Well from the photos it should be obvious where i started.
I want to say tanks to "weldin mike27" for posting a link to some very helpful videos that jody posted thanks jody for all your efforts!!!
before the videos
CAM00300b.jpg (99.18 KiB) Viewed 540 times
after the videos
CAM00301b.jpg (91.7 KiB) Viewed 540 times
I guess I am just wondering how sound these twelds look to you guys.
pulse off 34 amps very thin aluminum and using the pedal, I find that it is easier to use the pedal to back off as you go and the heat builds. As you can see in the bad photo I was getting a lot of burn through. Thanks in advance guys!!
Remarkable improvement between the two pictures - bottom one shows basically sound welds consistent with a limited amount of " seat time " - most visible faults will improve with practice - don't know how many hours you have so far - but your doing well.
Obvious things that could be improved
1 metal does'nt appear to be cleaned prior to welding - not a big deal when practicing - but a quick SS wire brush always helps
2 try to get something like 1/8" to start with - chasing the heat build up on very thin sheet is a challenge even with experience
3 there appears little frosting around much of the weld so consider setting slightly more cleaning action - unless it's lack of gas cover
4 black soot I imagine is slight tungsten contamination but could be borderline gas cover - check you have sufficient flow
5 try to prop your torch hand on something to keep consistent arc length without chance of dipping the tungsten - & naturally a " Tig finger " may help with this while keeping the Guru in his luxurious lifestyle ( !! )
6 controversial - but when learning it's enough to coordinate both hands without involving one foot on the pedal - I think it's easier to learn without initially using the pedal & makes you get a better feel for what the appropriate amps are - obviously this is challenging on thin material - hence start with something easier
As I see it your on the right track & doing well - just keep practicing - as long as you getting a shiny bead everything else will come with " seat time " - good luck
Thanks, its only about a total of 4 hours practice I just don't have a lot of time right now, I'm in the process of building my dream shop 24' x 45' and it is taking a lot of my time. And as far as using the pedal you are right its like chewing gum, walking, and rubbing your head at the same time! But it got a lot easier real quick! Tunsten dipping you bet I cant help it yet but im workin on it. Ya know I never could see the cleaning action or the shinny puddel until i watched jody's video several times and actually wrote down the settings and set my machine. I think that is probably when I really started understanding the function of each knob "or at least I have a basic understanding of each knob"
