First time TIG welding to give you a laugh ...

[MysterG]

Further to my post in ARC, my little bottle of Argon and tungsten arrived yesterday so this morning (even though I have no filler rod yet) I thought I'd have a play.
My main thoughts for TIG was just for (occasional) neater than Mig tacking together of 'arty' type stuff, nothing structural.

Anyway played around just tacking 1mm off cuts together.





All a bit carp I know, but I'm hooked!
It makes all other types of welding I've tried feel so agricultural.

More research to do now I've had a brief play. The big issue I can foresee is my shaky hands when it comes to using filler, but we'll see.
And I need to have a fiddle with my Auto dim helmet as I can't see much half the time.

At the very least I can do the tacking together I wanted.

 

[addjunkie]

I get my best results sat at a bench, with my forarms resting on a piece of wood, so its only really hands and wrists need to control. Unfortunatly not everthing fits so easily on a bench.

If your struggling to see, try covering the back of your mask. And or an led light pointing at the job so its far brighter than the surroundings.

 

[MysterG]

I get my best results sat at a bench, with my forarms resting on a piece of wood, so its only really hands and wrists need to control. Unfortunatly not everthing fits so easily on a bench.

If your struggling to see, try covering the back of your mask. And or an led light pointing at the job so its far brighter than the surroundings.

My bench is right next to a window, with a 600mm square LED panel over it so plenty of light. Will try the helmet trick though.

I was sat on a stool, but do need to make some sort of arm rest.

 

[Tangledfeet]

I'd just practice straight runs and forget about trying to join anything together at this stage; developing rhythm with adding filler to the pool and then moving on - also following a scribed line on clean metal.

 

[tom2207]

and dont throw away your first goes at it ,,, hang them on the wall , and when your stacking dimes in alloy , look back and giggle ..

 

[MysterG]

Bit more practise. Helmet adjusted better, can see a bit more now, can't follow a line for toffee though



One success though.
Ages ago father asked me if I could reweld the handle on his old Primus blow torch. Upper spot weld had failed making it impossible to pick up.
Managed to clean it up and tack the overlap back together at the edge, far more precisely than I could with Mig.
Happy days.

 

[Edward Teach]

Further to my post in ARC, my little bottle of Argon and tungsten arrived yesterday so this morning (even though I have no filler rod yet) I thought I'd have a play.
My main thoughts for TIG was just for (occasional) neater than Mig tacking together of 'arty' type stuff, nothing structural.

Anyway played around just tacking 1mm off cuts together.

View attachment 279761
View attachment 279762
View attachment 279763

All a bit carp I know, but I'm hooked!
It makes all other types of welding I've tried feel so agricultural.

More research to do now I've had a brief play. The big issue I can foresee is my shaky hands when it comes to using filler, but we'll see.
And I need to have a fiddle with my Auto dim helmet as I can't see much half the time.

At the very least I can do the tacking together I wanted.

Hi there,
I'm relatively new to Tig Welding,
My first welds in steel sheet were like that,
Aluminium, 3 to 4mm thick is surprisingly a lot easier.

 

[Mullet52]

Learning to tig weld on 1mm steel is never going to be fun tbh.

Try and get some 3mm, clean all the mill scale off to a shiny surface with a flap disc and away you go.

 

[Radar 3]

Nobody laughs at people ,like you,that want to have a go. Good luck and keep on going!

 

[zx9]

Bit more practise. Helmet adjusted better, can see a bit more now, can't follow a line for toffee though

View attachment 279797

One success though.
Ages ago father asked me if I could reweld the handle on his old Primus blow torch. Upper spot weld had failed making it impossible to pick up.
Managed to clean it up and tack the overlap back together at the edge, far more precisely than I could with Mig.
Happy days.

You are doing all right it is early days yet.
I got through my first two 10L argon cylinders very quickly, I was out in the garage practising as often as I could it is a revelation how quite and peaceful DC Tig welding can be.
It has been a few years since I did any tig so will take a while to get back into practice as I have something in mind that tig would be ideal for, time to buy more argon.

 

[Tangledfeet]

it is a revelation how quite and peaceful DC Tig welding can be.

Exactly! That's just why I love it so much; it does demand so much more focus and attention too - makes it all the more therapeutic*, almost meditative!

* And immensely frustrating...

 

[MysterG]

Another few goes since filler arrived.



Some are actually reasonably straight
Time to make a rest of some sort as I'm really struggling to keep my torch hand (the most shaky one) steady.

 

[Munkul]

Rest your hand on your pinky and/or ring finger, and use that as the steady use a TIG finger if you have to.

Looking tidy though! You need a line to follow to keep a straight bead.

 

[josh m]

well thas done better than me, iv started tig welding at work to try learn to repair cracks and after about an hour playing about with no experience iv got it to this dont know what its doing or if its going to be any good what do people think any tips and tricks. from what i gather machines at 150 amp, 50hz and 30% on ac balance i think only goes up to 50 or 60 on that % any thoughts on this.