[Least honorable]

so i just started tig welding about 3 days ago on CRS 1/8x1x6" i use 135 or so amps, feathering the pedal between 100_120
here are the results, any tips?

20160724_190045.jpg (31.37 KiB) Viewed 1629 times

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20160725_163610.jpg (32 KiB) Viewed 1629 times

20160725_165258.jpg (33.51 KiB) Viewed 1629 times

20160726_173439.jpg (30.39 KiB) Viewed 1629 times

the pictures are in order of which i welded.
(i did more than these, but i dont want to post 50 pictures )

alot of pictures, but i had a few questions. it seems better to dip without stopping, but it looks better when you stop and dip so i assume it is better to get use to dip without pausing with the torch, its what im practicing now. also, does it matter how often you dip, other than the looks of it, looks better when you dip less, so should i dip less when i weld? the second to last one was dipping mid-often and the last one which looks better IMO is dipped less. and i find it easier to pace myself to make look even when i dip less i.e 1-.5 dips a second instead of 2-3. so is it ok to dip less?

last thing: when i feed the wire, i kind of 'lean' the wire on the metal to feed in the puddle, is this ok? i find it better than holding it in midair because when i held it in mid air, i would contaminate the tungsten when i would go to feed the wire when i ran low.

thanks for your help, i really appreciate it.

regards noah.

[Least honorable]

sorry for the 2 black pictures, i have no idea how to fix it. but all it was is a T joint where i dipped more often than the last picture, here is a similar one,but not as good:

20160726_182153.jpg (30.79 KiB) Viewed 1628 times

[exnailpounder]

Good job. You have the moves down but a couple of your pics show smoked metal. You gotta move along and never linger or you smoke your base metal. A few look MUCH better color. You got it brother...a little more seat time and you're there.

[Least honorable]

Good job. You have the moves down but a couple of your pics show smoked metal. You gotta move along and never linger or you smoke your base metal. A few look MUCH better color. You got it brother...a little more seat time and you're there.

which one looks smoked? the butt joins looks like it now that you mention it, any other?

could it be because the tungsten was contaminated? or was it because i was moving too slow?

and does the frequency of which i dip matter? or is it mostly for looks?
noah

[Oscar]

It's not really the frequency per say, but it all has to do with the bead profile. You definitely don't want a concave bead. You don't want too much convexity either. Both compromise the strength of the weld. You want a little bit of convexity with a nice, smooth tie-in at the toes of the weld.

[Least honorable]

It's not really the frequency per say, but it all has to do with the bead profile. You definitely don't want a concave bead. You don't want too much convexity either. Both compromise the strength of the weld. You want a little bit of convexity with a nice, smooth tie-in at the toes of the weld.

Ok so you want it flat or abit concave then?
I have my filet welds either flat or slightly concave I beleive. the bead profile is somewhat similar to what id get on mig, but abit more concave, ill try to remember to get a side view picture tomorrow


Noah

[MinnesotaDave]

Consistency isn't too bad - several toe areas did not wet out (tie in) to base metal - looks like not enough amps.

Stay 125 or above on 1/8" and motor out - faster travel with more amps puts less total heat into the piece.

It's a balance, you'll nail it eventually

I tell people that after the 1st 100 hours of practice on various welds it get easier.

[Least honorable]

Consistency isn't too bad - several toe areas did not wet out (tie in) to base metal - looks like not enough amps.

Stay 125 or above on 1/8" and motor out - faster travel with more amps puts less total heat into the piece.

It's a balance, you'll nail it eventually

I tell people that after the 1st 100 hours of practice on various welds it get easier.

For which pictures are you talking about? The first few I know aren't that good because it was the first day I was practicing, my welds look more like the last one now, is that a good tie-in? Or should I go even higher amperage?
I just don't wana screw it up if it was ok, also..

When i do around that amperage, the top gets consumed too much, ill try again tomorrow, change my angle move faster and ill let you know how it went.


noah

[MinnesotaDave]

Consistency isn't too bad - several toe areas did not wet out (tie in) to base metal - looks like not enough amps.

