Hi Guys.

I started my journey into tig welding, the exact moment I decided to turbo my civic. I've bought a tig set up with my friend and we practice at night, like most of us that do not weld/fab professionally, but just for fun.

I hope to recieve constructive criticism from this thread.

I will update tomorrow with a pic of my actual welding "level" in detali.

By now I just starded to pie cut and this is really the first time I did it.



And here also the picture of my first purged weld that could sound stupid but has been really exciting for me! (is not the final pie cut piece, that one is just for training)



What do you guys think?

 

I started from this :




now I'm at this level. I found hard to mantain the torch at the right angle. May be because is a 26 torch. Suggestions?







This is how I "set" my backpurging.



Is a **** to look at but is working!Btw I have problems with the tube when the working piece heats up.

 

do you guys have any suggenstion on how to control the width of the bead?

 

That's based on the grind angle of your tungsten, your arc length, how many amps you are welding with, how hot the metal is, how much rod you are feeding into the puddle with each dip, your travel speed.

A lot of variables can change how wide your puddle is.

Let's start with the simple ones.

How does the grind on your tungsten look?
What is the size of the metal you are welding?
How many amps are you using?

 

I'm using a 1/16 tungsten, with a pointed shape, the thickness of the material is 1/16.
I'm using a foot pedal so I'm not looking at the amps to be honest...

 

a quick rule of thumb is that the tungsten grind length/taper should be 2x the width.
What are your max amps set to on the machine?

The pedal is just giving you a range from 0amps to whatever you set the max at.

On that first set of pie cut pics, you have good penetration, but you need to purge better, I would assume you did not let the gas fill the area enough or you were purging it wrong. Argon is 'heavy' and likes to sit at the bottom of the area you are filling. If you didn't cap the purge device you made properly, gas was probably just escaping from the rough gaps.

The grey look there is carbide precipitation, and that will basically make the stainless steel rust right there, because the chromium and nickel (what makes stainless, stainless) have burned away due to contamination from the atmosphere.

 

Well at this point I think that my pedal has something wrong.. I can set an amp starting point, not a limit. My welder is not a "pro" one. Actually now that you make me think about it, at the beginning I had to switch a couple of wire in the foot pedal because I had max amp with a soft touch and 0 at WOT :D. I have to check wiring... for sure.
For the purge, I think that I didn't let enough gas flowing time before start welding.
Thanks for your suggestions Caoboy very appreciate !

 

What machine do you have?

Post a picture of the face of your machine too.

 

If you are just starting out in the welding profession, my advice is to at least attend an introductory training course at your local high school or tech college. It usually does not cost much and they will spend the first few classes going through all the safety rules and regulations. There are just too many ways you can seriously injure yourself, or others if you do not know what you are doing.

Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (TIG) is one of the most difficult and time consuming to master. You would have been better off starting out with a Gas Metal Arc Welding (MIG) process, because it is so much easier.

Starting out with stainless steel is also the most expensive material you could have chosen. I would have started training on mild steel - flat pieces first - then graduating to tubular, as I gained experience.

You would have learned that during your introductory course.

 

Nixrox, thank you for your advice.
I work with engines from 10 years by now, I really know what to do in terms of safety. May be something more specific in welding but internet is a great source.
This to say that I'm not the kid that is palying around with no idea of what is doing.
For the course I totally agree with you, it would be great but my business schedule do not match any course... that's why I'm "playing" at night with tig welding.

@ Caoboy: that's my machine....



I found that I have some wiring problems with my foot pedal...
by now I'm at the point that I Can set the max AMP but I cannot see it from the display. It only works while I'm pressing the pedal....
Is working but the gas waste in this way would be significant. I'm working on this by now...

 

Little progress... Happy 2016 guys!

 

Nice im ready to order some elbows from ace race parts to make mine

 

Here I cannot find elbows anywhere... they are just too expensive... I will go with pie cut even if is a pain in the *** but at least is a good training.

This is the model I made with a PVC tube for my manifold:






Another problem for my manifold, is the td0516g flange. The DC Sport mani that I bought cracked, to speed up my build, (pics in previous post) has a round shape on one side that make you life pretty easy instead of the "triangular" one that my other flange has on both sides.... The problem is that I cannot find one similar to the DC Sport's one.

 

this is my first try in weaving... still not good, any tip?

 

Doesnt look bad at all. Whats your torch setup? Gas lens?

 

Thank you!!!
I'm still with the 26 torch, kind of a big one... 8 cup with gas lens (ebay).
I think that a smaller torch will help a lot...

 

looks like your torch,gas lens, gas flow, heat seems to be ok. Just practice more on the weaving technique. getting your speed, torch angle, arc gap, filler feed technique(which works for you) just right will make your weaving better. the biggest thing is getting comfortable and it becoming muscle memory will all the difference, as soon as it becomes second nature it will be a breeze. so far your doing good.

 

thank you seelback.
one problem is that when weaving the cup just stop going forward. I think that is because I push too much the torch against the material, isn't it?

 

yes thats correct. go on weld.com youtube page and he has pipe welder explain how he weaves. I believe he says he very slightly pulls back on the torch while giving the 55 gallon drum motion, and he also grips the torch softly, he says not to put a death grip on the torch. it will be your best bet to try all sorts of techniques until it works for you.

 

Ergonomics is everything with TIG welding (and all welding honestly). Dont have good posture = **** control and **** welds.

 

right! thanks guys! I 'll try some new stuff!

 

this last try is better, do you agree?
Is awesome how practice can really make the difference!

 

that looks much better. keep it up sir!!!

 

Thank you sir!!!!

I'm trying with aluminum as well, but I have big problems with really thin material. I'm trying with 120hz, no pulse, 60% balance and 20% cleaning action. I have another function that is "arc force" that goes from 0,5 to 50 amp. No idea what is it but nothing has changed with different values. Any suggestion? I'm not able to have a precise arc and a thin bead.

 

More cleaning action. I usually do 35% which I think on the AHP is 65% cleaning?

You usually have to give the cleaning a little time to get the nastys off the surface before the puddle starts. Aluminum also has the tendency to 'wash' out so its hard to get a really precise bead. The bevel on whatever you're welding will have a big affect on that too.