- Thread starter Welderpaul
- Start date
- Messages
- 14,795
- Location
- UK
Nah, but I will in a bit.
- Messages
- 14,795
- Location
- UK
Got it going - it would appear that a red hot glowing tip is the norm, just seems wrong!
Anyway, here's my first attempt at Tig. Used a 2.4mm filler rod. Pictures a bit cr&p cos kept getting flash, but see what you think!
Anyway, here's my first attempt at Tig. Used a 2.4mm filler rod. Pictures a bit cr&p cos kept getting flash, but see what you think!
Rusty
Member
- Messages
- 600
Treat tig like gas welding,keep the heat on it ( arc ) til it melts then away u go.
HughF
Member
- Messages
- 6,482
- Location
- Work: Dorchester, Workshop: Corfe Castle, Wife's place: Frome
Ummm, your tungsten will glow red hot, it shouldn't melt though. Lincoln ivertec has lift-arc does it not? Sounds like you are describing lift-arc anyway.
Ground to a nice sharp point?
Is the weld pool forming or not?
Hugh
EDIT: Seen u got it going now! Remember the postflow, and that looks pretty good for a first attempt.
Hugh
Ground to a nice sharp point?
Is the weld pool forming or not?
Hugh
EDIT: Seen u got it going now! Remember the postflow, and that looks pretty good for a first attempt.
Hugh
Last edited:
- Messages
- 14,795
- Location
- UK
Yes to all, Hugh, cos i mainly do mma, i think i had it in my mind that a glowing welding rod means too high on the amps, or too small a rod, but obviously not the case for tungstens. Thanks for your help fellas, much appreciated.
Not being funny Paul but I betcha you could make a better job of 3mm with your Arc. I`ve said it before and stupid as it may sound I think Tig looks horrid. If I siliconed a window and left it like that... Maybe it is a delight to do.......I dunno as aint tried it yet
Alex
Alex
lorenzo
Member
- Messages
- 151
Hey Paul, It looks good and naturally there are things you will need to work on but for a start you are on target. One thing you may want to think about is a foot control, it will make ending your welds a lot easier. You don't want a crater at the end of a weld and sometimes achieving this can be a bit tricky without the controler. Using TIG without a foot control can be a bit of a chore.
I was doing some stainless today.... I'm going by the shop to take some pics to post for you. I tried to take them today but my batteries gave out.
I'm going to give you a few tips that I give to anyone who is just starting out..... so if they seem a bit below you I mean no disrespect. I have no idea what you know and don't know. First of all there are a lot of things going on at once so it can be a bit overwhelming. One thing I see a lot of people doing is to pull the filler wire way out of the weld zone. I tell people to keep the filler wire in view at all times. What happens is after they pull the filler rod back and go to re-introduce the rod into the puddle they tend to have no idea where the rod is, so they become distracted becuase they have to visually locate the rod. This is when people either bury the tungsten in the puddle, touch the rod to the tungsten or both. Also taking the rod out of that envelope can lead to contamination.
Feeding the rod is something that can be difficult at first ..... I suggest taking a length of rod and practice feeding the rod in your spare time. Watching TV, driving whenever really.... cut the rod in half if you need to for driving.
Dipping the rod in the puddle..... I try to dip the rod from the side of the puddle and not right into the center of the puddle. So if you were to reference a clock, you would be moving the torch from 3 o clock to 9 o clock. Well instead of dipping the rod at 9 o'clock I will come in from 11 or 7 o'clock. This is something that will really be helpful with aluminum due to the fact that it balls from the heat of the arc when dipping in front of the arc.
Try running without the filler rod for a bit... get used to manipulating the torch. practice changing the arc length to see how if effects the weld, because without a controler of some sort you may find you need to vary the arc length to avoid running too hot.
Just a few things to think about... I'll get those pics up tomorrow
I was doing some stainless today.... I'm going by the shop to take some pics to post for you. I tried to take them today but my batteries gave out.
I'm going to give you a few tips that I give to anyone who is just starting out..... so if they seem a bit below you I mean no disrespect. I have no idea what you know and don't know. First of all there are a lot of things going on at once so it can be a bit overwhelming. One thing I see a lot of people doing is to pull the filler wire way out of the weld zone. I tell people to keep the filler wire in view at all times. What happens is after they pull the filler rod back and go to re-introduce the rod into the puddle they tend to have no idea where the rod is, so they become distracted becuase they have to visually locate the rod. This is when people either bury the tungsten in the puddle, touch the rod to the tungsten or both. Also taking the rod out of that envelope can lead to contamination.
Feeding the rod is something that can be difficult at first ..... I suggest taking a length of rod and practice feeding the rod in your spare time. Watching TV, driving whenever really.... cut the rod in half if you need to for driving.
Dipping the rod in the puddle..... I try to dip the rod from the side of the puddle and not right into the center of the puddle. So if you were to reference a clock, you would be moving the torch from 3 o clock to 9 o clock. Well instead of dipping the rod at 9 o'clock I will come in from 11 or 7 o'clock. This is something that will really be helpful with aluminum due to the fact that it balls from the heat of the arc when dipping in front of the arc.
