Artist Kevin Stone Uses Advanced TIG

Welder to Create "Shock and Awe" Art.

Kevin Stone uses his experience as a fabricator to turn 304 stainless steel
into beautiful sculptures. Stone uses a fleet of Miller equipment to turn
common stainless steel into dragons, eagles and more.
(This article first appeared on www.thefabricator.com)

Kevin Stone’s “Chinese Imperial Water Dragon” slowly

takes shape in his studio. The Sculpture will use
approximately 3,600-sq-ft. of 304 stainless steel and be
priced at over $1 million.

A few years ago, Kevin Stone, a senior fabricator, decided to combine his years
of welding experience with his innate artistic ability and began creating
stainless steel sculptures on a large scale. While people make the pilgrimage
to Stone’s yard in Chilliwack, B.C., to see the “Power of Flight,” a 12-ft. tall, 18-
ft, long stainless steel eagle with a 41-ft. wingspan, Stone is busy inside his
studio working on his latest project: an 85-ft. long Chinese dragon.
With price tags of over $3 million, Stone’s sculptures are designed to weather
the elements and never lose their shine. His objective is to create “Shock and
awe artwork…Beauty on a large scale.” To achieve this vision, he works with
stainless steel, which he considers to be one of the more difficult metals to
work with.
"Very few people can weld thin stainless,” Stone says. “It will oxidize quickly,
overheat and burn through. It requires polishing to bring out its beauty and it is
very labor intensive. Very few people work with it. However, it's worth the
effort. Once it's polished, it can be out in the elements and it won't corrode,
rust or lose its mirror-like quality. My vision is for my sculptures to be mounted
over water to bring out the reflective qualities and use colored lights for
effect."
About 14 months into the “Chinese Imperial Water Dragon," Stone has already
used 1800 sq. feet of 16-gauge, 304 stainless steel and expects to use
another 1800 sq. ft. before he’s done. (See http://www.metalanimation.com)
When beginning a new sculpture, Stone conducts some preliminary research
and design, but he builds primarily from his imagination. “I have a blueprint in
my head that I follow,” he says. “I visualize five to ten steps ahead of what I'm
working on. I picture what the overall shape will be and try to think of
something that will fit inside that shape, yet be structurally strong."

Maintaining the proper heat input is crucial when welding

stainless. Five amps too much can change the metal’s
properties.

To help with fit up and save both time and wasted material, Stone first works
out the detail on paper. After he finishes one piece of stainless, he’ll cut a
piece of paper to represent the next piece and ensure it fits perfectly before
transferring it to a piece of stainless.
Stone shapes the pieces by hand and then tack welds them into place with his
Miller Dynasty® TIG welder. He first places the welds several inches apart.
When Stone is happy with the fit up, he'll add more tack welds between the
existing welds until there are welds about every half-inch. He'll eventually
finish-weld the pieces together, welding a 10-in. section in one place and then
move somewhere else. This helps to keep down the heat input and to ensure
proper fit. He'll finish by grinding down the welds and polishing the pieces.
When he first turned to sculpture, Stone had his choice of welding equipment
and decided to use the Miller Dynasty AC/DC TIG welder. "I just love the
machine and its controllability," Stone says of the Dynasty. "It has a nice arc
start, so I can start off slowly and still have good heat control. With my
sculptures, there are few welds in a flat position. I weld in the most awkward
positions, conditions and shapes you can imagine. This level of control and
reliable arc starts makes the Dynasty ideal for what I do."
For the 16-gauge material he works with, Stone usually sets his Dynasty to
160 amps and prefers a thumb control rather than a foot control. He also
chose a water-cooled torch because it keeps his hand cool and allows him to
use a smaller torch.
Other than picking the right
equipment, Stone has some advice
for the aspiring metal sculptor.
"Practice your trade skills," he
advises. "I have 18 years of welding
experience, which allows me to weld
stainless. It's not easy and takes a
lot of practice. If you're doing any
artwork, practice drawing. It helps
you visualize. Drawing can actually
help sculpting dramatically because
it helps lock in and define your
vision." Notice the narrow heat affected zone
(HAZ) created by high speed pulsed TIG,
Stone also noted two common which helps preserve the metal’s
mistakes by people who TIG weld. original properties.
“To become more steady, many
people tend to hold their breath, but
this can have the opposite effect. Relax and breathe normally. Also, a gentle
grip makes for a steadier hand. Hold the torch firmly but not too tightly or
fatigue will set in and lead to shaking.”

