Welding Tips and Tricks

I am retired and a metal working hobyist. I am not a welder, but I can stick metal together without it looking like a mud dobber nest (I am old, and my hands are not steady.) I mostly use a Lincoln MIG welder with flux cored wire, only occasionally use MIG. I just purchased a Lotos plasma cutter/TIG unit and am attempting to learn TIG (hard, not going well.) I primarily build equipment and accessories to help me maintain our property.

Welcome young timer, you are only as old as you feel,
This is the best place to pick up any tips you will ever need and you will find the vast experience available is unique.
If your hands are a bit shaky just find yourself a better prop position or adjust your welding stool to suit whatever position you find yourself in.

There's always the trusty Tig Finger. Gotta support the big guy so we can keep swappin' bull. Filling each others heads with more dross. Besides shaking gives the weld a little character.

You're not old, just seasoned.

Len

Welcome pjgent, plenty of us "old dogs" around here.

Pjgent welcome to the forum.

pjgent wrote:I am retired and a metal working hobyist. I am not a welder, but I can stick metal together without it looking like a mud dobber nest (I am old, and my hands are not steady.) I mostly use a Lincoln MIG welder with flux cored wire, only occasionally use MIG. I just purchased a Lotos plasma cutter/TIG unit and am attempting to learn TIG (hard, not going well.) I primarily build equipment and accessories to help me maintain our property.

Mate,
Suggest you look at Jody's bead drills for steel, and aluminium they will help you emensly, I watched them over and over. Particularly watch the tungsten gap to puddle.
When you first are learning tig the biggest problem is tungsten contamination. Now when I started I got sick of grinding tungsten clean or cutting and regrinding I found myself a square chocolate tin that was a comfortable hight to prop my hand on and long enough to allow me to run beads, after awhile the muscle memory helped to keep the distance between puddle and tungsten better

SHUSH!!!

If my wife thinks chocolate is involved, I'll have to teach her to weld!



Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:SHUSH!!!

If my wife thinks chocolate is involved, I'll have to teach her to weld!



Steve S

Sorry mate