welding questions - new to TIG welding

I am getting much better...too bad my dumb camera is on the fritz again or I would post pictures. I learned that cleaning the metal is far more important than I thought. I also learned that if I shorten the tungsten so just the point sticks out from the cup, I get far less contamination damage and the tip lasts.

I am having a problem holding the torch so it does not tilt so much. Instead of 10 degrees I seem to gravitate to 15 degrees. It is the weight of the hose pulling it back. I also can't quite get the feel for welding a pipe to flat stock. I can only weld 20-30 degrees around before my wrist won't bend enough. Maybe I need to try it standing up?

I wonder if my aluminum scap is anodized? The area just 1/16" around the outside of the weld is whiter than the aluminum and slightly rough.

 

Hey hotroddon yep they are really welding 1.5" thick pipe with 150 amps (sch100). Of course its not done in one pass. It takes multiple passes 30% of fillet with tig then stick the rest. And why would anybody try to get full penetration on 1/4" steel with a tig in one pass. And after tigging for 40 years i bet your welds look better then these.... let me see. Another 13 more years then me. They got to be really slick.

 

I think welding is like fucking -

Anyone can, not everyone should,
Some are pornstars and some need to ask if it was good.

 

A little trick i have employed is when I sharpen my tungsten to a point, I flatten the very tip of it and get killer arc distribution, but i have only been doing TIG for a couple of years.

 

Maybe you are welding at greater than 150a, i bet your machine is wired at 480v and the output amperage is based on 240v? Just a guess, or is the steel preheated? maybe...it is obvious you know what you are doing but i weld sfi chassis, .083 thickest wall, alloy steel at 150a-ish.
The cup walking thing is really good, very popular in So. America.
To the OP, try to keep your tig pointed straight down and not out in front. the foreward facing torch is good to preheat ome plate-type welding and it is proper if you are doing brackets etc on the frame but if you are trying any sheetmetal or fine welding it is best to point it straight down for the shortest distance to the metal and that heats the least amout of metal as possible...less shrinkage and metal finishing.
You have a leak. I run about 10ish on my meter.
Don't worry about nickles or how it looks. When you get penetration and a solid weld with the least amout of effort and time it'll look like a million bucks, but you can do a poorly penetrating weld that looks fantastic.

 

31 Vicky - I hope you are not talking about me, I am practicing as fast as I can...

I am starting to get frustrated. I can do two or three really beautiful welds, then everything goes to hell. For example, I put down two very nice welds on flat aluminum with no problems, then tried to do a fillet weld to join together the two plates and it was a complete failure. I could not join the pieces at all. The videos make it look so easy...

Hmmm, I wonder if I can rent a porno called "Debbie does TIG"

 

Haha no I'm not talking about you
It's about practice and it takes a lot (2000 hrs or full time for a year) to be a mediocre welder.
Dedication and concentration to be welding like a pornstar.
New movements create fatigue in muscles that are being used in repetitive different ways. It's not going to happen overnight but you will get those lightbulb moments when things click and improve forever from one bead to the next .

Actually I was paring sex to inbreeding as some of the welds I see look like equivalent results.
And paring pros to pornstars, no need to prove anything vs amateurs .
You'd be a virgin and none of that applies to you

 

All in all, I think that practicing to be a porn star would be funner...

 

Follow the above to the T and then everything falls on you.
It takes a ton of practice to find your hand so dont get frustrated if it doesn't come right away.

Good luck.
KK

 

Forget the "look", focus on the "work". The only advice I'll add is that there's a lot going on in that small view behind the helmet's lens. Concentrate on the weld itself and forget that cup, the tungsten, the 2 parts even. I'll add also that ALUMINUM welding is a great teacher for steel and other metals. Aluminum is fast and forces discipline. Aluminum makes real pretty "nickels" if that's what you want. Just sayin...

 

I noticed my collet for the 3/16 electode is loose. I can't get it to tighten on the electode. I think the collet body was loose from the factory and the collet got somewhat consumed.

Because of my worn 3/32 collet, I switched to an E3 Electrode that was meant for steel (1/16" dia.) I used it on aluminum and it works better. The weld width is decent at about 1/4" on flat stock, the tip lasts a whole lot longer too.

Do you guys buy your welding supplies from the local store or off the internet. I noticed tungsten on ePay is much cheaper.

