First ally welds

[BRODTuning]

Hello all
Well yesterday in work we had a quiet afternoon and i had finished all my work so i decided to have a practice on the TIG

I have only ever fuse welded using the tig and that was on 316 stainless ,never welded ally and never used filler rod so i fired up the set turned on the gas changed the tungsten and switched to ac then i was met with this

umm ,scrap bin anyone?
so ,a few tweaks of the settings 1 shock about 20 burns and 10 minutes later i had these

A long way to go but im happily making progress ,i will stress ive only ever fuse welded stainless with the TIG for about 20 minutes if that and this was my first time using filler rod but im happy with the results ,will try and get more practice in monday and see what i can do on some 316 stainless
happy welding all and thanks for reading

 

[BRODTuning]

80+ views and not one comment surely im not that bad ? o well

 

[shenion]

They look fine. Maybe a bit cold or too much filler.

Hard to say without knowing the parent metal size, current settings and filler size.

 

[Tigman]

Well I think thats not a bad start , to my mind it looks like you are too cold at the start of the weld then as you travel it gets hot and starts to flow , I take it you dont have a pedal ! try upping the amps and just weld a small run then stop leave for a few seconds and start another small run , I find that works for me , work doesnt get too hot !

Keep practising !

 

[Delgado]

Not easy welding stainless with AC tig, is it?

In the photos where you were welding Ally, it's hard to say without more info on how the machine was set up, material thickness etc.., but I'd say turn the amps up and see how you get on.

 

[BRODTuning]

Thanks for advice both! This is my uncles set (he owns the business im working for him in school holidays) I will try and get some more practice on some 316 stainless monday! and take some mroe pics the sheet was roughly just under 2mm thick and the filler i was using was M5356 thats what it says on the rod,i cannot remember what amps i was at ,will check monday. Also i am soon to have a long term loan of an inverter fusion phf200 so i will be practicing some stainless work nearly every day! i will also get a foot pedal ,im open to any criticism thanks both

 

[BRODTuning]

Not easy welding stainless with AC tig, is it?

In the photos where you were welding Ally, it's hard to say without more info on how the machine was set up, material thickness etc.., but I'd say turn the amps up and see how you get on.

Sorry mate i forgot to say that was stainless ,i did know it was 316 as i used it was an ofcut i kept from the last time i was fusing im pretty sure i initially had it on dc too! and switched to ac when another fabricator i know gave me an ofcut off a sheet of ally. About the ally, i will turn up the amps and have another go,i found it took a while to get the puddle started i could have done with a pedal then to just blast it to get the puddle started! but once it started flowing it was ok, then as you say the work got hotter the puddle was more fluent and the weld became wider, is there anyway to weld long passes with ally without getting the work to hot and changing weld width? is this where a footpedal comes in?
thanks

 

[shenion]

You move faster as the metal gets hotter.

You still have not said the size of the filler. I'd use 1.6mm on 2mm.

A footpedal helps but you can do fine without it.

 

[BRODTuning]

Sorry ,i was using 1.6mm rod

 

[Wozzaaah]

80+ views and not one comment surely im not that bad ? o well

As said before on here several times, ignore the number of views, Malcolm explains here why the view and reply figures will always be very different.
Check out the currently active users, at the mo it's just 48 members but 400 guests!

Anyhoo, those welds are none-too-shabby for early attempts, they're certainly as good as most first ones we see on here if not better.
Keep it up Brad.

 

[BRODTuning]

Thank you wozzaaah, i will try and get some practice soon! and report back

 

[BRODTuning]

Had just about 10 mins practice at dinner time today, i bumped up the heat to 70amps 1.6 filler rod 2mm ally sheet butt weld. I only ran two beads and a quick play on stainless which i find 100x harder!!
heres the ally results,

please let me know what you think? i will emphasize that this was less than ten minutes practice!

Brad.

 

[outofstepper]

nice job!
thats some excellent progress.

 

[BRODTuning]

Thanks mate! ,what i really need is some stainless practice after ive got my ally welds to a respectable standard! i find ally flows alot easyer,i can fuse stainless to a good standard but adding filler i find a bit harder! , when i welded some stainless earlyer it just went black! i was 100% on dc setting but welds still turned black,gas was on,stainless wasnt pristene but was decently clean. I will try again when i get my own setup!

 

[outofstepper]

I find SS to be alot easier that alum to be honest.
Turning black sounds odd.. you're spitt'n argon out of that rig right?

you sure its stainless?
i've seen some stainless sheets with a clear coat sprayed on.. maybe its
got a layer of junk on it?

 

[BRODTuning]

Hmm ,strange mate ,i find ally flows alot easyer. 100% argon and get getting through, deffinately on dc and posotive its stainlee, its an offcut from a hog roast tray we fabricated and fused!

I will try again when i get chance ,but the boss wasnt too pleased about me using the gas as its £70 a bottle i will probably wait untill i get the inverter fusion repaired and my own gas etc! also i think i will improve with a wp17 torch rather than a wp26 as it can be quite bulky.
Brad