Stay 125 or above on 1/8" and motor out - faster travel with more amps puts less total heat into the piece.

It's a balance, you'll nail it eventually

I tell people that after the 1st 100 hours of practice on various welds it get easier.

For which pictures are you talking about? The first few I know aren't that good because it was the first day I was practicing, my welds look more like the last one now, is that a good tie-in? Or should I go even higher amperage?
I just don't wana screw it up if it was ok, also..

When i do around that amperage, the top gets consumed too much, ill try again tomorrow, change my angle move faster and ill let you know how it went.


noah

Angle is important - more heat needs to be directed at the bottom piece since it takes more amps than that upper edge.

Yesterday I was welding 1/2" to 3/16" and the direction of the arc was very important as I was near the edge of the thinner piece.

[Oscar]

It's not really the frequency per say, but it all has to do with the bead profile. You definitely don't want a concave bead. You don't want too much convexity either. Both compromise the strength of the weld. You want a little bit of convexity with a nice, smooth tie-in at the toes of the weld.

Ok so you want it flat or abit concave then?
I have my filet welds either flat or slightly concave I beleive. the bead profile is somewhat similar to what id get on mig, but abit more concave, ill try to remember to get a side view picture tomorrow


Noah

No, re-read the last sentence of my post.

[Least honorable]

Consistency isn't too bad - several toe areas did not wet out (tie in) to base metal - looks like not enough amps.

Stay 125 or above on 1/8" and motor out - faster travel with more amps puts less total heat into the piece.

It's a balance, you'll nail it eventually

I tell people that after the 1st 100 hours of practice on various welds it get easier.

For which pictures are you talking about? The first few I know aren't that good because it was the first day I was practicing, my welds look more like the last one now, is that a good tie-in? Or should I go even higher amperage?
I just don't wana screw it up if it was ok, also..

When i do around that amperage, the top gets consumed too much, ill try again tomorrow, change my angle move faster and ill let you know how it went.


noah

Angle is important - more heat needs to be directed at the bottom piece since it takes more amps than that upper edge.

Yesterday I was welding 1/2" to 3/16" and the direction of the arc was very important as I was near the edge of the thinner piece.

Update to the previous post: tried setting it at 125 and flooring the pedal to make 100% sure I was doing actually 125, and I got a similar bead to the last picture just looks shinier (the tungsten was probably contaminated on the last bead is my guess)

Here it is:

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1469646117713347450387.jpg (32.4 KiB) Viewed 1325 times

The last one is the side view of the bead, only way it would focus is if I put a piece of metal on it and put my phone sideways, sorry for the weird angle.

There a bump on the last one because I didn't have time to taper of, I was burning my hand




I gave vertical a shot, didn't go aswell as flat, any tips? Same settings as flat, feathering the pedal 1/16 wire.

1469652135782-1689961011.jpg (37.67 KiB) Viewed 1323 times

I contaminated the tungsten mid weld on this one

1469652478768-886527332.jpg (38.91 KiB) Viewed 1323 times

Noah

[exnailpounder]

Very good! Better than I have seen from guys around here who claim to be pro's and "have 30 years of experience"
No smoked metal this time and your stack a dimes in just about there. You are now a Tig welder

[Least honorable]

Very good! Better than I have seen from guys around here who claim to be pro's and "have 30 years of experience"
No smoked metal this time and your stack a dimes in just about there. You are now a Tig welder

thanks, nice to see results after you work hard at something!

only thing is now i gotta practice feeding the wire and positioning my hand comfortably for vertical, looking at how others do it and ill see what i like tomorrow, and ill come back with results and pictures

also, i can do vertical sitting down decently, but when i try standing up, it is abit harder to control the foot pedal more accurately and control the torch smoother, are there any tricks to make it easier to control the pedal more accurately and make the torch move smoother?


noah

[RamboBaby]

are there any tricks to make it easier to..........make the torch move smoother?
noah

Get a tig finger.

