Welding Tips and Tricks

I am new to tig welding took some classes at the local college just looking for some tips on how I can improve looking for constructive criticism thank you

This is 1/8th inch plate 3/32 tungsten and 1/16 filler all mild steel

It makes no sense to critique your welds as you said you were new to tig but my advice..coming from someone that got back into tig after 15 years would be... there are many things to know about tig welding but to do work as good as Jody and some of the other pros around here is getting into a good position and dry running a weld to see if you are going to be able to do the weld and stay steady. Watch Jody when he dry runs. I started paying more attention to my positioning and my welds instantly got better. Tig just takes time to master but you will if you learn the right way...you dont have to unlearn bad habits. Tig is just plain cool and there is a wealth of info and advice from some pretty awesome weldors around here...dont be afraid to ask questions..no one will flame you. Good luck and have fun!

Thank you for your input Iam gonna keep practicing and posting pictures of my progress on this thread and keep asking for more tips. I have watched all of jodys videos and Iam really trying to focus on not having to long of an arc and not too much torch angle. I guess I just need to sit down and practice practice practice

Number one rule in welding.
Watch all of Jody's videos, then your allowed to start welding.

Payupv8 wrote:Thank you for your input Iam gonna keep practicing and posting pictures of my progress on this thread and keep asking for more tips. I have watched all of jodys videos and Iam really trying to focus on not having to long of an arc and not too much torch angle. I guess I just need to sit down and practice practice practice

Thats EXACTLY what it takes to be good at tig. I bet everybody who starts tigging trys to go too fast because everybody wants tolay down those cool stacks of dimes. I know I did. Then I realized that there was no hurry to get good and no one was watching me so I watched Jodies videos over and over and now I spark up with confidence. You'll get there too but don't learn bad habits and the learning curve won't be so steep. Best of luck and keep us posted

Arc length becomes second nature with practice. For me being consistent with arc length was mostly about not getting burned. I use Ove Gloves, TIG Finger sometimes, and I have copper bars 1.5" square I run parallel to the weld bead to lay my hand on. To some extent this protects my hand from heat. Without that distraction, I am much more steady. Two years ago I would grind ten tungstens, then a half hour later, do it again. I haven't ground tungstens in months.

Oh Yeah....Like Bill pointed out....your gonna become an expert tungsten grinder waaaaayyyyy before you become an expert tigger

I have been using Tig for about 3 years, but only tack qualified, at work and I have found keeping weight and stress off of my torch hand and feed hand help the most. Also, asking my welders what they hate to see in tacks and how to fix it...

Thank you for all the input. Iam definetly becoming an expert tungsten grinder. Lol. I bought myself
Some 4"x8" 1/4" hot rolled plate that Iam gonna clean up very well and then start running some practice beads I also picked up some 5032 I think 4"x8" 11 gauge aluminum plate to practice on. My future plans are to build a custom aluminum fuel cell for my datsun 510 a custom header and full stainless exhaust. Iam restoring two 510's one for the wife and one for me. On top of tig welding Iam also trying to learn sheet metal fabrication and learn the basic metal fabrication.

Also don't know if I should post this here or start a new topic Iam having an issue with my old miller dial arc hf-p. My question is when I put it on the amprege setting from 10-40 amps and try to weld with the lowest amps Around 10-20 or so the welder just makes a buzzing noise and won't melt the metal this was on like 20 gauge steel but it will melt the metal if I go full throttle any possible iedas?

Mine was set on AC when I had similar symptoms. I found the Hi frequency came in low, but the welding arc needed a little more. Welding a tiny trim item for a 1957 Cessna airplane. I had to bump the pedal, essentially pulse using the foot pedal. It came out nice. With soda cans it worked fine.

Tig is like playing a musical instrument ,hands ,eye, feet coordination.
Warm ups and practice and then comes the job/musical piece well done.
or if one can ride motorcycle/drive a manual stick shift car you will tig .
practice and then some more practice
Remember your 1st date, how did that go?

Payupv8 wrote:Thank you for all the input. Iam definetly becoming an expert tungsten grinder. Lol. I bought myself
Some 4"x8" 1/4" hot rolled plate that Iam gonna clean up very well and then start running some practice beads I also picked up some 5032 I think 4"x8" 11 gauge aluminum plate to practice on. My future plans are to build a custom aluminum fuel cell for my datsun 510 a custom header and full stainless exhaust. Iam restoring two 510's one for the wife and one for me. On top of tig welding Iam also trying to learn sheet metal fabrication and learn the basic metal fabrication.

Also don't know if I should post this here or start a new topic Iam having an issue with my old miller dial arc hf-p. My question is when I put it on the amprege setting from 10-40 amps and try to weld with the lowest amps Around 10-20 or so the welder just makes a buzzing noise and won't melt the metal this was on like 20 gauge steel but it will melt the metal if I go full throttle any possible iedas?

I would check the "points". That machine has them. They should be cleaned, and set to about a .008" gap. Check your manual.

This should improve low-power starts with HF.

Steve S

That machine has a capacitor for the HF and they get weak and then they don't want to light up all that well, I replaced mine a few years ago, bought it online.

Len

when the points in my old gold star needed cleaning
i put them in the drill press and lightly touched them
to a sanding block with 320 grit. make them square
and flat.
craig

I did check the gap and one set was completely touch I couldn't even get the feeler gauge in between them so I took both sets
Out and cleaned them with some emery cloth and reset the gap. Didn't seem to help. How do I confirm the capacitor is bad?
Also could I have too much gas flow causing the arc to not start? If that's even possible

I changed the capacitor at the recommendation of another forum and it worked for me. I don't really know how to test it other than for continuity. Others here might know though.

Len

Some comments on capacitors.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/fa ... -a-301570/

Back with a little more practice last night. Gonna try to keep practicing each night for at least an hour or two

Why is one piece of steel clean and the other not?

Looks like you are getting better.

Oscar wrote:Why is one piece of steel clean and the other not?

It's my welding table that's not as clean as the work piece it's they way I took the picture that makes it look like one piece

Payupv8 wrote:

Oscar wrote:Why is one piece of steel clean and the other not?

It's my welding table that's not as clean as the work piece it's they way I took the picture that makes it look like one piece

Oooohh ok, I betcha. Optical illusion, well for me anyways.

You are doing better than I am...

Sweet thanks guys!