Flumps Tig Stuff

[Flump]

Hello All, I am very new to tig welding and I will use this thread to show pictures of my tig welding and ask questions about how to improve it,
I appreciate any advice given.

Day 1
As you can see I have a long way to go to get to tig greatness, the bottom run was the first of the day and they went down hill from there
a couple of times I forgot to turn the gas on.
I messed up the tungsten tip a few times, I think I am getting it too close.
I noticed that after the arc initialises its nice and quiet but a few seconds in its starts to hum and get louder, one time it started sounding
like frying bacon, I dont have any of that so I am going to make a sausage sandwich now.

 

[addjunkie]

Lift the piece up of the bench, then you wont be trying to heat the work piece and the bench. Or weld over the slot. Sit down so you can rest your for arms on the edge of the table, so you will be much more steady

 

[Misterg]

Gas problems, and that tungsten is mullered.

Have you got a 'peashooter' gauge? Make sure your gas flow is something sensible for that shroud (maybe 5 or 6 LPM) - it can be too high, as well as too low.

The tungsten should stay silver (ish) - it looks like it has been run without gas, or the gas has been cut off before the tungsten has cooled after welding. You won't get a nice arc with it like that, so it needs re-grinding. Also, the stick-out looks to be on the high side - try about half that.

 

[Flump]

Lift the piece up of the bench, then you wont be trying to heat the work piece and the bench. Or weld over the slot. Sit down so you can rest your for arms on the edge of the table, so you will be much more steady

I am working on that, done some more this afternoon trying to work over the slot

 

[Flump]

Gas problems, and that tungsten is mullered.

Have you got a 'peashooter' gauge? Make sure your gas flow is something sensible for that shroud (maybe 5 or 6 LPM) - it can be too high, as well as too low.

The tungsten should stay silver (ish) - it looks like it has been run without gas, or the gas has been cut off before the tungsten has cooled after welding. You won't get a nice arc with it like that, so it needs re-grinding. Also, the stick-out looks to be on the high side - try about half that.

You were bob on about the gas, I think this morning I was worried about unscrewing the valve too far and it coming out of the torch body,
I just did some more runs with the valve fully open and they still look like crap but much cleaner.

 

[Flump]

I tried again just now and they look better than they did this morning I don't think I was opening the valve on the torch fully.
I am trying to get my timing right, those strips are 2"/50mm wide, how long should it take to weld from one side to the other ?
And does the diameter of the tungsten make much difference to the welder Amps setting and speed of travel ?

I need to do something better with my tungsten grinder as I am not getting consistent points.
The welds below the clamp are the latest ones after opening the torch valve fully.

 

[addjunkie]

If your technique is good your tungsten diameter will make a difference but not a huge amount. Put tungsten in your battery drill and sharpen it to a point , pointing it in the upward direction on your wheel, so any score marks run towards the tip. Amps wise you want roughly 30 per mm of steel.

Order the HF machine and youll find you stop worrying about gas valves etc, you will also use far less gas.

 

[Misterg]

how long should it take to weld from one side to the other ?
And does the diameter of the tungsten make much difference to the welder Amps setting and speed of travel ?

I need to do something better with my tungsten grinder as I am not getting consistent points.

Speed depends on amps and how good you are. My non-expert opinion from the photo is that you're moving too slowly for the amps you have set, or that the amps are too high for the metal. Small pieces get heat soaked very quickly.

IMHO, the diameter of the tungsten is immaterial at the moment. Stick with what you've got.

As above, for grinding your electrodes. If you haven't already, buy a pack and sharpen them all so you can just swap them when you dip / catch it with the filler, then sharpen them all again as a batch.

FWIW, I've never had a problem welding stuff with it resting on a steel plate.

Have you seen / read / worked through the TIG tutorial on this site? (In the green box just below the site logo.)

 

[Flump]

The picture below is from todays practice , did the same thing again and forgot to turn the gas on, also I am being mindful to keep the torch at correct angles and trying my best not to dip the tungsten, although I still do quite often.
I am using a small number 9 torch at the moment, I am hoping it will be easier with the new size 26.

I have ordered the new welder which should come tomorrow, I did contact Welding Supplies Direct (site sponsor) but they were not able to match the price I was offered from another shop.
I have been using red tungsten's but the shop suggested blue ones so I am going to give them a try, also ordered some new 1.6 filler rods as mine are going rusty.
I tried to use a filler rod and cannot workout how to get it to feed through my fingers like they do on all the videos.

