Blown my welder up.

[Hood]

No, there is no locked position, just friction.

As I said if something works for you then use it, that is all that matters. I personally do not like it but that is just me.

I am with you on Christmas and for that matter all the rest of the over commercialised holidays/celebrations.

 

[Munkul]

it's a bit of a revelation isn't it - when you get everything just right, and set a slow pulse - it does half of the work for you. Lazy man's TIG, though You can get some applications for which it's simply the easiest and best way to get a good weld that looks tidy - but you don't really learn much while doing it.... if that makes sense?

For your intended work (A fuel tank was it?) of 3mm alloy, I'd probably be very tempted to use pulse on all of it, just to get it looking good. As long as you're still getting good penetration, the ends justify the means.

You could even lay the wire in the joint and just run over it with the torch, although the weld profile will be flat. Torch angle is CRITICAL to prevent wire melt-back - obviously you need to prevent too much of a push angle with the torch, but I find a 10 degree push forward worked better than an upright 90 degree - I think it's something to do with the most efficient heat transfer into the puddle.

I did an awful lot of lay-wire pulse TIG on stainless trestles for a company where looking good was primary, and strength was secondary. Great work, but always felt a bit like I was cheating almost to the point where I'd almost forgotten how to dab filler properly!

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply Hood.

I fully agree with you Munkul; I've been trying to TIG weld for about 16 weeks with just about everything possible going wrong; I was making decent progress with straight welding but as a novice I struggled to get the torch just right at the right amps etc then try to feed in the rod; a lot to take in all at once then out of curiosity I tried pulse and what a revelation; at 1hz it proved incredibly useful; where I had struggled moving the torch forward previously I suddenly found the timing of the pulse a great aid allowing me to step neatly and consistently as you rightly say mostly keeping the rod seated onto the joint; with the amps set just right all I needed to do was maintain torch height and angle and virtually stitch along the joint; obviously de-skilled TIG welding but at least I can now produce decent welds; once I become familiar with pulse I can use it as a stepping stone to standard TIG welding; I'll do anything and try anything to increase my experience and knowledge; pulse seems to punch the weld home.

The proposed petrol tank has thinner gauge aluminium of either 1.5mm or 2mm thickness; I'm nowhere experienced enough yet to tackle the tank; I don't want to destroy it due to running before I can walk; I'll shortly step down to 2mm thick aluminium in order to find the sweet spot on the welder settings but at least I'm now in with a clue. This morning I popped back over to Wakefield Welding and bought a pack of 4043 filler rods; I took along the practice piece I'd pulse welded to show Jim and he was impressed which encourages me. I still need to practice other joints and I'm weak on lap joints which the tank mostly comprises of but it's been said many times practice and more practice; I've got lots of filler rods; aluminium and gas is now well and truly sorted out; this 20L BOC cylinder is lasting well and when empty won't cost a lot to refill; on the run up to Christmas I hope to have quite a few free full days in the workshop; I'll keep updating.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

It's warmer today so I've just enjoyed a session in the workshop making a pair of "third hands". I've seen these used many times on YouTube videos and they look very useful so now I've got a pair; I used my arc welder on these not being too fussy about neat welds; I'll fettle them when they cool down with the angle grinder.

It's been bitterly cold over the last few days but at 10C it feels like summer today so I'm making the most of it.

Kind regards, Colin.

Yet to fettle and possibly blow over with paint; I've enjoyed making them.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I'm now spending more time in the workshop enjoying TIG practice sessions. Having run lots of practice beads in order to become more accustomed to the welder settings and handling the torch I'm making good progress with joints. I managed corner joints a while ago and now am well on my way with lap joints and this morning have been having a go at fillet joints.

The aluminium is 2mm thick stainless steel wire brushed or Scotch brighted; all edges trued on my belt grinder at 60G and corners deburred with a fine file. 4043 filler rods. I've been trying many welder settings but seem to have more success on this aluminium with max 122A; 20% AC balance and 70hz. 1.6mm tungsten 1.5% lanthanated to a point. I tried 25% & 30% AC balance but with increased tungsten messed up. I've been much too keen in that I've continued welding when the metal had really heated up; I'm now practicing on a number of test pieces allowing each to cool as I work on another. I'm pulse welding at 1hz and have also been welding without pulse both with varying degrees of success.

