ok so last week finally picked up a tig welder this is nothing more then a starters welder. its a thermal arc s95. with a lift tig style welder attachment.

basically you turn it on set your amperage and go no other options, i wanted this due to not wanting to spend to much money and never getting the hang of it.

so I went out and bought a chop saw, a bench grinder and have a welding table.

I have plenty of tungsten cups and filler rod, and some spare 304l exhaust tubing laying around.

My bench grinder has a dedicated wheel for sharpening tungsten, otherwise for cleaning purpose all i have is an angle grinder, what else do i need for the cleaning prep??

when prepping the tubing for welding, do i need to bevel it or can i just clean it tack it then start goin to town on it??

i guess im looking for some pre welding tips to help the actual wedling process go easier, i have heard a hundred times cleaning is one of the most important things when it comes to tig welding


I have alottttttt of learning to do so any help is appreciated!!


thanks

 

don't start with the 304 tubing, go buy some mild steel sheet or plate to start out on 16ga-10ga should be inexpensive a get you started with practice. Lift arc on stainless tubing will get get you frustrated. Learn the basic on the plate the move on to more difficult things. Goodluck

 

One of the most important things to tig welding is trying to get everything in sync. Tubing probably wouldn't be the best place to start even though you have access to it. I would go buy some mild steel and practice with first running a bead on a plate trying to keep your puddle a consistant width the whole length of your weld, this will help out tremendously in the future. As far as cleaning just use the bench grinder and lightly run it across it to clean it up, you can also wipe with acetone and wipe your wire also.. This will also help later. When you get the hang of that try some T joints and some butt welds. When you get comfortable with that you can try the tubing. A good tip with tubing is go buy some cheap hose clamps and put holes in them to hold your tubes together "for tube to tube" and use the holes for tacking. When you get to that point cleaning is important but not nearly as important as running a backing gas. This will keep the weld clean on the inside of your tube. Any more questions just reply or shoot me a message

 

If you clean with acetone make sure you don't have any puddles of it leftover no matter how small. If you weld over it, it will flash into vapor and the inhalation of it can make you blind, mess you up pretty bad or even possibly kill you.

Invest in a couple wire wheels for your grinder, they clean up pretty good.

 

yeah dont try welding pipe lol. just straight flat thick pieces first.

 

ok what kind of amperage do you run on flat chunks of mild?

im a machinist so i have an unlimited supply of scrap metal. I have tried just running a consistent bead down a .5" chunk of mild and felt like i couldnt really get a puddle started?

 

Everything said is good IMO, except no backing gas needed for mild steel and cleaning mild is the most important thing to get good results.

you will be spending really much time sharpening your tungsten because of lift arc - I know it, I've been there... but remember - your really need a good sharp tungsten! it's pretty essential, so, don't think that sharpening it will be waste of time, it is important, and you need to do that!

 

yea i have managed to ball it up several times already haha

 

weld something thinner than 1/2" LOL... weld 1/8 mild around 100-110 amps as a starting point.

First try to make a puddle. crank the amps into it and watch how it reacts/melts. from there make a puddle and move the puddle down the peice (no filler, just melting the metal and getting torch speed down). Then grab a filler and hold it close to the puddle without dipping to get a motion down... then try to dip it.

Lap joints of 1/8" mild is how the local school was teaching people how to weld. Tack one side on each end of the peice, flip and weld. if you dont tack the metal will distort and you will have a gap to fill before you know it.

 

well this bad boy only goes up to 95amps, so thats not an option. also im not trying to weld anything togethor on that 1/2 chunk but should it still be able to create a puddle??

 

it will be enough to weld 3mm(~.118") thick plates/pipes!

 

95 amps you wont be able to add enough heat to a half inch thick peice to wet the metal.

 

ok so got a chance to weld some, still havent had a chance to come up with some thin mild so i went ahead and messed with my stainless tubing.

if you dont have a gas lens do most of the welds look nasty? i was just fusion welding(dont know technical name) and i had some every now and then that came out a red-ish purple-ish color but most were covered in a nasty flaking gray color( i assume this is due to gas coverage being inadequate.)

it sugared really bad on the insde of the pipe what causes this?

also on my torch its a 17-series, it has the adjustable **** on the torch itself for the argon, whats a good way of telling if your running to much or not enough argon to the weld??


thanks

edit: was running about 30 amps, 20cfh, using a 6cup with 3/32 thoriated tungsten, tried 1/16 but couldnt even start a decent weld(decent being horrible to most of you haha)

 

anymore help on this? picked up a 1/16th and 3/32th gas lens, with 1/2"cup the other day.

still having some issues with knowing how far the adjustable **** needs to be turned for flowing the argon through the torch.

running the same amperage, im having to make pretty quick passes for decent looking welds i was thinking slower would equal better penetration and more heat but when i i run it to slow it does the same nasty flaking stuff.

any help would be really appreciated!

also gonna order some stainless plate what thickness you guys suggest for me to learn on?? like 1/16th??

 

Fusion welding is called a autogenous weld, and the gas lens will def help some. when there gray and flaky on stainless its too hot. Stainless should be a goldish to a straw color. Also stainless sucks up the heat and holds it there unlike aluminum where it disperses it thru the material. hope i explained that right lol couldn't think of an explanation

It sugared up on the inside of your pipe because it wasn't purged. If you want to purge add another argon line off your tank, put the line inside the pipe and seal both ends( tin foil, duct tape ) run about 30lph thru it for 2 mins or so then turn it down to about 12-15cfm.

i would buy some 1/8 plate or 3/16th plate and practice on there, lap joints t-joints and what not. lift arc is a pain in the *** i know, when i was certifying for mild steel tig thats what i was started on.

 

Did you figure out that tig welding yet?

 

Damn bumping a really old thread!