After many years of trying to improve my Tig welding ability on my own I realised I reached the limit of what I could learn from YouTube and forums so I approached Richard from this forum for some Tig training. I can wholeheartedly say that this lesson has been invaluable to making improvements by correcting basic errors in my technique and machine settings on both steel and aluminium. I thought I would post about some of the things I learnt and also say that the training provided by Richard was fantastic in terms in being based on my requirements and abilities (rather than just watching someone else and being told to copy them), making actual improvements very quickly and being excellent value for money.
The main things I learnt are:
1) Be comfortable with posture, location of the pedal, height of bench position of the workpiece (if necessary, raise it above the bench)
2) Use more current - I am always wary of burning through so I end up being a bit light on the current but I've now leant more power and faster travel speed reduces the likelihood of burning through and improves penetration
3) Move faster - low current and slow speed makes a mess
4) Basic machine features are more than enough to achieve good welds (on AC, frequency was 60Hz, balance was 35%, on DC, no need for pulse etc)
5) Thinner filler rods are beneficial on steel - using 1.2mm rods helped achieve smaller fillet sizes
6) Hold the torch in way that suits you
7) When tacking, apply lots of current quickly and for a short time
8) When feed filler into the puddle, actually place the filler into the puddle rather than drag it along the base metal into the puddle - by dragging it in, it would not move smoothly so was more likely to ball up or move suddenly and touch the tungsten
9) Practice and keep practicing
This is what I could do before the lesson with aluminium:
And after with more current, faster travel speed and several of the other things I already mentioned:
And this is steel after the lesson with 1.6mm filler (I've been practicing fillet welds a lot more than outside corners on steel):
A longer piece where I used some 1mm mig wire for the first few inches on the right and then went back to 1.6mm filler for the rest of the run:
And the fallout of the practice that I've been doing:
Considering how much welding equipment, especially tig equipment, costs, I regret not seeking out some training earlier and missing out on potential improvements for a number of years.
The main things I learnt are:
1) Be comfortable with posture, location of the pedal, height of bench position of the workpiece (if necessary, raise it above the bench)
2) Use more current - I am always wary of burning through so I end up being a bit light on the current but I've now leant more power and faster travel speed reduces the likelihood of burning through and improves penetration
3) Move faster - low current and slow speed makes a mess
4) Basic machine features are more than enough to achieve good welds (on AC, frequency was 60Hz, balance was 35%, on DC, no need for pulse etc)
5) Thinner filler rods are beneficial on steel - using 1.2mm rods helped achieve smaller fillet sizes
6) Hold the torch in way that suits you
7) When tacking, apply lots of current quickly and for a short time
8) When feed filler into the puddle, actually place the filler into the puddle rather than drag it along the base metal into the puddle - by dragging it in, it would not move smoothly so was more likely to ball up or move suddenly and touch the tungsten
9) Practice and keep practicing
This is what I could do before the lesson with aluminium:
And after with more current, faster travel speed and several of the other things I already mentioned:
And this is steel after the lesson with 1.6mm filler (I've been practicing fillet welds a lot more than outside corners on steel):
A longer piece where I used some 1mm mig wire for the first few inches on the right and then went back to 1.6mm filler for the rest of the run:
And the fallout of the practice that I've been doing:
Considering how much welding equipment, especially tig equipment, costs, I regret not seeking out some training earlier and missing out on potential improvements for a number of years.