The "third hands" are proving a great asset and have been well worth the time and effort to make them. I've made most of the usual mistakes as any novice does but I'm definitely improving and with much reduced tungsten dipping; this is now fun and I enjoy each session; the BOC gas cylinder is now under half full but I've done lots of welding and when empty getting a refill is easy from Wakefield Welding Centre. I'm particularly pleased having made progress with lap joints because my first project the aluminium petrol tank ends are lap joints.

Kind regards, Colin.

My newly made "Third Hand" being used and it's brilliant.

Lap joint progress; heavy weld because I'm using 2.5mm 4043 filler rod. Much less puddle dipping too.

Moving on to fillet welds; not pretty but still a strong weld and no holes or melt downs. More practice needed but it's encouraging; again using 2.5mm filler rod.

Here's a corner weld I did a short while ago. I want to get all joints up to this standard as a minimum; things are looking up at last.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I like to make useful items for my workshop. A few years ago I needed to sharpen carbide tipped tooling for my engineering lathe and also masonry drill bits; standard grinding wheels are useless and I don't find green grit wheels efficient so I wondered if I could rig up an high speed diamond hone but how to get the high revs needed?

Whilst at Rufforth Auto Jumble I noticed a brand new Parkside small power router of 1250W so I bought it only paying about £20; I then bought a diamond cup honing wheel. I have an engineering lathe so it was an easy task to make a mounting bush then I needed to mount the router and make a wheel guard. I knocked a wooden mounting together allowing the mounting to be nipped securely in my engineering vice. A wheel guard is vital for safety. I think the rated RPM for the wheel to be around 8,000 but the lowest the router runs at is 11,000 RPM so I'm adding this for a bit of interest not as something to copy because for a novice it could prove dangerous.

I've been using my bench grinder to put a point on the tungstens and the wheel grit is rather too coarse also the tungsten tends to cut grooves into the wheel. I've just sharpened two tungstens with the diamond hone and it works a treat; the router takes a while to come up to speed due to the weight of the diamond wheel but it's highly effective and does a nice quick job of tungsten sharpening.

Kind regards, Colin.

My home made high speed diamond honing machine set up for action. Simple angle guide added which does the job; tungstens are honed free hand.

Wooden safety guard added; if one of these wheels explode at 11,000 rpm I don't want to be in the way.

The on/off switch is tied giving permanent on allowing the machine to be remotely switched at the nearby 13A wall socket. I've just trued the double end grinder wheels with a diamond dresser hence the dust.

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Bron and I have just enjoyed the best Christmas ever in the last 43 years; we raised the drawbridge and manned the machine gun posts shutting the world out to enjoy peace in each others company. On Boxing Day I had a lovely day putting in about four hours practice TIG welding; oh dear I then ran out of gas and having tried to contact Wakefield Welding Centre by phone they must be still closed for the holiday so I've just sent an email; I should be welding again on Thursday in the meantime I've been getting some practice aluminium blanks together; I've got hundreds of aluminium metal spinning circles at 1.5mm thick and these each yield three blanks; I'm cutting four circles at a time into blanks on my bandsaw then it takes ages deburring with a file after sanding the edges on my belt grinder; I've got over 500 of these circles so it makes sense to use these for practice than use expensive sheet.The circles are offcuts from metal spinning so need careful preparation and degreasing. All I need now is gas.

Happy New Year.

Kind regards, Colin.

Each aluminium circle yields three blanks ideal for practice use. This is the aluminium my proposed mower petrol tank is made of so if I can master welding joints in these I'll be able to weld the tank. I'm not in a hurry so I can settle down and enjoy myself.

Even smaller offcuts; perhaps I can also use these for welding practice; I'm a tight Yorkshireman.

 

[Munkul]

nice

There is no way you've finished a 20L bottle in such a short period of time, at the rate you were going!

Perhaps too high a flowrate? 4700 litres of gas at 10 LPM = well over 400 minutes of on-time - are you sure you've used that much?

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul; oh yes I have; I've been popping into the workshop as often as possible so I'm using gas and I've been using between 8 LPM & 10 LPM; each session adds up; I'm using the top of the float in the flow meeting as reference point for the gas. Now I'm with BOC though I'm not too bothered about price of gas; I think it now costs around £56 per refill for the 20L cylinder so at this rate of usage taking into account the BOC annual rental compared to Hobbyweld the gas is now cheaper with each refill. I make absolutely certain the cylinder valve is closed after each session and before starting each session both cylinder gauges show the pressure last used on top of this I've sprayed with leak detector so no known leaks it's just that I'm using the gas; I'm pulse welding if this makes any difference?

I've been experimenting a great deal with welder settings; I tried balance at 30% but found I kept messing up the tungsten so find 20% a lot better; frequency between 70 & 150; amps all over the place as the aluminium heated up and I'm also now trying to trigger the torch; I tried dropping the gas flow rate but ended up with soot; some days I make progress other days I seem to go backwards but then whichever way it goes it's practice and more experience; I'll make every mistake possible and it doesn't matter; I don't learn from what I already know but if I persist I will get better.

I spend a lot of time preparing the practice blanks so when I do actually weld I can get on with it; I've been practicing joints with varying degrees of success and then I've run many practice beads on the hot aluminium playing with amps. The aluminium I'm now using is the metal spinning grade which is I think pure aluminium and it's very thin at 1.5mm; I can actually weld this. I was once told many years ago as I gained promotion at work that I would learn 80% of the job in a month then spend the rest of my life learning the other 20%; I must now be on the 20%

When I was taught both gas and arc welding 55 years ago I found it a great deal easier; I had a top instructor standing over me; I was arc welding in ten minutes and I'm still improving. I'm sure if I had a similar instructor standing over me now I'm learning TIG welding I'd make more progress in ten minutes than a month trying to learn on my own as I'm currently doing. Watching YouTube videos makes TIG welding appear so easy but many of the guys have spent a lifetime at TIG welding. I'm doing OK but to me it's only another skill to learn and I'll only ever do TIG welding as an hobby. Bron and I have worked hard to achieve our lifestyle and now we're both retired we can indulge in our hobbies. I'll resume practice once I obtain gas.

We never dine out or visit shows but it would be interesting to compare prices of these against the £56 per 20L Argon refill; for £56 I not only enjoy an interesting hobby but I'm learning a new skill too.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Munkul]

ah I see, spot on Colin It takes a lot of welding to go through that much gas on a hobby basis!

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul. As a complete novice to TIG welding I can say it's not a cheap hobby; just buying a suitable welder is only the start; argon gas is expensive in hobby type low pressure cylinders; I used three 9L cylinders in little time but then upgraded to a BOC account; BOC are excellent but need a yearly rental which isn't returnable; BOC though do have an hobby account which I have and once the yearly rental is paid then gas is much cheaper; from memory I think the rental plus a full 20L "Y" cylinder collected was around £232 but now I can obtain as many 20L cylinders as needed returning the empty cylinder and collecting a full 20L cylinder for just over £51 per full cylinder but these 20L BOC cylinders are high pressure unlike the low pressure hobby type cylinders so a BOC full cylinder lasts a lot longer. I've just collected my second BOC full 20L cylinder; I'm just a novice putting in lots of practice welding aluminium but I can say to other novices please look at the full picture; with the welder bought and gas sorted out then comes material and consumables; I buy packs of ten tungstens at about £10 per pack and I've bought three sizes just to cover anything I'm likely to weld regarding thickness; 1.0mm; 1.6mm and 2.4mm I've initially bought 1.5% Lanthanated but recently bought 2% Lanthanated; filler rods in 2.5kg packs are ideal and I've got one each of 1.6mm and 2.4mm (4043) Then comes helmet but I've gone over the top and bought an Optrel Crystal 2.0 which is superb. Decent lightweight but durable TIG gloves are available through eBay as are tungstens etc. The cost of TIG welding for a novice sure adds up but is well worth the money after all what is spent on nights out boozing or watching someone kick a ball around where there's little end result unlike spending on TIG welding where TIG opens up an whole new fascinating world to play in; please don't be put off TIG welding having read my tales of woe during this lengthy thread; I've been unlucky right from first practicing TIG welding but I think at last due to being so stubborn I'm finally breaking clear of the problems and looking forward to TIG welding in 2020. I hope I'm not preaching but there's so much to take in for a novice.

