The light that you see will be replaced with a "machine light".
I also plan at some point in the future, to add a coolant system.
And then a finally,a coating of cobalt blue paint for the upper frame.

While there are a few things that I would change if I had to build this thing again, Overall I am pretty happy with the out come.
Thanks for looking and any comments or suggestions that any might have to offer!
Matt
P.S. Will post more pics when it is complete.


Just the upper frame with no lexan attached sitting in the lower frame.






Upper frame set on the lower frame. I needed to use the mill before the lexan got here so the plastic provided a barrier to keep the chips from getting out!




Lexan partially hung just set the upper frame on the lower to see how it looked and fit....





Upper Frame with nearly all of the lexan hung





All the lexan hung accept for the top piece. The door still needs to be hung (along with the lifting struts!!





Just a different angle (hope to eventually switch to a smaller pc and monitor)

[cjdavis618]

Wow, that is incredible. Looks like a mini VMC.

Excellent work

[BrownstoneMetal]

Thanks Cj That is sorta the look I wanted!

[pete from TN]

Just out of curiosity, what were your specs for the tig welding on that thin tubing? I have a large industrial tig welder here and I am learning to use it. I can do steel and stainless very well but I have not had much luck with the aluminum so far. I know that the machine will do it I just have not had the technique or the settings or the consumables right so far. Got any pointers for me? peace...

I am gonna build a nice enclosure like that for my Lathemaster conversion but I will probably make it an open architecture setup similar to the tormach only with taller sides and a front door. I am thinking I will make it from steel but aluminum is also a possibility. The thing is gonna have to be rather large so I am gonna need to tig weld the whole thing to make sure it is rigid and watertight. Nice work again man and enjoy it....peace

[5artist5]

Just out of curiosity, what were your specs for the tig welding on that thin tubing? I have a large industrial tig welder here and I am learning to use it. I can do steel and stainless very well but I have not had much luck with the aluminum so far. I know that the machine will do it I just have not had the technique or the settings or the consumables right so far. Got any pointers for me? peace...

I am gonna build a nice enclosure like that for my Lathemaster conversion but I will probably make it an open architecture setup similar to the tormach only with taller sides and a front door. I am thinking I will make it from steel but aluminum is also a possibility. The thing is gonna have to be rather large so I am gonna need to tig weld the whole thing to make sure it is rigid and watertight. Nice work again man and enjoy it....peace

Well I was trying to learn to TIG Aluminum a while back and was having awful results. It turned out that the stock I was using was clear anodized. It is like
welding a water baloon! The anodize makes the melt point MUCH hicher around the surface so the metal inside is molten already and by the time you break through the skin it just gets blown away by the gas. So make sure it is not anodized!

[pete from TN]

I was more referring to your gas mixture, your flow setting, your tungsten choice, your cup size and stuff like that because while I can stick some aluminum together it does not have the polished look that it does when I weld steel or stainless.... Thanks for the response man...peace

[BrownstoneMetal]

Hi Pete,
Tig welding aluminum is a lot different than welding on mild or even stainless. For starters, your machine settings are different. But even more important than the settings is the fact that you HAVE to clean the area you intend to weld. By clean I mean remove all oxidation, till you have nothing but bare aluminum. This will help a lot!
Okay now for the settings:

1. Set your machine on Alternating current.
   
   
2. When welding aluminum, a ceriated (orange identifying band) or 1.5% lanthanated (gold identifying band) tungsten is best. Pure tungsten will work too but it will burn away quicker than the others.
   
   
   :A note on preparing your tungsten to weld aluminum here:
   It helps when tig welding aluminum to burn the tungsten into a very small ball at the tip by putting your welder into Neg Current, use a clean piece of brass or copper and start your arc just above it. The amount of current you will use depends on the size of the electrode you are using. What you want is to see it form a small ball, with a diameter equal to about half the thickness of the aluminum you are welding, right at the tip of your tungsten.
   
3. Use either a mixture of 50% helium 50% argon (which is why it is called heliarc by the way) or 100% argon.
   
4. Always "push" your weld.
   
5. Use aluminum filler rod.4043 is a good general filler metal for most aluminum applications. Generally speaking, use a 1/16” diameter filler rod for applications where the material is 1/8” and less. Use a 3/32” diameter rod for 1/8” and thicker.
   Also, be sure that the aluminum you plan to weld is NOT 7xxx or 2xxx series aluminum since they are generally not recommended if the application requires welding.

Learning to tig weld aluminum takes a bit of practice especially if what you are wanting to weld is thin. Aluminum heats up very quickly and will burn away on you if you don't learn to move fast so the KEY to welding aluminum is PRACTICE .

As far as heat settings for my particular frame welding, the tubing on the lower frame is 1/8 " thick for that I stayed at about 150 amps using a .093" dia tungsten and a .500" dia ceramic cup.

Good luck to ya man I hope this info helps ya!

[BrownstoneMetal]

Well I was trying to learn to TIG Aluminum a while back and was having awful results. It turned out that the stock I was using was clear anodized. It is like
welding a water baloon! The anodize makes the melt point MUCH hicher around the surface so the metal inside is molten already and by the time you break through the skin it just gets blown away by the gas. So make sure it is not anodized!

5artist5


Very true!

[pete from TN]

Yeah man that is what I am talking about there..... NICE POST and MOST Appreciated my freind. I can see there were a couple things I was doing wrong just from your information. I knew about the forming a ball and the ac setup as well as the way you need to keep it moving but the tungsten I had wrong I guess as well as the mixture. I do not have the mixture gasses right either so I guess that is why I was having so much trouble. The fellow I bought this welder from is a pro and he showed me work he did with it and it looked real nice but I have not had any luck. The AC setup is quite different then the smooth dc for the rest of the stuff I weld. Anyways, thanks for the kind response and the great information. Good luck to you on that cool enclosure and have a nice weekend....peace