Welding Tips and Tricks

Whats up guys. I am currently a structural welder right now on a job that could last another month or two, maybe even a few months longer. I am proficient with smaw,fcaw, and gmaw when it comes to tplate/bevel plate tests. I can do smaw pipe and more than likely fcaw pipe. I am really aiming to be sufficient as a tig pipe welder at this time because there is a high demand for combo pipe welders as well as good pay. I dont believe i am sufficient enough to lay a tig rootpass down clean and i believe i need to practice positioning.

I made thiss post because i need some advice from you journeyman tig welders. Let me add that i am aiming to stay on this job and attend a workforce developement course for 10 weeks this coming May. The class is only $750 for 3 nights a week and i could only make it for 3 hours each night. I have played with tig back in school and managed to catch on pretty quickly. However i have not profficiently grasped pipe just yet. This is why i want to do this class. But just how pheasable do you think it is to learn to tig weld pipe in 10 weeks, with only 9 hrs a week? I know i wont learn everything i need to know but gettin in the door will help. Do you think i would struggle in the industrial atmosphere? Do you think it would be a waste of time and money? There is not exactly a high demand for structural welders atm where i live so i dont believe i can count on having that job long enough to attend another 10 weeks...any adviceis welcomeand greatly appreciated. btw i am on a budget and buying a machine, bottle, tools and what not might be a little much atm.

I say, go for it. The price is right, and if you have basic GTAW skills, the transition is not that difficult.

90 hours of coursework/booth time for $750 is a good deal. Is the course endorsed by your employer? That would be a positive sign.

I went from "never TIGged in my life" to "TIG on stainless and carbon pipe" in about 20-25 hours of hands-on, working with another welder I made friends with... I did all the fitting for both of us, and he taught me everything I needed for the basics. I'm now ASME certified and regularly pass x-ray, beginning from that short bit of experience.

Steve S

Don't let "Otto" fool you ... he is a natural welding phenomena capable of incredible feats of welding daring-do! If you already understand puddle control, you will pick this up. My suggestion would be to work on thinner material. Bring in your own tube or plate if you have to. The following are exercises that I have my students do in GTAW:
18 gauge tube, about 1" piece, welded to a flat plate of 18 ga. I do not want to see excessive heat bubbling up under the plate, or inside the tube
18 ga. tube in 5G - open root, with a root gap consistent with the diameter of filler wire. When you get the hang of this, try it in 6G
1/4" plate, open root, 3G 'UP', with the root gap consistent with the diameter of the filler wire. You will need to put a "land" or "shoulder" on the plates.
Move on to schedule 40 pipe, 5G and 6G. Go to thicker pipe if you want. Check and see what the cert test offered is, and try to get the same size to practice on. Doing joint preparation, making the "V" - groove can be a pain, but you need to get that right. I suggest schedule 40 because it is easy to do a bevel and land with an angle grinder. Well, it is easier than ... other things, I guess.

I qualify my crew on thicker material, which gives them a lot of territory that is covered by ASME or AWS. My thought is that if they can weld the thinner materials that I throw that them with TIG and not have excessive heat issues, then they should be able to weld stainless with backer (purge) gas. I don't have that here because of cost, and the fact is that I just can't teach every little thing.

Another suggestion. Take a TIG torch home, or make a model out of PVC. I have done that. Set up a pipe at home in 5G and 6G. Practice running around that pipe with your model. Practice moving and maintaining the angles. Have someone be your spotter. This will help you with 'muscle memory' and get your body used to doing that "global motion". Believe me, doing a few hours of dry run at home will help you a whole lot.

Let us know how things are going!

Awesome. Thank you guys for the response. I will definitely consider your suggesstions. Ill prolly go for the class and hopefully pick it up quick. I like that model idea and ill probobly do that.

Another question tho..
How similar is it to weld stainless vs. carbon?

Stainless feels sluggish compared to carbon, and you typically move faster as heat input (or lack thereof) is a lot more critical with stainless due to the chromium content than carbon steel. You can search Steve (Otto) Markus and Braehill's posts and you'll find a plethora of information on the subject, and recently hydrogen embrittlement. Granted, at this point, you really don't need to worry about hydrogen embrittlement, but it is good information to know if you ever end up in nuclear, chemical, or other high purity and high pressure stainless welding environments