welded aluminum wire "flying squirrel"

My daughter is into flying squirrels at the moment, so I made her one. I bent it out of 1/8" 5356 aluminum filler rod. (It was kind of inspired by one of those metal frame arts and craft projects for kids that come with plastic pellets that you put inside the frame, set on aluminum foil, and bake it until the plastic melts.)

Attachment 5278

I used 1/16" 5356 filler rod to weld it, also using pure argon, 50% EP AC Balance, 10 amps @ pedal full down (I actually intended to dial in about 25 at full pedal down, but checked where it was actually at after I was done welding, and found it was only at 10 amps full down), and a pretty sharp, 1/16" tungsten.

Picture of the tungsten after welding:
Attachment 5277

The arc was often not that stable. Probably would have gone better if I dialed in a bit more current at pedal down. It usually would start after an initial brief "sputter", lift pedal, and retry and it would work.

The "third hand" came in really handy for keeping the 1/8" wire 'work' held down (and grounded) while welding it. (Although, I could have used a smaller one, because it was actually getting in the way of my torch quite often.)

This is the same basic setup that I use to weld my thick stuff, (like the 1/2" thick outboard motor skeg repair) except all I change is, I grind the tungsten much more bluntly, increase the peak current (e.g., down on the pedal knob), decrease the AC Balance down to about 20% EP (the minimum my machine allows), and mix in a small % of Helium.

That's cool. Is it meant to hang up on the wall or for her to play with?

Neat stuff, especially when it makes the kiddos happy.

What is this "third hand" you speak of?

Dyethor - just something for her to play with.

jp2, the third hand is ONLY THE BEST TIG WELDING ACCESSORY KNOWN TO MAN!!! ;)

I'll snap some photos of it and post 'em up for you. There might be one or two that I've posted on this forum about it already, if you do some searching. Also known as "welder's / weldor's fingers". It's basically a weight that holds down your work, so it stays in the desired position while welding it. I use it quite a bit for whenever I'm welding on the bench... I'd say about 75% of the time. I use it for grounding also, I clamp the ground clamp to it.

That is hilarious I just made myself another one of these today. So I have a third and fourth hand when needed. I even put silicon bronze on the end just to copy the design.

That is so cool. I saw a flying squirrel once it was so cool. I was like what the hell was that. Then someone said its a flying squirrel and I started laughing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jakeru

jp2, the third hand is ONLY THE BEST TIG WELDING ACCESSORY KNOWN TO MAN!!! ;)

I'll snap some photos of it and post 'em up for you. There might be one or two that I've posted on this forum about it already, if you do some searching. Also known as "welder's / weldor's fingers". It's basically a weight that holds down your work, so it stays in the desired position while welding it. I use it quite a bit for whenever I'm welding on the bench... I'd say about 75% of the time. I use it for grounding also, I clamp the ground clamp to it.

---

I have seen that in your other pictures and have thought about asking you if you built it or bought it somewhere.
It looks like it really helps to keep things in place and grounding them.
You should put some dimesions on here so a person could build one.
Thanks

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jakeru

Dyethor - just something for her to play with.

jp2, the third hand is ONLY THE BEST TIG WELDING ACCESSORY KNOWN TO MAN!!! ;)

I'll snap some photos of it and post 'em up for you. There might be one or two that I've posted on this forum about it already, if you do some searching. Also known as "welder's / weldor's fingers". It's basically a weight that holds down your work, so it stays in the desired position while welding it. I use it quite a bit for whenever I'm welding on the bench... I'd say about 75% of the time. I use it for grounding also, I clamp the ground clamp to it.

---

You left me hanging, Jake, so I had to go a-huntin' on my own.

I think I found it, though: Welder's finger / Welder's third hand Look familiar?

That's it. They all look a little different because you have to make your own. I love mine like I said I even put bronze on the tip like Jody did.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jp2code

You left me hanging, Jake, so I had to go a-huntin' on my own.

I think I found it, though: Welder's finger / Welder's third hand Look familiar?

---

Sorry guys, you know I need to go to work sometimes... can't camp at the forum all day. ;)

That's the link though! My favorite one is the one with the ground clamp shown attached - I use it far more than the other one. I should have built the other one with more "ground clearance." I also improved it (the one I use all the time...) by TIG-braizing on some aluminum bronze along both sides (where the ground clamp clamps to the sides, and I profiled those surfaces as flat surfaces for secure ground clamp retention. I also added aluminum bronze to the tip, which I kept in a sharp profile by the way. The sharp legs and sharp tip are useful because they help the third hand "dig in" to the work and to the table a little bit and resist torquing. (It allow more abilities in terms of what pieces it can hold... for example pieces that want to fall down can be held up.)

If I built another one I'd bend the tip with obtuse angle. sometimes the bent part of the acute angle gets in the way of the torch. It would be good to have a variety to pick from, though, because sometimes you need one longer, or shorter, or with more ground clearance, or not as tall, etc.

Another very useful tool I use along with my third hard is just a pretty big rectangular chunk of solid aluminum with a bit of heft to it. I use it as a weight to hold parts down, or as a spacer/support to hold parts up sometimes, or sometimes to hold up one of my wrists or forearms (usually for my torch hand but sometimes for my filler rod hand)

Edit:
just found this post on 3rd hands on the good ol' Everlast forum. (and lookie there... looks like the latest greatest versions of my third hands are in there, too.)