I've been looking at some fantastic welding pictures and can only aspire to such perfection but even the guys doing these welds will at the start been novices;

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/a_acms/welding-art/

My humble efforts are a start and with each TIG welding session I either make progress or go backwards but I'll win through; funds aren't a problem for me so I can indulge in TIG welding but I'm finding learning TIG welding takes gas so if any novice is really keen may I suggest avoiding the low pressure hobby type cylinders; now I've got my second BOC cylinder when it's empty I think I about break even on paying a returnable deposit but I'll be well in front with my third BOC cylinder and definitely well in front considering the extra gas in the BOC high pressure cylinder.

Good luck to all fellow TIG welding novices.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Wedg1e]

... bought an Optrel Crystal 2.0 which is superb...

I've been using an Optrel Satellite Evo since about 2004. I keep it pointing at a south-facing window when it's not in use, with luck that keeps the batteries ticking-over.

I'm also on the BOC hobby deal although they have just announced price increases and a charge for collecting your own bottle

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for the useful and informative tip regarding the Optrel Wedge1e. Typical though of my luck now that I've opened an account with BOC I put up prices straight away; think I'm kidding; just look at the title of this thread; what's a few more quid though; I've just visited Morrison's supermarket where they're always boasting about price drop; yes on a few items but the other 95% of items are steadily increasing in price but this is never mentioned. A new year a new round of price increases.

It'll be interesting to see if the hobby gas suppliers also now increase their prices.

Over the years I've kept the cost of my projects way down by being cheeky. Our hardwood kitchen is made mostly of offcuts bought in random sizes and machined to dimension at home; I decided to replace a section of wooden decking to the front of our bungalow with steel because the treated wooden decking I installed rotted. To buy heavy section steel is expensive but we still have a big scrap yard reasonably near; I visited the scrapyard with a wish list and an open mind to see what they had available; heavy channel and box section were chosen and weighed with me handing over £120 in cash; now to get it home; a guy had just pulled in with a small truck and at £30 cash it was worth it to get the steel home. The steel needed derusting but was perfect for the job and it was then treated against rust before being erected; I cut it to length with a jigsaw having a metal cutting blade installed; the box section was cut using an angle grinder; dirty hands can save a wad of money. For the new decking boards I used new scaffolding boards ensuring these were well sealed with paint; working on my own I used a winch and ladder in order to raise the heavy channel sections.

I've been involved in mechanical engineering for a lifetime and although I take it for granted novices generally copy what's gone before; I like to adapt to suit my needs. The heavy steel from the scrapyard was cheap and I also needed new steel for railings and railing posts so I bought the new steel from https://www.fhbrundle.co.uk/groups/25__Handrail_and_Components having it delivered and it was cheaper than I expected. I've often popped into local companies asking if they have offcuts please? Some companies are most obliging other companies don't want to be bothered but I've had lots of success by being cheeky; if I'm charged I hand over the cash with good grace if I'm not charged I return later with a tin of biscuits or a box of chocolates as a thank you then I can always go back again; woodturning blanks are expensive but locally we have a joinery company; I've visited a number of times and the owner pulls out lots of heavy section board ends of hardwood; this can be Meranti; Oak or Ash; whatever they have left over from jobs; I'm usually charged £20 or £25 cash for a car load. I'm never a pest and am always very polite not wanting to waste anyone's time because time is money to any company. Timber yards too usually have lots of offcuts mostly softwood and sheet materials; any company working with metal too are worth a visit; I make it perfectly clear I'm willing to pay then I'm not regarded as a scrounger. A bit of steel or timber is nothing to a big company but to a novice it can save a great deal of money when money is tight; be cheeky but also play fair and always take along cash.

Kind regards, Colin.

Steel from the scrapyard as bought and delivered.

Cutting the channel using a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade installed; I've now got a metal cutting bandsaw but a bit late for this particular job.

Scraping and angle grinding to remove the rust; not a nice job but buying steel like this saves a lot of money.

This is heavy stuff but it was cheap enough and will outlast timber by many years.

New steel from Brundles being made into railings; the wooden frame on the bench is actually a welding jig; the steel is arranged in the jig and the face joints welded then the frame can be fully welded as shown. Here I'm using my cheap SIP arc welder which served me well for many years; I now have an industrial oil cooled Pickhill Bantam (Oxford) arc welder.