 

Talked to the tech at Miller and learned how to change my post gas time (turn it on while holding down the tig/stick button). For learning purposes, I made it just one second. No reason to waste even more argon. Miller tech also told me to use 10-15 cfh for steel, 20 cfh for Aluminum. I tried 12 cfh on steel and it work just fine. (shop door closed). I would probably bump it to 15 cfh if the door was open.

 

Go to this web site and watch some of their videos as they are pretty helpful. http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/ also buy one of their "Tig Fingers" great for helping you have a steady hold on the torch. I always try to have the torch cable layed over my right shoulder and a little loop down to my hand to prevent the cable from pulling on the torch. You should have at least a 25 foot torch lead with a good leather shield. One thing to remember is that you cannot push the puddle around, physically, with the tungsten, as you can with a gas torch, so make a habit of keeping the tungsten away from the puddle and also don't hold the fill rod back to far as it will make it weave around and shake and touch the tungsten and then you are grinding again. I use and old mechanical drawing drafting pencil which is made for drawing lead that is .080 inch in diameter and this will hold the 3/32 tungsten well to make sharpening easier. I try to do most of my stuff, which is typically 16 gage to 1/8 wall tubing, with .045 rod and only use 1/16th if I have a little gaposis. Practice makes perfect.

Rex

 

in my apprenticeship we were taught a rule of thumb for pretty much all welding, 1 amp for every thousandth, .125=125 amps, .250=250 amps, that being said your 200 may be a littl on the small side for a certified weld (i have the same machine at home), but it should work for garage shit. that little rule of thumb has done me well in my years, its at least a good starting point to fine tune from. and the roll of nickels thing.....good luck. get back to us in 10 years dont forget, there isnt a certified weld that has ripples and such in it, that stuff takes away from the weld integrity, thats just fluff and buff we all put on it to impress our buddies!!

 

Man, I'm taking welding classes and we're doing TIG right now. I'm doing as well as can be expected in my 12th week, but doing vertical welds is kicking my ASS! The instructer showed me, but other than being amazed, it didn't help much. GRRRR!!!

 

Fred, if you are doing vertical samples on the bench, get your torch hand above the start of the bead (I have my students fold a heavy glove in half and use that as a rest) then reach back a little with the torch to get in position for the start, that way you can roll your wrist up the plate and you are not stretching so much to finish the weld. Also, try coming in slightly to the side with the fill rod. I've found with beginners they tend to leave it too close right above the torch and often drip filler on the tungsten.

If your instructor tells you I'm full of shit, forget what I suggested. He's there, I'm not.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it tomorrow night. I doubt he would say that. He's actually pretty cool. On more than one occasion he's told us to try and find what works for ourselves. Last night was my first time trying it and it took me 20 minutes to figure out how to hold the torch. But thinking back, I had my work piece at an angle and was trying to come in from the side.

For some reason, it feels like I should be going from top to bottom and it feels awkward going bottom to top. I think I'm being too logical about it.

At least my T joints and lap joints, in flat and horizontal, are getting better.

 

Thats funny shit! Thanks!

Great info, thanks to all! I start learning TIG tomorrow. Got ahold of a nice machine, and some free time! I gas and MIG, but still a virgin with TIG

 

Another newbie TIG welder, just unpacked the machine and plan on doing mainly 18GA mild sheet metal for floors and wodering what rod, size, amperage recomendations? I have gas welded, stick and mig of course, and I have read several good threads here and there. My new machine is a Miller Diversion 180 with Argon gas, foot pedal recomendations would be helpful as well. Thanks in advance for advice.

 

Somrething to keep in mind as well, a good Tig weld is NOT a row of dimes.

That style of weld may be pleasing to the eye, however the scalloped edges of the weld give all kinds of stress risers and potential notch effect ,crack starting weak points.

A good tig weld has smooth even well blended edges, nice smooth pleasing in apperance consistent ripples and a good profile.

Some examples have been posted here.

 

Just got in from the shop, did my first tig weld, they were right, it does taste just like chicken! I have always heard that if you could gas weld, you could tig, kinda sorta, with a throttle pedal! I did some 18ga sheet metal as that is what I will be doing mainly, really slow and time consuming as compared to mig welding but very cool for delicate areas.