New Cros Arc 200 and new to Tig welding.

[W.olly]

Hi all, well got my new Tig last week a Cros Arc 200 DC H/F and have been waiting for other bits to arrive, flow meter/rods/gas.


As you can see i got a box of 316 SS rods for the job i will be doing but for now i need to be able to weld. I got some mild steel rods for practice as i have no SS to work on yet.

The setting for these welds are

60amps
0 prefow (Just cheked it to do this write up and i thought it set it at 1.5 )
1.5 up slope
1.5 down slope
4.3 post flow
1.6mm rods

The steel is 2mm tube onto 2mm box section.

Now these are my welds after an hour or so practice.







What i find hard is to get comfy to be able to keep my hand steady, spend more tie sharpening the tips lol.

So are they any good, but for the shakes that is. I am chuffed with the rig, glad i went HF and not Lift start. Real easy to get going.

 

[norlander]

Not bad mate, the steel is pretty rough, you should clean it up more really, I find the arc in TIG will suck up any smeg close by, they say clean bright metal for TIG. But getting round the roundy bits at starters is not bad going.
Yeah, I had lift start, I quite liked it, but HF start is ace, keep meaning to switch to lift now and again but never do.
When you go SS, I have my torch on 2T, and about 1.5 downslope, and I pulse on the switch, trying to keep the heat down and get the rainbow colours, seems to be working.
Anyway, nice going.

 

[eSCHEn]

Nice job

You've got a bit of undercut on the toes, what's your arc length and torch angle like? Should be the size of the tungsten (roughly) and about ten degrees off the perpendicular to the job, respectively.

 

[W.olly]

Not bad mate, the steel is pretty rough, you should clean it up more really, I find the arc in TIG will suck up any smeg close by, they say clean bright metal for TIG. But getting round the roundy bits at starters is not bad going.
Yeah, I had lift start, I quite liked it, but HF start is ace, keep meaning to switch to lift now and again but never do.
When you go SS, I have my torch on 2T, and about 1.5 downslope, and I pulse on the switch, trying to keep the heat down and get the rainbow colours, seems to be working.
Anyway, nice going.

I am chuffed with it but would like it tidy, looks a bit messy, maybe just me being a perfectionist.

I did grind all the muck of the surface but maybe not enough. The brown you see on the flat is from the heat.

What T setting should i use on this, it was set on 2T ?

Nice job

You've got a bit of undercut on the toes, what's your arc length and torch angle like? Should be the size of the tungsten (roughly) and about ten degrees off the perpendicular to the job, respectively.

Thanks kida, you say `undercut on the toes` what part is this, the arc length is what i can keep my hand steady at lol, afraid i dont know the angle either, i just set off and hope at the minute, when i get a pool and it flows i am happy but i need to get to know the proper set up now. will get a better weld then.

 

[arther dailey]

Glad you are pleased with new kit, enjoy

 

[eSCHEn]

These parts are a bit too low but actually I think you need to just stick a bit more filler in.

Try knocking the amps down to, say, 50 and see if that helps.

 

[W.olly]

Glad you are pleased with new kit, enjoy

Luvin it mate

These parts are a bit too low but actually I think you need to just stick a bit more filler in.
View attachment 85742

Try knocking the amps down to, say, 50 and see if that helps.

I set out at 45 then worked up to 60 in 5 increments, found this the best to get a pool going, lower amps i found it harder.

Tomorrow i will give your advice a go, feels good to see a good weld, but then i loose it and think ****

 

[eSCHEn]

Don't get me wrong wolly, that's a fine first effort man.

 

[norlander]

What T setting should i use on this, it was set on 2T ?

2T, normally is press button/trigger, , pre flow and it it slopes up to full amps you have set, you keep the button pressed until you release it, then it slopes down and post flow.

 

[W.olly]

Don't get me wrong wolly, that's a fine first effort man.

hey no worries, i appreciate the feed back kida, i will try any advice given, bit different from Mig and stick, so many setting to go at my head is all over trying to understand it all lol.

2T, normally is press button/trigger, , pre flow and it it slopes up to full amps you have set, you keep the button pressed until you release it, then it slopes down and post flow.

So what is 4T? press button ( on mine ) let go then press again to stop and down slopes on its own?

 

[norlander]

this my manual, I covered up 4T LOG, as I am not sure you will have it on a DC set, I use it on ali when no pedal.

 

[Richard.]

I think you've done very well but you've jumped a step too far IMO.
All Tig welding revolves a few basic techniques that you must get right first before applying them to complex joints. Get some plate and lay down some runs.

 

[W.olly]

I think you've done very well but you've jumped a step too far IMO.
All Tig welding revolves a few basic techniques that you must get right first before applying them to complex joints. Get some plate and lay down some runs.

I tend to rush things lol,

I did a few feet on the same settings here, is one part, i was happy with them, not sure if they look as they should but looked ok...?