@Misterg Yes I have been working my way through the tig tutorial but I am having difficulty with torch travel speed, in the tutorial they mention 1mm/sec which seems incredibly slow to me in that the 50mm wide practice piece
should take 50 seconds to weld across but to me it feels like it should take half that time because if I go slow so that it does take 50 seconds then the weld is far too hot but keep in mind I am not adding filler while doing it.

The above torch travel speed I feel is what is holding me back at the moment so could anyone confirm what kind of time in seconds should I be looking at to run a torch bead (no filler) across the 50mm test piece ?
Run out of practice metal so got 40 pieces of 120x50x2 coming.

 

[addjunkie]

I prefer a smaller lighter torch….

Two questions.
How well can you see whats actually happening in the weld pool?
Have you practised feeding rod. Use a 1/2 rod and sit and feed it while watching the TV. Very thin gloves are best.

 

[Flump]

I prefer a smaller lighter torch….

Two questions.
How well can you see whats actually happening in the weld pool?
Have you practised feeding rod. Use a 1/2 rod and sit and feed it while watching the TV. Very thin gloves are best.

I have great difficulty seeing anything through the helmet as my left eye is useless (keratoconus) and right eye not great.
I have been using a flexible light directly on to the work area but its not very good, have been looking around to see if there
is a light that goes on welding helmets, mines an esab savage a40

I have a rod in me living room to practice with now

 

[Cobbler]

There are various posts on here that people have added head torches to their helmets. I don’t know of one purpose made for the job though.

 

[redlig]

Gas problems, and that tungsten is mullered.

Have you got a 'peashooter' gauge? Make sure your gas flow is something sensible for that shroud (maybe 5 or 6 LPM) - it can be too high, as well as too low.

The tungsten should stay silver (ish) - it looks like it has been run without gas, or the gas has been cut off before the tungsten has cooled after welding. You won't get a nice arc with it like that, so it needs re-grinding. Also, the stick-out looks to be on the high side - try about half that.

Thanks for the comment re : stick out. I've been struggling all afternoon with some 1.6mm ally without success .Saw your comment and nipped straight back into the w/s reduced the stick out and voila 100% improvement. who would have thought that it would make such a difference ? Not me for one.

 

[Flump]

New welder turned up today, looking forward to the weekend to try it out.

 

[redlig]

New welder turned up today, looking forward to the weekend to try it out.

View attachment 493559

R.T.F.M. before you start trying it out!!!

 

[chrismac]

New welder turned up today, looking forward to the weekend to try it out.

View attachment 493559

No excuses now, you'll have perfect welds everytime.

 

[northwest]

New welder turned up today, looking forward to the weekend to try it out.

View attachment 493559

I saw your note asking about Parweld quality, but only after you had bought the thing anyway but just to confirm, I have the same welder and I love it. There is nothing I want that it doesn't have or do so in my opinion you made the right choice. You may want to add a pedal at some time in the future (I did) and it was, for me, a revelation.

Torch size: as @addjunkie said, stay small. If I remember correctly the number 9 is the same size/consumables as the 26, try to stick with that, I know I wanted to go up a size but had to go water cooled to get back down to a WP9 torch, much better. As for feeding the rod between fingers, I still struggle with this and I have sort of resigned myself to having loads of rod sticking out and just going for it, hoping I have enough rod there. Once you try the pulse welding you will wonder how you got on without it!

 

[Popcorn]

If I remember correctly the number 9 is the same size/consumables as the 26,

Actually a 9 is a Series 2 torch and a 26 is Series 3 which uses larger consumables

 

[addjunkie]

Actually a 9 is a Series 2 torch and a 26 is Series 3 which uses larger consumables

A 9 is a 20 when you go water cooled. If my memory serves me correctly a 17 and 26 take the same consumables.

 

[northwest]

A 9 is a 20 when you go water cooled. If my memory serves me correctly a 17 and 26 take the same consumables.

You are absolutely right there, my brain is on a "work to rule" just now and I really need to cut out the outside interference, sadly there is a lot of it at present.. I am desperately trying to remember what my machine came with originally.

In the scheme of things I don't suppose it matters, it just works.