Beginners TIG

Hello All

I’ve just started to learn DC TIG. After watching many youtube videos (which of course make it look easy) I’ve now had a few goes at welding 1.6 mm 30x30 mm steel box section. Let’s just say my welds don’t look quick as pretty as the ones on youtube.

As I’m so ashamed of my first efforts I’ll not put a photo up but I would be grateful if someone can check my settings. I’m using 80 amps, electrode negative, about 8 litres min argon, sharpened ceriated 1.6 mm tungsten, 1.6 mm filler rod, and trying to hold the arc length at 2 or 3 mm.

It would be good to know that the only thing wrong is my ability as opposed to settings!

Thanks in advance

David

6 LPM should be enough for the Argon. I would probably use 60-70A for that thickness unless the lengths of box were really large and took away a lot of the heat when you start the arc.

Are the pieces of box absolutely clean? any dirt or millscale on the weld area gets pulled into the arc and really affects the quality/appearance of the finished weld.

It might sound counter intuitive but it's actually easier to get a good weld if you make sure you have a gap between the parts - in this case, perhaps about 1mm. Might also be easier if you could get some smaller filler rod or start with a thicker box section to begin with..

If you ever touch the work with the electrode, you HAVE to stop and regrind the tip to remove the contamination. That's one of the pains when you start out but there's no way around it.

I can't manage without a foot pedal or a knob on the torch. As the heat builds up, you need to be able to turn the current down.

I also struggled with crap auto darkening helmets until I simply bought some decent ones. I got a Miller one and a Lincoln one with big windows which transformed the experience. I also bought a magnifying lens for the Lincoln so I can use it up close without my glasses - as you get older, your eyes don't focus so well at close range where you need it. I'd also recommend a good light to illuminate the work so you can see it through the lens when the arc is not there.

It takes a lot of practice. I'm still only fairly reasonable after a couple of decades of (intermittent) practice. Practising laying down a steady bead on a single piece of flat strip is a good place to start. It's nice to get a good joint but first you need to master the basic control of the torch and rod including speeds, currents etc.

Murray

Thanks for the tips. I was making no effort to clean the steel as I was assuming that it wasn’t my biggest problem, but that sounds like a mistake. As you say, it might also by wise to start with just trying to put down a steady bead on a flat bar. I’ve yet to connect up the foot peddle as I’m having enough trouble trying to co-ordinate my two hands, but maybe I’ve just got to get on with it.

Can I ask how far I should have the Tungsten sticking out from the nozzle – there seems to a be a lot of conflicting opinion ?

David

David, I am in a similar position to yourself.

Suggest you might want to subscribe to 'Jody's tips and tricks' etc on this site...

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/

His little videos are of a very digestible size, and just keep me thinking (which helps!).

cheers, Colin

Have you tried just fusing joints without a filler rod ? Might be good practice before doing it that way. I've no idea of the current needed but on aluminium it's very low.

John

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Thanks again all. Practicing without filler does seem like a good idea!

HillClimber - the problem with Jody is that he makes it look too easy!

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Rule of thumb for stick out depends on the gas lense for example a 12 which is 15mm or 5/8 bore you can get an inch or so ,we do this for welding ti in hard to reach areas  but generally the ceramic opening is a good guide to how far your going to stick your tungsten out for general welding obviously the stickout will also be affected by the type of joint and angle of that joint 

A nother good website is migweldingforum as well as welding tips and tricks though its more your garage guys and gals on there big range of people from experienced to beginners

One other piece of advice is go watch someone beg borrow or steal time, i find when im teaching someone once they grasp the fundamentals and they all converge in one place it just clicks into place from there they tend to go and start fiddling with settings and seeing how they affect the weld and how it goes along having a baseline that you know is right ....its easier to go from there

Edited By mike mcdermid on 14/07/2015 20:39:29

Edited By mike mcdermid on 14/07/2015 20:43:42

Edited By mike mcdermid on 14/07/2015 20:47:15

I found tig welding to be easy to master, but i did a lot of gas welding before i ventured into tig and wound up tig welding pharma stainless fittings for 40 hrs a week. As with all skills, if you get a good bit of time under your belt and a few lessons with an experienced welder, its amazing how quickley you will progress.

Watch plenty of videos on youtube, there are some great channels like weld.com with "mr.tig" i can recommend.