[chubbysautocenter]

I subscribe to many welding sights and I notice that everyone posts their work. I love that. my tig beads are pretty descent, I just don't get how people can get that gold color on mild steel. ive tried silicon bronze, aluminum bronze. ive tried dc ac high balance low balance low amps, correct amps higher amps, low travel speed. all I get it is fido's butt. the bead looks horrible and lots of porosity. can anyone lend a helping hand.

[Superiorwelding]

I subscribe to many welding sights and I notice that everyone posts their work. I love that. my tig beads are pretty descent, I just don't get how people can get that gold color on mild steel. ive tried silicon bronze, aluminum bronze. ive tried dc ac high balance low balance low amps, correct amps higher amps, low travel speed. all I get it is fido's butt. the bead looks horrible and lots of porosity. can anyone lend a helping hand.

First, I think we need to figure out why you are getting porosity. Can you give us your settings and what exact material and gas? A picture would be great, and don't worry about being made fun of, we do not do that here.
-Jonathan

[chubbysautocenter]

I subscribe to many welding sights and I notice that everyone posts their work. I love that. my tig beads are pretty descent, I just don't get how people can get that gold color on mild steel. ive tried silicon bronze, aluminum bronze. ive tried dc ac high balance low balance low amps, correct amps higher amps, low travel speed. all I get it is fido's butt. the bead looks horrible and lots of porosity. can anyone lend a helping hand.

First, I think we need to figure out why you are getting porosity. Can you give us your settings and what exact material and gas? A picture would be great, and don't worry about being made fun of, we do not do that here.
-Jonathan

ok no problem. using 1/8 tungsten gold band. sharpened to 20 degrees. very sharp. 1/8 mild steel cleaned with wire brush. using amps from 80 to 120. on ac settings I had the frequency set to 30. and the balance set from 30 to 60. my cfh is set on 20 to 25. ive used aluminum bronze and silicon bronze filler rod. im trying not to start a puddle in order not to get it too hot so that I can get that color. but even with a sharpened tungsten I get a wondering arc especially in ac polarity. I don't think its my technique because ill get a beautiful weld, but it gray in dc. in ac im just wasting time and money.

[MinnesotaDave]

Welcome to the site.

1/8 steel weld on DC- and run 125-140 amps.
Use regular steel filler rod ER70s-2
No cleaning with wire brush, just polishes the mill scale. Grind down to bright metal.
Start a puddle immediately, under 3 seconds for aluminum, about 1 second for stainless.
Used the puddle to melt rod, never the arc.
Amps are your friend, going slow just let's too much heat build up for no useful purpose.

[MinnesotaDave]

20 degree tip is not necessary for 1/8" metal.
Here is some background on tip profile.

[chubbysautocenter]

Welcome to the site.

1/8 steel weld on DC- and run 125-140 amps.
Use regular steel filler rod ER70s-2
No cleaning with wire brush, just polishes the mill scale. Grind down to bright metal.
Start a puddle immediately, under 3 seconds for aluminum, about 1 second for stainless.
Used the puddle to melt rod, never the arc.
Amps are your friend, going slow just let's too much heat build up for no useful purpose.

will that er70s-2 give me that golden color I'm looking for?

[chubbysautocenter]

20 degree tip is not necessary for 1/8" metal.
Here is some background on tip profile.

those are bad ass graphs thanks

[kermdawg]

If your getting porosity with TIG it's usually a cleaning issue or a gas issue. Make sure your base metal/filler is nice and dry to. Might try preheating the base metal as well to make sure you drive off any moisture. Other than that be sure your torch angle isn't too step or something isn't blowing away your shielding gas. Also be sure to keep the tip of the filler inside the shielding gas.

[chubbysautocenter]

If your getting porosity with TIG it's usually a cleaning issue or a gas issue. Make sure your base metal/filler is nice and dry to. Might try preheating the base metal as well to make sure you drive off any moisture. Other than that be sure your torch angle isn't too step or something isn't blowing away your shielding gas. Also be sure to keep the tip of the filler inside the shielding gas.

maybe its not porosity. the bead actually looks like a dog turd. oh and also there are a bunch of pit holes

[MinnesotaDave]

Welcome to the site.

1/8 steel weld on DC- and run 125-140 amps.
Use regular steel filler rod ER70s-2
No cleaning with wire brush, just polishes the mill scale. Grind down to bright metal.
Start a puddle immediately, under 3 seconds for aluminum, about 1 second for stainless.
Used the puddle to melt rod, never the arc.
Amps are your friend, going slow just let's too much heat build up for no useful purpose.

will that er70s-2 give me that golden color I'm looking for?

If you are only after color for an artistic reason, I've tig welded using common copper electrical wire and it looks cool.

But you still have to tig properly as far as technique. Make a puddle, use it to melt the filler.
Melting filler with the torch without a puddle results in "fido's butt."

[MinnesotaDave]

im trying not to start a puddle in order not to get it too hot so that I can get that color.

This statement of yours is terrible.
Welding require liquid steel - make a puddle and weld properly.

[Otto Nobedder]

It's beginning to sound like you have a gas problem.