Railing posts with brackets welded.

Post tops with caps welded on.

New steel framework erected and painted with high end Benjamin Moore paint but the steel was first treated with rust preventative and given undercoats of red oxide. Note the most important aid; the mug of tea.

The new decking installed with just the railings still needing the handrail and painting. Doing the work entirely on my own and buying materials the way I did I ended up with a top class job costing little compared to getting a contractor in. I've rambled on because so many of you have generously helped me since I joined the forum so I hope I'm giving a bit back by encouraging novices to to look at any job as if it's a blank sheet of paper; if something's been done for 100 years a certain way doesn't mean it can't be changed.

 

[mac53]

That looks brilliant first class job and I love the door number

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks for your kind comments mac53; much appreciated. The clear Perspex mounting strip at the bottom of the numbers actually held strip LEDs allowing the numbers to be "edge lit" unfortunately our dire wet climate eventually destroyed the LED's. Even with these numbers over Christmas we had two visitors who obviously must have been blind?

I've now got plenty of time to practice TIG welding but I'm finding it difficult to leave the warmth of the bungalow to wander down to the workshop where it's cold until the fan heater makes an impression and its dark outside by 4pm; roll on springtime with more daylight hours but I will keep having a go as I will this afternoon. Today is a rare high 14C but it feels much colder.

I keep looking on the web at welding articles and videos and I'm amazed by the massive skill of some of the welders giving me something to aspire to as seen here;

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/a_acms/welding-art/

This too is brilliant;

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/863776403515273352/

Light years out of my capabilities at the moment but inspiration for when I gain a great deal more experience; if they can do it so can I but I'll need to put the practice in first. The welders in the links are at the top of their game and full credit to them all.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[Sammy7]

Hi,

Thanks Munkul; oh yes I have; I've been popping into the workshop as often as possible so I'm using gas and I've been using between 8 LPM & 10 LPM; each session adds up; I'm using the top of the float in the flow meeting as reference point for the gas. Now I'm with BOC though I'm not too bothered about price of gas; I think it now costs around £56 per refill for the 20L cylinder so at this rate of usage taking into account the BOC annual rental compared to Hobbyweld the gas is now cheaper with each refill. I make absolutely certain the cylinder valve is closed after each session and before starting each session both cylinder gauges show the pressure last used on top of this I've sprayed with leak detector so no known leaks it's just that I'm using the gas; I'm pulse welding if this makes any difference?

I've been experimenting a great deal with welder settings; I tried balance at 30% but found I kept messing up the tungsten so find 20% a lot better; frequency between 70 & 150; amps all over the place as the aluminium heated up and I'm also now trying to trigger the torch; I tried dropping the gas flow rate but ended up with soot; some days I make progress other days I seem to go backwards but then whichever way it goes it's practice and more experience; I'll make every mistake possible and it doesn't matter; I don't learn from what I already know but if I persist I will get better.

I spend a lot of time preparing the practice blanks so when I do actually weld I can get on with it; I've been practicing joints with varying degrees of success and then I've run many practice beads on the hot aluminium playing with amps. The aluminium I'm now using is the metal spinning grade which is I think pure aluminium and it's very thin at 1.5mm; I can actually weld this. I was once told many years ago as I gained promotion at work that I would learn 80% of the job in a month then spend the rest of my life learning the other 20%; I must now be on the 20%

When I was taught both gas and arc welding 55 years ago I found it a great deal easier; I had a top instructor standing over me; I was arc welding in ten minutes and I'm still improving. I'm sure if I had a similar instructor standing over me now I'm learning TIG welding I'd make more progress in ten minutes than a month trying to learn on my own as I'm currently doing. Watching YouTube videos makes TIG welding appear so easy but many of the guys have spent a lifetime at TIG welding. I'm doing OK but to me it's only another skill to learn and I'll only ever do TIG welding as an hobby. Bron and I have worked hard to achieve our lifestyle and now we're both retired we can indulge in our hobbies. I'll resume practice once I obtain gas.

We never dine out or visit shows but it would be interesting to compare prices of these against the £56 per 20L Argon refill; for £56 I not only enjoy an interesting hobby but I'm learning a new skill too.

