Welding Tips and Tricks

Did some goofing around with 1/8 " tungsten. I was surprised as I laid down some half decent welds.

HTP Invertig 221
1/8" thoriated tungsten
15 CFH
Balance 65
Frquency 60 HZ
Amps 215
4043 and 5356 filler



1/4 aluminum angle.....quick wire brush cleanup.

I know my spacing

2 questions.....

How do I prevent the crater at the end?

What is causing the black deposit at the beginning of the weld?

Additional pics in next post.

You can prevent the crater by tapering off the pedal and adding wire at the same time to keep the puddle full. By the time you get to the end of the weld the part is hot (compared to at the beginning ) so even as you approach the last few inches you should be able to back off the amps somewhat and still keep the weld width.

Now if the part is large then this condition may not happen, just as if the part is very small then it will happen quite fast and require a lot of heat management.

The pepper at the beginning, do you have pre-flow on your machine?

Looks good! X2 on the pre-flow.

FF to 6:15

LuRCoEshNto

An no, your'e not really on to anything. All of this has happened to most of us before.

How does thoriated ball up on AC?

exnailpounder wrote:How does thoriated ball up on AC?

In my experience, it grows nodules/cauliflowers instead of a nice smooth rounded tip.

1/4" butt joint with no gap and no bevel?

Just curious as to why is all.

I've seen the black deposit when a student doesn't wait for a clearly defined puddle and tries to add filler too early.

MinnesotaDave wrote:1/4" butt joint with no gap and no bevel?

Just curious as to why is all.

I've seen the black deposit when a student doesn't wait for a clearly defined puddle and tries to add filler too early.

Dave ......had this been a job for a customer I would have done the preparations you described above. I was merely experimenting with 1/8" tungsten......i never welded with it before. I was surprised at how the welds turned out.....especially with my lack of experience welding aluminum.

rahtreelimbs wrote:

MinnesotaDave wrote:1/4" butt joint with no gap and no bevel?

Just curious as to why is all.

I've seen the black deposit when a student doesn't wait for a clearly defined puddle and tries to add filler too early.

Dave ......had this been a job for a customer I would have done the preparations you described above. I was merely experimenting with 1/8" tungsten......i never welded with it before. I was surprised at how the welds turned out.....especially with my lack of experience welding aluminum.

I use 1/8 exclusively. I call the end for thicker stuff and sharpen for thinner. It keeps me from worrying about too many amps. And I like the welds better.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

rahtreelimbs wrote:

MinnesotaDave wrote:1/4" butt joint with no gap and no bevel?

Just curious as to why is all.

I've seen the black deposit when a student doesn't wait for a clearly defined puddle and tries to add filler too early.

Dave ......had this been a job for a customer I would have done the preparations you described above. I was merely experimenting with 1/8" tungsten......i never welded with it before. I was surprised at how the welds turned out.....especially with my lack of experience welding aluminum.

I use 1/8 exclusively. I call the end for thicker stuff and sharpen for thinner. It keeps me from worrying about too many amps. And I like the welds better.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk