Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey guys,

I work in film and tv and tend to get jobs welding weird things together. I’ve always just used MIG for mild steel but I’m looking to improve my skills and do some TIG welding and would love to expand into welding aluminum.

Is it something I can realistically teach myself or am I just going to break a bunch of stuff and cost myself more money in the end?

Also are there cheaper AC/DC TIG welders around or am I just looking around the $1200 mark for anything good (Australia)

Its not easy, but lots of people do it. In fact, a lot of the current TIG welding "stars" on instagram and elsewhere are self taught (Mike Zancanato and Mike Furrick I believe are both self taught).

If you only work on steel or stainless, you can get by with a DC only TIG welder which will save you a ton of money. There are decent DC only TIG/MIG/Stick welders out there in the neighborhood of your budget.

I don't shop machines, so I have no idea what's available at what price with xyz feature set.

As to learning, I'll say it's 1000% faster if you have someone who can simply show you how it's done, and can watch what you're doing and make changes to that on the fly. That doesnt' mean it's impossible to learn on your own, but you get feedback in 10 seconds as opposed to days or weeks of bad practice before you get it right.

And by having someone show you, I don't mean someone babysitting for weeks on end. I mean an hour or two keeping you from making the most egregious of beginner errors and just getting you started in the right direction. It'll be well worth the effort to find someone who can guide you. If you can't find someone, be prepared to post up pics and describe your process so you can get help here or wherever online.

I don't consider myself a pro, but any time I've had professional welders look at my work they've had good things to say...even after I tell them to be critical as I'm trying to improve. I jumped right in...bought a machine, watched a lot of videos, did a bunch of reading online and was able to get pretty acceptable results quickly. I started with stick welding and being able to see what's really happening was a huge plus for me, so it seemed pretty easy in comparison. There is more prep work and more factors in play, but it's certainly not an impossible task by any stretch of the imagination. I went a long time before getting up the courage to try aluminum and I quickly found that while it has some new challenges, I really like the process. I spent maybe six months where I would practice for at least 20-30 minutes running beads every night, then working on different joint configurations and got to the point where I'm not worried about someone else looking at my work.

I don't think I have any particular special talent, so if you're willing to put in some time I think you'll wind up liking TIG for the work you're describing.

I have no idea what brands are available in Australia...maybe if you shared that we could help narrow the search.

LavenderBirch wrote: Also are there cheaper AC/DC TIG welders around or am I just looking around the $1200 mark for anything good (Australia)

i don't know your exact prices, but that sounds like bottom end dollars for ac/dc tig. double that for commercial grade or fairly top end brands. at least triple that for high end machines.

Hard.

Because you're already doing it wrong.

Your first question should be something along the lines of: "Here's a pic of my first TIG beads, how can I improve"?

Don't set yourself up for failure by being mired in doubt before you have even struck an arc with a TIG torch. Get your hood down and your arc lit.

Ask questions later.

Jody has a series of great videos for learning TIG. He is the host for this site, and you can learn a lot from him. I basically taught myself TIG by watching his videos. At some point, you will benefit from having an experienced welder look over your shoulder, but learn everything you can first.

buy a tungsten grinder

motox wrote:buy a tungsten grinder

I disagree and would say to just use a standard 6" bench grinder with a regular aluminum oxide wheel(s) to start off with.

i just use a cheap Bunnings diamond wheel scissor/knife sharpener.

i was just trying to make the point new tig welders (and old ones with bad sight) can spend a lot of time sharpening stuck tungsten.
not that you need to go out and buy a grinder.
thought someone would pick up on that but oh well.

My comment here comes from playing sports most of my lif besides working. I was taught yo play to win. This meant learn the game learn the rules practice ,practice,practice. The note being practice correctly . This group will give lots of help to the new guys covering equipment projects, even how to deal with shop issues. It’s all part of learning the game as we say. I’ve seen some horrible mistakes and expensive mistakes made. My number one issue is safety. You can get injured very quickly because you generally don’t have full view of surroundings when under the hood.. you have to pay attention all the time…situation awareness in the military. Walking around with magnifier glasses as I do makes just staying upright an issue.when everything is blurry you have to be aware of everything going on.my sisters son got a finger in the chainsaw last week. I can’t tell you how many of my friends don’t have all 5 on their hands. I’ve got plenty of scars and lumps but still have every thing there and operational. Age got my eyesight not accident.

Somebody noted learn gas welding first. Good idea. You learn heat and puddle control that apply directly to tig welding. The internet is great for looking up material properties. I use it all the time.
So to move on…
Tig welding requires clean oxide free materials.I saw a post asking not to brush and clean parts before posting. You can do before and after but an as welded part is much easier to analyze. Too much heat or not enough is more apparent. .

Byron

LavenderBirch wrote:Hey guys,

I work in film and tv and tend to get jobs welding weird things together. I’ve always just used MIG for mild steel but I’m looking to improve my skills and do some TIG welding and would love to expand into welding aluminum.

Is it something I can realistically teach myself or am I just going to break a bunch of stuff and cost myself more money in the end?

Also are there cheaper AC/DC TIG welders around or am I just looking around the $1200 mark for anything good (Australia)

No#1 The first thing to recognize when starting out is everything welding is a consumable. It is not a buy once forever. As experience grows so does the desire to up grade,welder,helmet,gloves "PPE" the list is endless, besides the daily tungsten,cups,torch,quality/types of rods rods,it is addictive as skills improve.
It is not a cheap throw away hobby. Carefully consider the long Term ($) dollars and it will be rewarding even if goal is not a professional welder.
Like any skill, advice and PRACTICE is your friend.

LavenderBirch wrote:Hey guys,

I work in film and tv and tend to get jobs welding weird things together. I’ve always just used MIG for mild steel but I’m looking to improve my skills and do some TIG welding and would love to expand into welding aluminum.

Is it something I can realistically teach myself or am I just going to break a bunch of stuff and cost myself more money in the end?

Also are there cheaper AC/DC TIG welders around or am I just looking around the $1200 mark for anything good (Australia)

No#1 The first thing to recognize when starting out is everything welding is a consumable. It is not a buy once forever. As experience grows so does the desire to up grade,welder,helmet,gloves "PPE" the list is endless, besides the daily tungsten,cups,torch,quality/types of rods rods,it is addictive as skills improve.
It is not a cheap throw away hobby. Carefully consider the long Term ($) dollars and it will be rewarding even if goal is not a professional welder.
Like any skill, advice and PRACTICE is your friend.

In my view TIG is the easiest over stick and MIG. Having the On/off switch during welding does make it more user friendly and you also have more time to control things. Plus the facility to do other metals. Also very safe when using around materials other than metal, no molten blobs flying around the room.
Stick is the cheapest and most accessible but the most difficult to do properly.

gnabgib wrote:In my view TIG is the easiest over stick and MIG. Having the On/off switch during welding does make it more user friendly and you also have more time to control things. Plus the facility to do other metals. Also very safe when using around materials other than metal, no molten blobs flying around the room.
Stick is the cheapest and most accessible but the most difficult to do properly.

the good thing with tig is you can see the puddle and you can sit there and play with it.
however in my experience of being completely self taught, is that there is still a huge amount of things to setup and do with tig.
tig is the most frustrating and the amount of fouling of tungsten's, regrinding etc. its most certainly the hardest and the longest to learn.
i find stick substantially easier with basic machines.

the big factor i typically see is how much money someone wants to sink into it. basic stick machines are cheap, very little other gear required. so if you give it up its not much money lost. if you go onto other processes, a stick machine is always handy. the skill and gear is never wasted.

LavenderBirch wrote:Hey guys,

I work in film and tv and tend to get jobs welding weird things together. I’ve always just used MIG for mild steel but I’m looking to improve my skills and do some TIG welding and would love to expand into welding aluminum.

Is it something I can realistically teach myself or am I just going to break a bunch of stuff and cost myself more money in the end?

Also are there cheaper AC/DC TIG welders around or am I just looking around the $1200 mark for anything good (Australia)

What type of stuff?
1/4" can be welded with 200A AC/DC machine. AC tig welding tungsten will only be as sharp as the amperage, higher amperage forms a larger ball on the end. It is best to have remote amperage control. Your price range is entry level. You also need filler rods. The company You use now for aluminum might let You watch, bring your helmet next time and ask.

At that $1200 mark you will probably get a machine that’s solid on DC. But you might not get a good machine if you want AC&DC for aluminum at that price range. If you want to do aluminum I’d recommend a machine capable of at least 200 amps.