[Least honorable]

are there any tricks to make it easier to..........make the torch move smoother?
noah

Get a tig finger.

already got one, by smoother i meant to keep it steady going upwards while standing up, and keeping the even arc length, it obviously comes with practice, just wondering if anyone had tips to hold the torch differently, or make it easier, etc,etc.



noah

['Stang]

are there any tricks to make it easier to..........make the torch move smoother?
noah

Get a tig finger.

already got one, by smoother i meant to keep it steady going upwards while standing up, and keeping the even arc length, it obviously comes with practice, just wondering if anyone had tips to hold the torch differently, or make it easier, etc,etc.



noah

Nice looking beads! You are definitely getting there. But, things will be better if you get the mill scale off before you weld. Makes for a much cleaner weld. I know it's not critical for practice-but try to develop good habits to start with. Hope this helps.

[Least honorable]

Nice looking beads! You are definitely getting there. But, things will be better if you get the mill scale off before you weld. Makes for a much cleaner weld. I know it's not critical for practice-but try to develop good habits to start with. Hope this helps.

its cold rolled, not hot rolled,
i clean it with acetone

[Rick_H]

I think for a beginner it looks pretty damn good, steadiness will come with seat time you'll get to the point you really don't feel the torch in your hand.

With welding repetition and practice truly makes you better....

[MinnesotaDave]

Now go back to all your previous welds and add 2 more passes for a 3 pass weld.

[fredygump]

What I did in school...I started running beads just like Jody always says. I took a chunk of steel, maybe 3/8"x3"x8", and covered it with weld beads. When I got to the edge of the metal, I just turned it on it's side and welded the edge, then across the back. I joked that I was going to make it into a 2x4 block. (Oh yeah, I dunked it in water every so often to keep it cool.)

The photo shows a comparison between the block I started with and what I ended up with. And there is some junk in the background, because I started doing the same process with aluminum and stainless. Stainless doesn't cooperate with this kind of abuse, btw...but aluminum was great. Only problem with aluminum was that I was using a Dynasty 200 dx, and that 200A wasn't quite enough after several layers of weld. So I grabbed another chunk of aluminum tube.

I know it is ridiculous...but it was good practice.

[fredygump]

If your goal is to be ready for the "real world", then practice welding in circles (around pipe, rod, tube, etc), and try welding materials of drastically different thicknesses...different thickness materials + gaps is particularly fun.

Shortly after I started my job, just out of welding school, I had the "opportunity" to weld companion flanges onto some stainless round duct. The duct was 16ga stainless, and the flanges were 1/8" angle. And due to the clever design, there was also a 1/8-3/16" gap all the way around between the duct and the flange.

I don't know this for sure, but I have a strong feeling the journeymen had a bet about whether or not I could do it. With the 1/8" gap, I was able to weld it without sugaring the inside of the duct (with the help of aluminum chill block). One guy called it "perfect", obviously surprised (perfect only in the sense of no sugaring). But the 3/16" gap was too much for me at the time.


Anyway, there'll be days... Anything you can do to learn how to adjust for unusual scenarios will help you out. You never know what people will expect you to "just" weld together.

[MinnesotaDave]

What I did in school...I started running beads just like Jody always says. I took a chunk of steel, maybe 3/8"x3"x8", and covered it with weld beads. When I got to the edge of the metal, I just turned it on it's side and welded the edge, then across the back. I joked that I was going to make it into a 2x4 block. (Oh yeah, I dunked it in water every so often to keep it cool.)

The photo shows a comparison between the block I started with and what I ended up with. And there is some junk in the background, because I started doing the same process with aluminum and stainless. Stainless doesn't cooperate with this kind of abuse, btw...but aluminum was great. Only problem with aluminum was that I was using a Dynasty 200 dx, and that 200A wasn't quite enough after several layers of weld. So I grabbed another chunk of aluminum tube.

I know it is ridiculous...but it was good practice.

I don't find it ridiculous at all - muscle memory takes time to develop. Developing it quickly means a lot of practice.

Works great for stick welding too.