Welding Tips and Tricks

Are there tricks I am missing, but I am having a hard time following a tight bit joint.
My welds are getting better but wander off the joint
How close do you keep your helmet from the weld.

Hello mpete53
It would be helpful if you tell us what welding process you are using, what material are you welding, also are you using an auto darkening or fixed shade hood, and what is the shade number.

Watch the leading edge of the weld pool.

You may want to outline the joint with a soapstone or sharpie. You may also need to look into a cheater lense.

mpete53 wrote:Are there tricks I am missing, but I am having a hard time following a tight bit joint.
My welds are getting better but wander off the joint
How close do you keep your helmet from the weld.

With tig you can be practically wearing the weld area. Since there is no splatter unless you hit rust, you can have your face right in it if you want. Only time I have gotten that close is overhead welding on a car on jack stands though. You should be able see well enough from a reasonable distance. If you can't then your helmet is probably dirty, scratched or set too dark. If that isn't the case then just weld in a better lit environment. Your only source of light doesn't need to be the arc.

-Sandow

I am new to tig and have a DC inverter working on steel and stainless steel.

I have been working with 1/8 and1/16 plate To get a good but joint I have been
Cutting a piece off then welding my cut line back together i get a very tight joint this way
I have found that grinding ever so lightly one corner of the seem off it makes a line I can follow

But even then I find it hard to see the end of the plate cumming

Perhaps you have too dark lens on your helmet. Droppin from shade 10 to 9 can sometimes make a big difference. Also I personally prefer dark shirts while welding, cause bright shirt reflects the light inside to ur hood and makes difficult to see.

There really is not any "tricks" to see the joint. You just need to practice. Sometimes it is ideal to move filler wire little bit off to the side of the joint so you can notice where you are going...

All in all just practice and make sure you also have the right shade when welding and that it is also clean.

mpete53,

Have you had a recent eye exam? My welding improved significantly when I had my first real eye exam in many years and went from reading glasses to a prescription.

One other tip, is simply to not focus on the arc itself... That "persistence of vision" thing will cause your sharpest vision to have the most effect from the brightness. I try to look at the leading edge of the puddle, and keep the torch action in my (very near) peripheral vision. It's all central vision, so you lose nothing, but it's a trick to learn not to look at the pretty light...

Steve S

Thanks for all the help.
I tried my reading glasses rather than my computer glasses. Better

I changed my feed angle. better

I added extra light better

still trying to follow the leading edge of the puddle. I guess that can come in time.

Thanks again

The light placement near my table was causing glare on the inside of the lens I covered up the back of my helmet by clipping in a leather bib which helps a lot.