 

[Richard.]

Ive said it many times over and yet to be proved wrong.
People who rush into it Taking on complex joints and want to progress faster take much longer to get decent results because they haven't learnt the basics. It's up to you but I promise you your progression will shoot through hoops if you avoid the pipes and fillets and get the welds right.

 

[norlander]

I tend to rush things lol,

Its the new way. Ski Evolutif, accelerated learning- accelerated freefall -people jumping advanced canopies from the off, there was the direct access motorcyle thing, buy a superbike tourer and learn on it until you pass your test,
Hip operation folks up and walking etc etc. Train hard fight easy and all that stuff.
If you try the technical stuff first with TIG you can miss out on practising the torch hand travelling, and rod feeding and you can end up with a restricted travel which will catch you out later.
I've found that with some jobs, it can be better to up the amps and go like the clappers and if you torch hand can't travel smoothly you start stuffing the filler into the tungsten. This is ali but same principles I think.

 

[W.olly]

this my manual, I covered up 4T LOG, as I am not sure you will have it on a DC set, I use it on ali when no pedal.
View attachment 85752

Bloody nora, i will see how i go, where have the days gone of turn on the gas and set flame and away you go lol.

Ive said it many times over and yet to be proved wrong.
People who rush into it Taking on complex joints and want to progress faster take much longer to get decent results because they haven't learnt the basics. It's up to you but I promise you your progression will shoot through hoops if you avoid the pipes and fillets and get the welds right.

Done these today, a real mess, but then got good. Is these the welds i should practice on?

 

[arther dailey]

The thing is you are enjoying it , I would want to put a sheet of metal on your wood bench though before you burn the place down whilst concentrating..I burnt through a coat, jumper, t shirt , only when my tummy got hot did I realise I was on fire...duh! well I was concentrating at the time,ha.

 

[norlander]

On them mate, I would offer:

need to clean up the steel much more
need to clean the edges up
need to get a better fit up
the wooden table surface has no heat sink properties, and contaminants from the' smoke' will mess with the welds, you may not see smoke, but the ply will 'gas' off before smoke appears (needs confirmation from a clever bloke)

If you clean that stuff up and clamp it down well, you can probably run down it autogenous at the speed of the tall indian, that is a possible exercise for torch hand travel. It might also teach you torch angle, which might be one problem you had there, you might have been about right for amps for an autogenous run, but maybe the filler knocked the heat down hence one reason for lack of fusion.
All above needs confirmation from a proper TIG bloke.

Spend a day or two setting up a good bench with metal surface if you can, that stuff you cut up and practice on might have been good even if it was laid over the ply, but best get some plate if you can get it. I tried doing a slotted top with 8mm flat, but it was not ideal and cost a bit, so I now have 5mm plate on there.

 

[W.olly]

The thing is you are enjoying it , I would want to put a sheet of metal on your wood bench though before you burn the place down whilst concentrating..I burnt through a coat, jumper, t shirt , only when my tummy got hot did I realise I was on fire...duh! well I was concentrating at the time,ha.

lol, been there before when welding cars.

On them mate, I would offer:

need to clean up the steel much more
need to clean the edges up
need to get a better fit up
the wooden table surface has no heat sink properties, and contaminants from the' smoke' will mess with the welds, you may not see smoke, but the ply will 'gas' off before smoke appears (needs confirmation from a clever bloke)

If you clean that stuff up and clamp it down well, you can probably run down it autogenous at the speed of the tall indian, that is a possible exercise for torch hand travel. It might also teach you torch angle, which might be one problem you had there, you might have been about right for amps for an autogenous run, but maybe the filler knocked the heat down hence one reason for lack of fusion.
All above needs confirmation from a proper TIG bloke.

Spend a day or two setting up a good bench with metal surface if you can, that stuff you cut up and practice on might have been good even if it was laid over the ply, but best get some plate if you can get it. I tried doing a slotted top with 8mm flat, but it was not ideal and cost a bit, so I now have 5mm plate on there.

This wooden box is only a temp job to pay and try it out, i have a 6x3 steel work bench with 6mm top plate, but it needs cleaning back as its rusted over the years of being in a collapsed garage. I just wanted to have a quick go, once i burnt the box a little i raised the job on steel tubes and inch of the bench.

Infact think i will go and see i have a few grinding disc left to clean up the bench

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated

 

[norlander]

That bench sounds ace mate, heres a poor shot of mine (coz it hides my welds) the thingy on the front is an adjustable rest (prop) I made up, slides left n right and up n down, you might not need that, my hands and wrists were mullah'd
and don't work proper like-still hold a pint though.
Thingies lurking in the back are hold downs/third hands for keeping jobs in place, and make lil projects to practise stuff on but have an end use.
TIG is the keyhole surgery of the welding world, I think you need a good operating table.