surfdabbler
New Member
- Messages
- 16
- Location
- Brisbane, Australia
I've just started out TIG welding and having trouble getting shiny welds on stainless. They are always coming out grey.
I feel like I can get a good puddle going and run a reasonable bead, but the stainless welds are all coming out grey. I tried slow welds, fast welds. At first, my arc was too long, but I'm getting much closer now, down to a mm or two. I started with a #6 cup, no lens, that came with the welder. I've since fitted a gas-lens and #12 glass cup. I've tried argon flows from 6 lpm up to 15 lpm. I hold the torch over the weld with a post-flow of 5 seconds, and sometimes give the pedal an extra tap to keep the gas going if the steel is still red. I've tried longer stickout as in the photo, and I've tried having it short, with maybe 4-5mm. I'm using red tungsten, 2.4mm, on 3mm Stainless Steel pieces. For my first welds, the steel was probably a little bit dirty, but today, I wire brushed the whole piece, and wiped down with acetone. I've tried with filler (316), and I've tried with no filler. I've tried slow welds with only just enough amperage to maintain the puddle and I've tried max amps where I'm really rushing to keep up. The end result of all this is that my welds still look exactly the same. I can even lay a stack of dimes that I'm pretty happy with, but they are grey dimes.
Anyone got any ideas? What else can I try? Do I need to start with new clean steel? Once a weld is oxidised is it impossible to clean to the point of a nice weld on top of the old one? Maybe I need to find a local welder and get a teaching session?
I feel like I can get a good puddle going and run a reasonable bead, but the stainless welds are all coming out grey. I tried slow welds, fast welds. At first, my arc was too long, but I'm getting much closer now, down to a mm or two. I started with a #6 cup, no lens, that came with the welder. I've since fitted a gas-lens and #12 glass cup. I've tried argon flows from 6 lpm up to 15 lpm. I hold the torch over the weld with a post-flow of 5 seconds, and sometimes give the pedal an extra tap to keep the gas going if the steel is still red. I've tried longer stickout as in the photo, and I've tried having it short, with maybe 4-5mm. I'm using red tungsten, 2.4mm, on 3mm Stainless Steel pieces. For my first welds, the steel was probably a little bit dirty, but today, I wire brushed the whole piece, and wiped down with acetone. I've tried with filler (316), and I've tried with no filler. I've tried slow welds with only just enough amperage to maintain the puddle and I've tried max amps where I'm really rushing to keep up. The end result of all this is that my welds still look exactly the same. I can even lay a stack of dimes that I'm pretty happy with, but they are grey dimes.
Anyone got any ideas? What else can I try? Do I need to start with new clean steel? Once a weld is oxidised is it impossible to clean to the point of a nice weld on top of the old one? Maybe I need to find a local welder and get a teaching session?