I am right handed and hold the torch in my right hand with a pencil grip.

When I get a puddle, do I move right-to-left or left-to-right?

An oldschooler at work says to draw or pull left-to-right on steel and push right-to-left on aluminum.

 

Depends on which direction your welding, i.e. left handed or right handed.

Right handed I move right to left.

Angle the torch 45-60 degrees towards the direction your moving, with the filler into the front.

 

Always push.

 

I was taught to move from right to left, but to keep the torch at more of an 80 degree angle. Does anyone have input on "the text book angle" the torch is supossed to be at when welding in position? Is there such a thing, or is it what ever suits you best? Sorry but I am new at tig welding.

 

Always push so that would be right to left for you. Ideal torch angle is like 10-15 deg from vert I guess. The reality is that in the real world it doesnt matter much. You use whatever angle you have to to get the job done. I prefer around 45deg if I can, esp on thin stuff.

 

LOL I remember trying to lead with the torch(pull) and following it with the filler my the first time I picked up TIG. It was a mess!

 

When I push with the torch, I'm getting splatter from the fill metal I just put down. Is it because I'm running too much gas (20cfh)? Should I let off the pedal some when I move push the torch forward?

 

try and keep your tungsten about a 1/8" off of what your welding

and dont let the filler hit or get on the tungsten

 

Ha Ha me too. I asked my buddy to watch me to see what I was doing wrong. "Your welding backwards *******" is the answer I got. Left to right just felt natural.

 

True this.

It also depends on what kind of penetration and depth your going for. 45* on thin stuff works good because it spreads the arc along a longer "landing zone", keeping it out of one spot too long.

 

I'm teaching myself to weld 16ga steel and am taking some coupons home to practice with tonight.

On this thin stuff, do you guys lay 4-5 beads, stop and let it cool and repeat? I've been warping the crap out of the pieces by the time I get to 4" down.

65A, DCEN, 1/16" tungsten, 1/16" wire.

 

Do you mean the filler metal is "balling up" and dropping onto the piece? You need to have slightly less angle, keep the filler out of the weld and dab it in, or use a thicker filler wire.

 

You're dipping your tungsten in the puddle or you are welding really crappy carbon steel and it's just the **** in the steel popping when it gets hot. Hot rolled?

 

I did a better job of cleaning the material last night and didn't have the same popping/splattering as before. Finding and fixing a loose gas line connection really helped things along too.