The Art of TIG Welding

When TIG welding stainless, whether for a sculpture or on the job, there are a
few other points to keep in mind to achieve a cosmetically appealing and
sound weld. Because stainless steel does not adequately dissipate heat,
maintaining proper heat input when welding is critical. Too much heat can lead
to warping, embrittlement or rust. As little as five amps too much can damage
stainless steel’s properties. There are, however, several ways to control heat
input:
Good fit-up. Adding filler metal to fill gaps puts more heat into the part, so
good fit-up is important. It’s impossible to add a lot of filler metal and keep
energy out of the part.
The correct filler metal. The filler metal diameter should be thinner than the
base metal. If it’s thicker than the base metal, too much heat is needed to
melt the filler metal. The filler metal should also match the base metal alloys
in order to maintain consistent mechanical and corrosion properties.
Choose the right tungsten size. You can’t weld precisely on 1/16-in. material
with a 1/8-in. tungsten. Use the right tungsten diameter based on your
amperage. Check the manufacturer’s recommendations for the proper size.
Use the correct tungsten geometry. The tungsten’s shape plays a role in the
weld’s width and penetration. In welding stainless steel, the sharper the
tungsten, the wider and less penetrating the bead will be. On a sharper point,
(ground to a taper length that is more than 2½ times the electrode diameter),
the arc tends to fan out, creating a wider heat affected zone. With a blunter
point (less than 2.5 times the electrode diameter), the arc comes straight
down with less flaring for a deeper, thinner bead and thinner heat affected
zone.
Use a fingertip or foot control. You need to be able to start the arc and adjust
the amperage from the beginning to the end of the weld. Set the welder to the
desired amperage, which should be just a bit more power than you’ll need. If
your welder is fairly accurate, you’ll only need to adjust the fingertip or foot
control a little bit to adjust welding output.

A fingertip control allows Kevin Stone to precisely

control amperage.

Start with low amperage and allow the puddle to form. Then back off two or
three amps and add filler.
Maintain the correct puddle size. The weld puddle should be the thickness of
the base metal. If the puddle grows too large, turn down the heat.
Eliminate craters by easing down the current at the end of the weld and adding
filler metal until the puddle solidifies. Use your torch’s fingertip or foot pedal
control or your welder’s sequencer.
Keep the gas flowing and directed at the puddle until the orange color fades.
The post flow also cools the puddle and the tungsten. Moving the torch too
fast can blow gas away from the tungsten, turn it black and make it more
difficult to start next time.
Use pulsing. To control heat input, use a welder with DC pulsing capabilities. In
pulsing, the current transitions between a high peak amperage and a low
background amperage that maintains the arc but allows the puddle to cool.
The peak current provides good penetration, but the background current allows
the weld puddle to cool slightly, preventing warping, embrittlement and carbide
precipitation.
Pulses per Second (PPS) is simply how many times the machine will complete
one pulsing cycle in a time span of one second. Increasing the number of
pulses per second produces a smoother ripple effect in the weld bead, narrows
the weld bead. Reducing the number of pulses per second widens the weld
bead. Pulsing also helps agitate the puddle and release any porosity or gas
trapped in the weld.
Some beginning TIG welders use a slow pulsing rate (perhaps .5 to 1 PPS) to
help them develop a rhythm for adding filler metal. For welding carbon or
stainless steel, use a rate of 100 to 500 PPS. Start at 100 and work upward.
Higher pulsing (generally above 100 pulses per second) increase puddle
agitation, which in turn produces a better grain molecular structure within the
weld. High speed pulsing also constricts and focuses the arc. This increases
arc stability, penetration and travel speeds, and it produces a smaller heat-
affected zone.

Kevin Stone turned his years as a fabricator to the world

of sculpting to create art on a large scale.

High speed pulsed TIG requires using a TIG inverter, such as Miller’s Dynasty®
series. Conventional TIG technology limits pulsing to a relatively narrow range
of .25 to 10.0 pulses per second (PPS), where inverter technology enables
pulsing at up to 5,000 PPS.
One final tip: As Stone advises, practice, practice, practice. Check your
settings and technique on a test piece beforehand. TIG welding stainless steel
is an art, but it’s one that can be learned and enjoyed.
To learn more about Kevin Stone and his other projects, check out TIG Welding
Takes Wing.

Published: May 1, 2008

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