First go at welding

[eSCHEn]

This is my first go at welding on a TIG I got in an auction and refurbished. It's 3mm steel, 2.4mm thoriated tungsten with a gas lens no 6.

First turn at welding ever, the one on the right is without filler rod and the one on the left is with:


I thought it looked a bit low on penetration so flipped it over, bumped the amps up a touch and tried again:



After checking the frankly awesome tutorials on here, I realised I'm holding the arc too far away (I think, lol). I cleaned up a couple more bits of plate, chamfered them more heavily and tried again on a tad lower ampage:



More of the same:



I'd love to hear what you think of them, I'm really pleased with how they've turned out but I do know they're pretty far from something a professional would put their name to!

 

[zardoz]

Not bad for a first try, well done.

 

[rich r]

To be honest, no matter what type of electric welding method (arc, mig, tig etc), everyone starts off with the arc too long - but with practice you'll get the hang of keeping it nice and steady and short. That piece doesn't look too bad at all - keep practising and you'll get the hang of moving your hands smoothly at the right speed to produce some good welds. It's kind of like driving a car or riding a bike - it's a complex combination of movements, but after a while it all becomes automatic to some extent.

 

[BrokenBiker]

very good for a first try. Arc length should be about 2mm but that will come with practice. The hardest thing i found with tig was watching the puddle and.adding rod at the same distance everytime

 

[eSCHEn]

Very kind of you all, thank you

I learnt the bare basics of oxy-acetylene about 25 years ago from my Dad, who is a very skilled welder. Unfortunately dementia has the better of him now so I'm flying solo on this one.

Maintaining a steady arc gap is definitely the hardest bit for me. Still, I only dipped the tungsten twice

 

[Jrstainless]

Well done that's a great start keep at it!

 

[wheresmejumper]

Only twice? That means you are definitely holding your arc length too long