first attempt at tig....

[beaker15]

hi

so took delivery of a r-tech ac/dc 161 yesterday and have had a chance this morning to try to lay a few welds.

so last night i had a quick go, just had enough time to get a feel for the setting's. Picked up some filler rods from the supplyer this morning and got stuck in!

photo is after about an hour of playing... Kinda pleased with my progress but any advice would be well received

one thing that I am really struggling with is feeding the filler though my hand.... I tend to end up moving my hand closer and closer till I have to stop. Has anyone any advice on how to get around this?

 

[R33]

Looks good for a first go. Regarding the filler rod. Its just practice. I used gloves that i used for bmx as they were thin ,it allowed me to fill the rod better. Also take a rod in the house and just practice feeding it through your fingers whilst your sitting watching the tv ect. Wife/partner approval may be needed.

You will eventually be able to feed the rod fine no matter wot you wear, with in reason. Practice ,practice practice is your friend.

 

[Gavin_d]

Looks good. Be proud. I used to do the same with the filler. I've managed to be able to feed it in my hands ok now. What I do is dab the rod when I need it then as I'm moving the torch forward im feeding the rod through my hand then I dab it again. Some guys feed it through the hand into the puddle but I can't feed it steady enough to do that. Also try and keep the end of the filler close to the torch at all times (in the argon) to stop oxides forming on it.

Have a look at this vid for feeding techniques.

 

[beaker15]

I think some better fitting gloves is a good call.... Plus a load of practice :P

and thanks for the video Gavin, I haven't seen that one before. Gives me some ideas

weirdly i am relating tig welding more to soldering.... I have done stick welding with an old AC buzz box (the r-tech completely blows my old machene away in MMA mode) but stick and tig seem very very different.

I'm a electronic engineer by trade and do a lot of soldering on circuit board's, TIG seems more like that then anything. Create a puddle move it about and add material when you need it. Its just a helluva lot bigger :P

 

[Gavin_d]

Check out that guys other videos. He has loads. All subjects like setup, welding features, parameters and techniques.