Just Starting Out With TIG Welding

[Tyrefryer]

Hi all, I'm completely new to TIG welding, have done a little bit of gas, Arc and MIG in the past but not for a long time. I just bought a WSME-200 Chinese welder on Ebay and am keeping my fingers crossed that it's going to work OK.

Anyway, last night I set it up and tried making a few beads on flat 3mm mild steel without and then with a feeder rod and tonight tried some butt and fillet joints. The butt weld was my 4th attempt at a butt weld and the fillets I tried afterwards. The big blobs at each end of the butt weld are where I tacked it but didn't quite get it on the centre of the join . The smoke and at the end of the fillet was where I ran out of Argon (again) as I've been trying it out with disposable bottles. I'm waiting to get a 10 litre bottle and proper regulator shortly.

I've used a 1.6 electrode and welding rod and experimented between 40 and 70 amps. I'm not using the foot pedal yet and have turned off the pulse function. I'm going to have to wait until I have the 10 litre bottle of argon before I do anymore but would appreciate any feedback.

Thanks, Martin.

 

[Paul.]

For a first attempt that's not at all bad, your previous gas welding experience is showing through I think.
Mild steel is dirty stuff to tig weld and you would benefit from cleaning the material with a sanding disc, take the millscale and rust off, it will make a big difference, when you get a bigger gas cylinder it should improve things too, those disposables don't really give a consistent flow in my opinion.
Have a read through the tutorial pages, and welcome to the forum.

 

[Tyrefryer]

Hi Paul, thanks for that. Yes I had a read through the tutorials which I found very helpful. The pieces of scrap steel I've been using have been knocking about for a long time, I did clean the edges up with a wire brush but I think a sanding disk would help a lot.

Cheers.

 

[Paul.]

Proper cleaning will make a big difference, the millscale doesn't melt it just floats to the top of the pool or creates inclusions, it may even spit at you and contaminate the tungsten. here's a couple of examples showing the difference you can expect to see.
You will also notice that the pool is much more fluid and easier to control, try not to weave, keep the arc tight without touching down, good joint fit up helps as well.

 

[Tyrefryer]

That makes sense, I noticed a lot of spitting and popping and could see some scale. Also I was surprised how easily I blew through what I thought was a small gap on the fillet weld. Cheers.

 

[FranV8]

Great welding!

Defo get decent non disposable gas cylinders, and the next worthwhile investment is a rotameter style flowmeter - reduced my gas use no end!

 

[pedrobedro]

If you are welding 3mm which that looks like go up to 2.4 tungstens as well.

 

[Tyrefryer]

Is a Rotameter style flowmeter the type like a pea in a tube? If so that's what i was going to go for, one like this: http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/Welding/Argon_Regulator___Flowmeter__Industrial_.html

Yes it is 3mm steel I've been playing with, I went for 1.6 as that's what it reccomended in the TIG welding tutorial on here. I'll get some 2.4 electrodes and try that out. Would I still use the 1.6 feeder rods with 2.4 electrodes?

Cheers all.

 

[Paul.]

1.6 electrode is fine for those amps, Its a matter of personal preference though, try it and see if a bigger electrode suits you, 1.6 is good for at least 120 amps on dc, but you probably wouldn't want to run a 2.4 too much below 80 amps so you are in that crossover range. 1.6 filler rods are fine, remember the bigger the filler rod the more heat (amps) you will need to melt it, the rod also has chilling effect on the weld pool
And yes a rotameter flow meter is a float in a tube. Its useful to also have a flowmeter like this one http://www.weldequip.com/gas-flow-tester.htm
so that you can see what flow you have at the torch.

 

[FranV8]

The rotameter ones have a cylinderical pointed thing in them - I have one with a ball and it's frighteningly inaccurate compared to the rotameter type one I got (off a nice chap on here s/h).