Kind regards, Colin.

Colin, have you got a two stage regulator?
I was using a similar amount of gas practicing. Bit the bullet and changed from single to twin stage, I’m using a faction of the gas. I think to initial surge uses loads of gas.

 

[dannyp]

cheep regulators waste a criminal amount of gas. you loose loads of gas in the initial surge and it's counterproductive in terms of sheilding effcet due to turbulance.

with a 2 stage reg on fitting up/ tacking fiddely stuff i recon you use half the gas, makes a diffrence on migs used for heavy steel bashing as well but thats more due to the ouptut pressure rises as bottel pressure falls so over a day the flow rate creeps up

 

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for asking Sammy7. No at the moment I have a single stage regulator but I can upgrade to a two stage and will look into it; gas is expensive enough without wasting it and I've noticed as I set the flow meter there's a strong surge of gas each time I press the torch button.

Thanks dannyp for your information; I'll definitely be looking into upgrading.

Novices like me to TIG welding simply don't have the basic knowledge needed hence go for what appear to be the cheap gas option; small low pressure cylinders with returnable deposit; it comes as a surprise when a 9L low pressure cylinder is coupled up to a single stage cheap regulator to watch the gas disappear at an alarming rate. I've upgraded to 20L high pressure cylinder opening a BOC account but the BOC account has an annual non returnable rental but for any novice serious about learning to TIG weld I can recommend a BOC account.

I'm using a cheap flow meter which is supposed to save lots of gas but each time I press the torch button there's a fair blast of gas even with the flow meter set at 8lpm? I've still lots to learn but I'm getting there.

Kind regards, Colin.

 

[dannyp]

A flow meter will show you how much gas if flowing so you dont set the flow rate to high but thats it.

the problem with 2 stage regs is the price , tho my tig has a 60 odd year old boc 2 stage 02 regulator on it, supply pressure to the welder is rock steady and the reg behaves lawlesly unlike the mutipul new singel stage regs it had on before.

much to the upset of my local gas supplyer i doubled up on my bottels occasionally 02, ar and ar mix i have 20 ltr bottels on there rent free ( deposit and expensive gas ) deal and if im going to useing a lot of gas i pay the £15 delivey fee and have 50 ltr rental bottels dropped off. especally with the 02 i find a 20 ltr bottel would last me 6-12 months on welding / cutting gear but i can empty 3 50ltr bottel in a weekend if i've got a bit of a project on dosent help i start cutting scrap after to get all the bottes used so they can go back within the month so dont pay any rent on them

 

[Retired]

Hi,

I wonder if upgrading to a two stage regulator will be worth it for me dannyp; at the moment I'm using a brand new BOC/Ryval single stage regulator that I paid £56.49 for; I'm using a fair bit of gas but only because I'm putting in lots of practice welding aluminium. It's unlikely I'll be spending a lot of time TIG welding once I become more proficient because I also have lots of other hobbies; the TIG welder like my Bantam arc welder will sit in the workshop unused for a lot of time and I'd need to buy lots of gas to justify the cost of yet another new regulator; funds aren't a problem but I want to progress with TIG welding whilst the weather is poor but once I can work outside I'll be busy elsewhere; TIG welding is just another hobby for me. I am putting in practice as much as I can and have stopped using pulse; instead I'll learn how to properly TIG weld and I'm making progress with lap joints.

One point worth noting and is important especially for novices is to ensure there are no gas leaks; take a lot of care after each welding session to close the cylinder valve/s; The gauges will still show pressure but look at the gauges in a day or two to see if the pressure is still present.

I've just modified my TIG welding trolley to accept packs of filler rods getting these off the bench.

Kind regards, Colin.

There's only one sure fire way to learn anything; just do it.

At last the filler rods have a home.

Welding 1.5mm thick aluminium without pulse; around 50A cold and 30% balance; new 2% Lanthanated tungsten. Lap weld and no holes blown into it which I find promising.

More lap weld practice on thin aluminium. Mixed results as I expect but I'm getting the hang of it; I have to keep breaking off but I hope to spend more time on TIG welding now the holiday is over and we return back to sanity. I've got plenty of practice blanks cut and I'm welding both sides of the lap; I can also use these practice pieces to simply gain experience running beads.