A question for recent beginners

[Pipe Dreamer]

This really is a question for recent beginners, not the experts.
I know the experts will have worthwile opinions, but I think being a biginner gives you a different perspective.
Now we've got that out the way (and I fully expect all the generous, helpful, knowledgeable pros to ignore it and be generous, helpful and knowledgeable ) ...

What was the one thing that made the difference between not getting the hang of TIG and thinking Yeah, that looks like a half decent weld?

 

[Davek0974]

I tried Tig, bought a good AC/DC setup, big gas bottles etc, the works.

I managed a couple of good joints in aluminium and maybe the same on steel but despite many hours of 'self teaching' I just could not master a repeatable run, my hands are not the steadiest and I really do not think self learning is a way into good Tig welding. There are no night classes near me, no college courses and excellent though it was (thanks guys) running a few beads, photographing, posting on forum, rinse & repeat, gets old real fast.

Personally i think what i needed was someone standing over my shoulder and saying stuff like "too slow, too fast, too close, more filler....." on a 1:1 basis.

In the end i sold the lot, returned the gas bottles and went back to my trusty Mig which is better as i can usually use at least a hand a finger or two from the other to steady the torch

 

[malcolm]

A bit of one to one is always useful. For me keeping a very tight arc was useful - you can get away with dipping the tungsten if the arc is very short. Too long and you get a blob on the tungsten when you dip it.

Also it turned out I needed glasses - for a few years only ever used the glasses for TIG welding.

 

[dobbslc]

I'd say practice. I've had a DC tig set for 18 months or so and have done a few decent welds but it's still not really working. I'm also looking to buy a decent mig now as I can't get on with my project without some good welds now!

 

[optima21]

getting the hang of how to hold the torch so that it doesn't move when I press the button on it. at one stage I was thinking of getting a foot operated switch instead.

also if going from MIG welding I've found that I need to get closed to see what I'm doing so use a cheater lens (which magnifies the image).

Im still not very good at it compared to others, but its getting there and much nicer on intricate jobs than with a mig welder and this is my last tig weld, its 1.0mm to 2.0mm butt welded mild steel and the weld is 30mm long

 

[Wendelspanswick]

And another vote for glasses or a cheater lense as well as a good quality mask that copes with low amps and has a good viewing area and optical clarity.

 

[cocker]

I tried to teach myself - rubbish I was .
Went to see Richard with my welders , he showed me what's what .
So now I know all my gear works and I can produce a small ok ish run .
The rest is practice , practice , practice , which I don't do alot of so I'm still rubbish !
So if you want to learn get someone who can tig to show you 1 to 1 .
And practice , practice , practice .

Edited to add I think Richard is in the home counties , if you're thinking of having a go at tig he's the man .

 

[Willl]

The key for me personally, which you hear from everyone that welds anyway, is being comfortable. Some of the best money I've spent recently has been on a foldaway barstool and a more flexible torch sheath, probably less than £30 for both all in.

Tuition really is the way to go, I went to @Richard. as a complete beginner and I left a lot more confident and knowledgeable. You might not be too far from him, maybe message him and see if he has time for a new student.

 

[addjunkie]

And another vote for glasses or a cheater lense as well as a good quality mask that copes with low amps and has a good viewing area and optical clarity.

I agree with this totally, the light flexible torch helps.

But getting 1to1 with your machine, so you know its correctly setup will be invaluable.

 

[dobbslc]

I've just had a look a the cheater lens on eBay could be a good idea! but I'm not sure what strength to get.
And will they fit in a Parweld lid? It's a XR 935H.

 

[Pipe Dreamer]

Thanks all.
I wondered about a magnifier so that's good to know.
Any recommendations on specific flexible torch sheath?

Am doing an evening course at the moment but with limited hrs/wk and limited weeks I'm not getting the hang of it quickly enough to get as much benefit from the course as I'd like.
Will be buying my own kit this week and plan on a whooooole lot of practice!

 

[dazza]

What was the one thing that made the difference between not getting the hang of TIG and thinking Yeah, that looks like a half decent weld?

Can't help with this as i'm still not getting the hang of it.

 

[optima21]

Thanks all.
Any recommendations on specific flexible torch sheath?

it depends on what your torch sheath is like,mine was like a hard rubber one and I replaced it with braided cable sheathing like this, think I got 5 metres of 30mm diameter, something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/150899408011

held in place with a cable tie

and then a second one to stop it slipping

you can then tidy the ends up with heat shrink tubing if you want.

thats my answer to the problem, but so far it hasn't been put down onto anything hot and most people would use leather covers

 

[Richard.]

I've been doing it a little while yes but we were all beginning once so I would say it qualifies me to comment. When I first picked up a torch I was worse than ANY of the beginners that came round to see me. I had the co ordination of a 3 legged giraffe.
But I had 2 mentors that worked along side me that put in an immense amount of effort to get me to a stage where I could fly the nest. I learnt with scratch start and it was a case of following instruction, doing it as they showed me before making small changes to suit my welding style.
There is no cheating with Tig so long as the end goal gets achieved. You can move your position you can (if possible) move your work piece. Start at the bottom and work your way up. The best practice you'll get will be on your own machine and don't let it laps. Keep doing it. Don't expect results to come straight away and don't throw in the towel at the first hurdle. It's a skill and it wouldn't be a skill if people could just pick up a torch and get it right.
It clicked for me when I eventually mastered a fillet joint. This is a difficult joint and once I got this done that was it , I was whizzing round tube, up the verticals and I could take the basics (which never change) and apply them anywhere. This took longer for me than most people. Good luck with the skill and keep at it.

