For those experienced tig welders on the board, does soapstone contaminate the weld when TIGGING mild steel?

For those that dont know, soap stone is used to mark along weld lines. It doesnt wipe off easily, and doesn't boil off due to the heat generated while welding.

Thanks

 

I prefer as clean as possible.

cant you remove the marks ?

 

Yes I could, I was wondering if it would harm the weld any if I didnt. Like when I MIG, I follow my line made with soapstone, doesnt do anything to the weld.

 

Tig is a very paticular metal and very easy to mess up. for mild steel clean your metal with a stainless steel brush.. i am a AWS certified welder so let me kmow of anymore questions you have

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jdmlife &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Tig is a very paticular metal and </TD></TR></TABLE>

Tungsten Inert gas is a very particular metal ?

I'm lost on that one.

 

Yes soap stone will contaminate your weld. Try using thinner to remove it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Doctor CorteZ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Tungsten Inert gas is a very particular metal ?

I'm lost on that one. </TD></TR></TABLE>

same here. haha

 

you can use a regular *** wire brush to clean mild steel. stainless wire brushes are traditionally used to clean aluminum.soap stone will cause porosity in the weld. the reason you dont see any contamination in wire feed is because it will constantly feed wire in the puddle so you cant see it apon visual inspection. if you where to go and xray the metal, you will see porosity within the weld itself! and if you want to clean soapstone off the base metal, just use a wire brush and wipe off the excess with a clean rag! hope this helps!