[swinglek]

I have been a die hard stick welder for several years, new to tig and mig. looking for assistance with my tig welding, here are a few beads on aluminum, any tips, especially how to avoid the crater when terminating the weld. Thanks in advance!

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IMG_0041.JPG (51.38 KiB) Viewed 907 times

[Otto Nobedder]

Welcome!

That crater at the end is because aluminum shrinks so much as it cools (and this is where cracks start in welds).
The trick is to "button off" the weld as you end. As you taper off the heat, add more filler in one or two dabs to fill in the crater as it begins to form. You want the last "dime" in the stack to stand as tall as the rest.

When tacking two pieces together, you will want to do this, too, or your tacks are likely to crack.

Steve S

[swinglek]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll give that a try tomorrow night. I think I am letting off the pedal too quickly as the last dab doesn't seem to melt for me. Does everything else look okay, or anything additional I should be working on. Thanks Steve!

[GreinTime]

Thanks for the feedback, I'll give that a try tomorrow night. I think I am letting off the pedal too quickly as the last dab doesn't seem to melt for me. Does everything else look okay, or anything additional I should be working on. Thanks Steve!

The biggest thing you have going for you is that you already know how to weld. The pics you've shown indicate that in addition to being able to read a puddle, you can react accordingly, and use both hands at once! As you already stated, the Crater is the only thing I can see of hand that you need to work on. Travel speed seems to be good, amount of filler added is okay as well.

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[GreinTime]

Judging by how narrow the etch zone is around the bead, I would assume you have an inverter TIG welder. If possible, bump the balance a little more towards cleaning, as the picture you show the Crater specifically in is filmy at the end of the weld.

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[swinglek]

I like how you could pick up it was an inverter based welder- you are correct it is a squarewave 200. I recently purchased their garage pack and have been teaching my self to Mig and Tig every night since they have arrived. My wife is considering investing in a grinder so we could see each other again I have the EN set to 65% I'll crank it up to about 70 tonight.

[exnailpounder]

You sure caught on quick but knowing how to weld and what a weld should look like is a big help. I usually start easing off the pedal when coming to the edge of the metal as the heat is building with nowhere to go and do a couple extra dabs while easing the pedal back and backing the torch up just a bit. That crater is an easy fix and to me it looks like you you got your wings already. Nice work! None of the wives understand why we like to make sparks and cut things and bang on metal with hammers and hot glue pieces of metal together and stand around a machine and stare at it in awe. Buy your wife a plasma cutter so she can feel involved and you can "borrow" it from her from time to time

[swinglek]

I have a plasma cutter Hypertherm 45, she wont try it. She did give mig welding a try, and actually didn't do half bad but it's not her thing. She has been really good about my habit (addiction). I have used an old Forney ac/dc stick welder for years, I believe the unit is older than I am. I have talked about getting a welder for the last 2 years, she is the one that said "just get the garage pack"... well I might have suggested it a few (hundred) times. My son, who's 11, has now also got the bug. He does run the plasma cutter for me. He was drawing plans for a chopper bicycle that he wants us to build. Thanks for all the assistance, is so much easier to learn when you have a group of peers to assist. I remember teaching myself to stick weld, and the long hours of sticking rods and cursing - oh the good old days!

[exnailpounder]

I understand the frustration. I got back into tig a few years back after a 15 year break and with the help I got here and Jody's videos, it didn't take long. My tig machine will stick weld but I haven't stick welded in so long that I am sure I have forgotten how. I do repairs and Mig almost all of it and I never get a call for stick. I actually get excited when I get a stainless or aluminum job come in so I can Tig weld.

[Artie F. Emm]

Welcome to the forum! As others have said, looking good so far.

Photo 2, welds at the bottom: I'm seeing some black at the beginning and end of the welds. Doesn't that suggest not enough gas coverage? Do you have pre- and post-flow settings?

[swinglek]

Dave,
No settings for pre or post flow on the squarewave. I know it has ALOT of post flow, it is one of the things I heard people complaining about when I read the reviews on the welder. I have the gas set to 15 CFH with a #7 cup. Should I be running a little more gas pressure?

[exnailpounder]

Dave,
No settings for pre or post flow on the squarewave. I know it has ALOT of post flow, it is one of the things I heard people complaining about when I read the reviews on the welder. I have the gas set to 15 CFH with a #7 cup. Should I be running a little more gas pressure?

Are you using a gas lens? 15 is about where I run with a gas lens. Sometimes I bump it up depending on what I am doing or I will cut it back to less than 10 for micro-welding.

[swinglek]

It's a a 17 torch with standard collet body, and a standard #7 cup.

[GreinTime]

I like how you could pick up it was an inverter based welder- you are correct it is a squarewave 200. I recently purchased their garage pack and have been teaching my self to Mig and Tig every night since they have arrived. My wife is considering investing in a grinder so we could see each other again I have the EN set to 65% I'll crank it up to about 70 tonight.

Try it down around 60 and see how that works out (when I said more towards cleaning, I meant more EP, less EN. Apologies about the lack of clarity). I don't typically take our Dynasty down below 75 for most stuff, but we weld some shitty castings, and I have to bump it down to 60-65, but I can normally compensate for that in other ways.

Also, you can get away with welding aluminum at 10cfh or so, especially if you switch to a #5/6 cup. I don't know that a #7 would like it that low, but if you're in your garage, with no draft to speak of, you can get pretty stingy with your argon on aluminum.

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[swinglek]

Sam- Thanks for all of the tips, greatly appreciated. I ordered some additional lenses and a stubby kit today. Right now I only have the #7 lense that came with the kit. I'll take the EN to 60 and try the gas a bit lower. I'm going to be experimenting with magnesium welding later, I have a few chain saw cases that a buddy needs welded - wish me luck!

[Poland308]

Are you prepared for the mag caching fire?

[GreinTime]

It welds similarly to the aluminum, just much dirtier. As Poland said, you'll want a contingency plan in place in the event that it does catch fire, but I've never personally had it happen to me!

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[exnailpounder]

Are you prepared for the mag caching fire?

Nothing like a good magnesium fire now is there?

[Poland308]

It's not bad if it's small and your prepared for it.

[exnailpounder]

It's not bad if it's small and your prepared for it.

I installed some fire doors in a die-casting plant for their magnesium ingot holding room. We had to go through a short safety video before gaining entry and the video showed a motor block that was intentionally set on fire and different efforts to put it out. It was an eye opener for sure. Obviously the OP isn't going to weld anything on that scale but you are correct that no matter what, you need to be ready to extinguish it if Murphy shows up. Very energetic fire.

[motox]

make sure there are not any fillings or sanding's around
the weld. these are what tend to go on fire.
ask me how i know....
class C fire extinguishers are expensive
AG92 rod

[motox]

correction class D not C
thats why i should proof read first...lol

[swinglek]

Thanks for all of the feedback, it's raining today, I think I'll wait for a nice day and try the magnesium welding outside. I have them cleaned up pretty well, they are chainsaw cases. Someone recommended preheating to boil some of the oil out prior to welding. I'll let you know how it goes