 

[Rustwelder]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing everyone. I have recently read a lot in here.
Thought I should share how I learn tig welding while it is fresh.

Got myself a tig welder for Christmas and have so far welded up 30 liter argon. Never tig welded before.

I have used youtube a lot to find out how to set up the machine and to get to know what the puddle is supposed to look like. This has really helped a lot. Jody of course, but there are several other good presenters, it is just to search in youtube. I really like to see the puddle shots, and also a bit amazed of the good video quality.

Started to run beads on 1 mm sheet metal. A challenge by itself. Keep tip distance. Don't dip the tip. Move forwards. Feed filler rod and don't hit the tip. Right heat setting. Argon flow. Phew, it took some time but after some practice yeah the beads start to look okay. Had to replace the welding mask I got to get a brighter view of the weld area. Much helped.

Started to run beads on aluminium and failed instantly. There was just smoke and grey stuff. Checked on youtube, increased quite a bit to 100A and yeah a shiny puddle formed and I could start laying beads. Some practice and then I could run like 20cm beads in one go. Filler rod feeding was a problem all the time so I had practiced but suddenly it just started to work. Surprisingly not the feeding motion I had practiced, but it worked and I have kept to that. Gloves were an issue, either they were too stiff (the ones for mig welding) or had textile sections that tore up. A nice new pair of tig weld gloves helped the filler rod feeding.

Coordination started to fall in place. Time for external joint in 2 mm aluminium. There were some seriously bad looking beads made. But practice, watch the video and try to follow what they say. Welder settings and torch management. Soon it start to work for some distance and look better. Practice. Youtube. Practice. On the other side of the joint I made filler joint beads which were easier to make decent. Didn't have a foot pedal so the beads had a tendency to be too hot after a while, even if I tried to compensate by running faster. So, time for a foot pedal.

Using a foot pedal was like starting all over from the beginning. The welder I have can't have the max set for the foot pedal, max is always 200A. Couldn't rely on a sweet spot setting anymore, the heat for the sweet spot had to be found every single weld. My god. Practice, practice, practice, yeah okay it seems to work, I can manage that.

One particular problem was to tack weld the outside joint in aluminium. It looked awful, often melted both plates and leaving an ugly gap in between. Jody told about speed tack welding and after some practice, yeah also that works and now seem pretty reliable.

The time spent using the foot pedal is starting to pay off, the beads now look decent, but the 2mm is a bit of a challenge still. Went to 2.5 mm aluminium plates on the external joints and wow that was easy. When comparing. The skills are getting into place. I can see the puddle. I don't dip the tip very often. I don't run the filler rod into the tip. I can feed the entire filler rod. Just for the fun of it, I tested a 5mm steel external joint and that was easy, like welding butter. I sure have a long way to go still, but the worst part is over. I fell I can tig weld useful stuff now, not just for practice.

 

[henry Kadzielski]

I have been welding TIG for over 20 years and do believe was quite good at it. As Richard said above started on scratch start and learn as I went along, primarily on stainless steel and some alli. A couple of years ago I decided to do my TIG pressure ticket, which was on steel. Steel was a diferent animal to S/S and it did give me trouble, however the trainer basically held me by the hand and showed me how he dose it. This is what made the most difference and a good pair of glasses.
There are some very small details that to the experienced operator are done without notice but make a huge difference to the weld and the ease in which a skilled operator can put down a bead. Remember practice, practice and then some more practice. The more you learn and the better you get, you them see where you can actually improve

 

[Maxakarudy]

I'm very much on stage 1, but the big improvement occurred for me when..

1. I rested my hand on the job, this steadies your hand and controls arc length better
2. Glasses or cheater lens, I'd didn't realise how poor my eyes sight had become as I got older (50)
3. A good scratch free outer cover on welding helmet, massive difference
4. Forget filler wire, just run puddles across panels until you've got control of the puddle
5. AC balance, understanding the influence it has on the puddle & tungsten rod for ali welding
6. Don't use a foot pedal until you got the puddle and filler rod mastered

Just my experience
Martin

 

[Pipe Dreamer]

All good food for though. Thanks.
(Keep 'em coming.)

@optima21 If that's the same sort of cable tidying sheath I have, I'd be very wary of using it anywhere near anything hot. It melts very easily.

 

[Richard.]

All good food for though. Thanks.
(Keep 'em coming.)

@optima21 If that's the same sort of cable tidying sheath I have, I'd be very wary of using it anywhere near anything hot. It melts very easily.

I've found some of the nylon ones to be very good. They ain't as resilient as leather to the heat but they do a decent job of protecting your cables.

 

[Pipe Dreamer]

I stand corrected.