Either a leak somewhere between the flowmeter and the business end (A leak in a low pressure flow path leaks IN, sucking in air, not out, though this is counter-intuative), or badly contaminated or mis-labeled gas. 100% argon is what you want, and even 1% impurities, or moisture in the "parts-per-million" range will screw you up.

Steve S

[Otto Nobedder]

im trying not to start a puddle in order not to get it too hot so that I can get that color.

This statement of yours is terrible.
Welding require liquid steel - make a puddle and weld properly.

Wow!

I didn't catch that first time 'round.

We're going to have to go to fundamentals here. An understanding of the nature of the welding process, and work forward from there.

The "fido's butt" and bad color may be from trying not to weld, in the effort to control the heat.

The puddle is fundamental to fusing the metals together. They melt together in a pool, that you add filler to, to make up for the gap and the shrinkage that occurs when the metal cools. You'll get better color with MORE heat, and moving faster, so you don't "soak" the metal around your weld with heat.

Let's go back to the beginning.

Steve S

[AKweldshop]

I say we need to see a picture of the OP's welds....

[Otto Nobedder]

Agreed.

A picture would be a big help.

[chubbysautocenter]

Welcome to the site.

1/8 steel weld on DC- and run 125-140 amps.
Use regular steel filler rod ER70s-2
No cleaning with wire brush, just polishes the mill scale. Grind down to bright metal.
Start a puddle immediately, under 3 seconds for aluminum, about 1 second for stainless.
Used the puddle to melt rod, never the arc.
Amps are your friend, going slow just let's too much heat build up for no useful purpose.

will that er70s-2 give me that golden color I'm looking for?

If you are only after color for an artistic reason, I've tig welded using common copper electrical wire and it looks cool.

But you still have to tig properly as far as technique. Make a puddle, use it to melt the filler.
Melting filler with the torch without a puddle results in "fido's butt."

ok thanks

[Superiorwelding]

Going back and re-reading all posts I came up with a few questions to be asked/answered.
It is obvious that the OP has a gas flow issue.
Why is the "gold color" wanted? Are you in fact seeing and referring to the gold straw color on SS Tig welds and not mild steel?
Could one problem be that AC is being used on the ER70S-2 wire?
Since the OP mentioned not melting the base metal, I have to assume he is in fact wanting to braze and not weld.
Some of these have been touched on and I am just trying to grasp what we have here.
I also agree that in this case a picture is a must.
-Jonathan

[dynasty200sd]

When TIG Brazing mild steel, do you still create a puddle before adding Silicone Bronze? What I am wanting to also know, as it relates to the initial post, what is the correct steps when tig brazing mild steel with silicone bronze?

Basically, how to you go about getting the silicone bronze to take to the parent metal and wet-out?

[Otto Nobedder]

When TIG Brazing mild steel, do you still create a puddle before adding Silicone Bronze? What I am wanting to also know, as it relates to the initial post, what is the correct steps when tig brazing mild steel with silicone bronze?

Basically, how to you go about getting the silicone bronze to take to the parent metal and wet-out?

Brazing does not melt the parent metal, so, no puddle. The wet-out relies on the action of the flux, and the heat of the parent metal being above the melting point of the filler metal. Then, capillary action will wick the filler into the joint. The more surface area in contact (that actually gets wetted), the stronger the joint.

I often silver-braze (with O/A) brass valves to stainless pipe. The brass will reach brown to very dull red before the silver alloy will wick properly.

I have no experience TIG-brazing, and little O/A experience with silicon bronze, so I'll let someone else give the step-by-step.

Steve S

[chubbysautocenter]

im trying not to start a puddle in order not to get it too hot so that I can get that color.

This statement of yours is terrible.
Welding require liquid steel - make a puddle and weld properly.

i understand creating the molten puddle. it just threw me off when i saw the lamp post video jody posted. the process that I'm trying to get is that tig brazing. brazing aluminum bronze rods on mild steel to get those gold beads. but other than that i always start a puddle

[chubbysautocenter]

Going back and re-reading all posts I came up with a few questions to be asked/answered.
It is obvious that the OP has a gas flow issue.
Why is the "gold color" wanted? Are you in fact seeing and referring to the gold straw color on SS Tig welds and not mild steel?
Could one problem be that AC is being used on the ER70S-2 wire?
Since the OP mentioned not melting the base metal, I have to assume he is in fact wanting to braze and not weld.
Some of these have been touched on and I am just trying to grasp what we have here.
I also agree that in this case a picture is a must.
-Jonathan

the color I'm looking for was featured on the lamp post video. tig brazing steel in ac polarity with aluminum bronze rods.

[Otto Nobedder]

After re-reading the whole thing, I realized my confusion. I didn't catch on early that this was a brazing question, not a welding question.

Steve S

[chubbysautocenter]

dropped down to 3\32 bronze rod and the color came right out. i guess it took less heat to melt. heck i don't know. 93 amps on dc 17 cfh 3\32 filler rod 1\8 tungsten red band. wire brush clean up, and came super nice. well at least for my standards.

[Superiorwelding]

You have to at least get us a picture to reward our efforts.
-Jonathan

[chubbysautocenter]

You have to at least get us a picture to reward our efforts.
-Jonathan

i will today thanks