New to TIG - Looking for practice advice

[BoogerGrinder]

Get some thicker practice material, preferably mild steel...

A number 8 cup wants 8-10lpm gas so 15 is potentially going to give you issues with turbulence and it wll waste gas.

I say mild steel for a few reasons...1 its cheaper than stainless or ally, 2 you can drop a few cup sizes and then drop your flow rate and post flow time and 3 there are less variables...you aren't worried about cooking it, the puddle is more consistent and stays roughly the same width even when the metal is hot and the filler is cheaper...

As for the cooked welds, you can have a few separate issues or a mix of a few with that, but if you are running at the bare minimum amps for that thickness your travel speed will suffer and that will cook a part...turn the amps up and travel faster is my method but you need to get some thicker materials and nail the basics first like set up and arc length. Stainless can be tricky at the best of times, I can lay a respectable bead on mild steel then cook stainless onnthe very next weld...steel will follow the 40amps per mm rule, stainless wants less because of its poor thermal conductivity and the hotter the part gets the harder it gets to weld...and it distorts for fun too

Thanks, I will take that on board and switch to thicker mild steel. I had been practicing on the thinner stainless as I have a bunch of off cuts, but makes sense to reduce the number of variables.

 

[BoogerGrinder]

I cleaned up some scrap mild steel which is 5 mm thick. Once I was happy with my settings I then tried adjusting my helmets brightness half an increment at a time for each new weld start and got it to a point where I could see the tip much more clearly! I think I was being too impatient previously and changing too many things at the one time. It is still not crystal clear and I have an opto appointment booked in to get an idea of where my vision is at.
So for these welds I had my flow set to 9 l/min with 7 seconds post.
2T push button
1.6 mm tungsten and filler
125 amps
After running many starts, then dry welds and then welds with filler, this is where I am at. (Also many dips of the tungsten with associated grinding)
I have a 2 sec down slope set and run back from the edge a bit as the current drops at the end of each bead.
My question is what is the little high spot that forms at the end of each weld where the arc extinguishes? For reference the material is 50 mm wide and the spot I am talking about is 5 to 10 mm back along the weld from the edge of the steel.
Any other feedback is also welcome!

 

[Misterg]

That's looking a lot better

what is the little high spot that forms at the end of each weld where the arc extinguishes?

I don't know what exactly causes it, but you can avoid it forming by swirling the torch in little circles (maybe 2-3mm diameter) as the arc dies down rather than holding it dead still.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I cleaned up some scrap mild steel which is 5 mm thick. Once I was happy with my settings I then tried adjusting my helmets brightness half an increment at a time for each new weld start and got it to a point where I could see the tip much more clearly! I think I was being too impatient previously and changing too many things at the one time. It is still not crystal clear and I have an opto appointment booked in to get an idea of where my vision is at.
So for these welds I had my flow set to 9 l/min with 7 seconds post.
2T push button
1.6 mm tungsten and filler
125 amps
After running many starts, then dry welds and then welds with filler, this is where I am at. (Also many dips of the tungsten with associated grinding)
I have a 2 sec down slope set and run back from the edge a bit as the current drops at the end of each bead.
My question is what is the little high spot that forms at the end of each weld where the arc extinguishes? For reference the material is 50 mm wide and the spot I am talking about is 5 to 10 mm back along the weld from the edge of the steel.
Any other feedback is also welcome!

they are looking better.

the high spots can be avoided by 'blending' the pool with the torch as the arc dies off, or adding less filler on the last dab, then just tapping a little bit in just befor it fully solidifies.

for 5mm youd really want about 200+amps and a 2.4 or even a 3.2mm tungsten and atleast a 2.4mm filler rod, my tig tips out at 200 and i cant fill a 5mm fillet in 1 pass without coooking it

you may find it gets asier again with more amps but beware, if you have a 17 sized torch, its going to get hot towards the head pretty quick