Try running without the filler rod for a bit... get used to manipulating the torch. practice changing the arc length to see how if effects the weld, because without a controler of some sort you may find you need to vary the arc length to avoid running too hot.
Just a few things to think about... I'll get those pics up tomorrow
marknotgeorge
Doing sums for a living since 2009.
- Messages
- 473
Driving?! I can see it now:
"Sorry I crashed into that tree, officer. I was practising feeding my rod."
"Sorry I crashed into that tree, officer. I was practising feeding my rod."
lorenzo
Member
- Messages
- 151
Compared to what LOT of people over here try and do while driving..... manipulation a 12" piece of filler rod is a 1 on the "difficulty while driving scale"Driving?! I can see it now:
"Sorry I crashed into that tree, officer. I was practising feeding my rod."
But you are correct, I shouldn't assume that everyone can drive and be able to perform another task of considerable ease. That is why they have automatic transmissions right?
- Messages
- 14,795
- Location
- UK
Thanks for your comments Lorenzo, have had a good practice today and am improving my technique. (Luckily i have a steady hand from years of MMA).
Have been using your post as a guidline and am getting fairly good results, including managing to join 3mm plate.
When you are forming the weld, do you form in one continuous run i.e constant feed on the rod, or do you form the weld by a series of molton pools and dabs of the filler rod? Just need to keep practicing. Unfortunatley the welder i have does not have facility for a foot control, but having had a good go today, i know where you are coming from - Once the weld is underway, the amps need to drop or the weld pool just keeps getting bigger! How does the distance between tungsten and workpiece affect the arc, further away less amps?
Have been using your post as a guidline and am getting fairly good results, including managing to join 3mm plate.
When you are forming the weld, do you form in one continuous run i.e constant feed on the rod, or do you form the weld by a series of molton pools and dabs of the filler rod? Just need to keep practicing. Unfortunatley the welder i have does not have facility for a foot control, but having had a good go today, i know where you are coming from - Once the weld is underway, the amps need to drop or the weld pool just keeps getting bigger! How does the distance between tungsten and workpiece affect the arc, further away less amps?
- Messages
- 14,795
- Location
- UK
No doubt i could produce a good flat weld on 3mm plate with mma. I have seen some very good Tig welds and want to be able to produce welds to that standard.
- Messages
- 6,343
You should weld in a continuios run paul, mate of mine has done tig work all his life including welding nucular power plants in the midle east and making high presure titanum vesals, about 40 foot long, he can even swap filler wire without stoping just practice i guess.
- Messages
- 14,795
- Location
- UK
How often should the tungsten need grinding?
- Messages
- 6,343
depends on how much current your passing through them if your burning away all the time then incresse your tungsten sizes, a rougth guide is your tungsten should be as big as the filler rod your useing although a larger tungsten on smaller work does not really matter.
lorenzo
Member
- Messages
- 151
Any time you touch the tungsten to the weld puddle you should in theory re-grind the end. If the tungsten begins to break down due to over heating or discolors to a dull grey. I like to keep a nice sharp tungsten.
As far as the bead.... establish the arc and puddle. If you are running butt joints or fillets you will tend to notice a "key hole" form at the edge of the puddle. push the rod into the puddle until the key hole is gone, move ahead a bit you will see another key hole form, push the rod in and continue on down to line. With flat stringers you will not see this "key hole" it's more of a timing thing for me and wacthing the puddle fill out. You don't need to pull the torch back either. Some guys wil make a puddle pull the torch back slightly, add the filler and bring the torch ahead again repeating to process. I pretty much just keep the torch moving ahead..... I'll form a puddle , dip, move ahead, keeping the puddle going , dip, move ahead... etc. As I mentioned earlier I always keep the filler rod in view. I tell people that they need to watch the whole area when welding no matter what the process is. In the begining a lot of folks are so focused on the arc they can't see anything else. Thats a big reason why people can't run a straight stringer bead... they're experiencing such tunnel vision they can't ahead, behind or beside the arc. I was doing that in the begining especially on vertical ups MMA..... I had beads running everywhere because I was focusing on the arc and NOT watching how the bead was filling on the underside of the puddle. I'm sure you won't have this problem so much because of your welding experience it is more for newbies. And as far as the arc length.... works just like you figured. The only thing about varying the arc length is the arc will become a bit unstable but it shouldn't really effect you.
As far as the bead.... establish the arc and puddle. If you are running butt joints or fillets you will tend to notice a "key hole" form at the edge of the puddle. push the rod into the puddle until the key hole is gone, move ahead a bit you will see another key hole form, push the rod in and continue on down to line. With flat stringers you will not see this "key hole" it's more of a timing thing for me and wacthing the puddle fill out. You don't need to pull the torch back either. Some guys wil make a puddle pull the torch back slightly, add the filler and bring the torch ahead again repeating to process. I pretty much just keep the torch moving ahead..... I'll form a puddle , dip, move ahead, keeping the puddle going , dip, move ahead... etc. As I mentioned earlier I always keep the filler rod in view. I tell people that they need to watch the whole area when welding no matter what the process is. In the begining a lot of folks are so focused on the arc they can't see anything else. Thats a big reason why people can't run a straight stringer bead... they're experiencing such tunnel vision they can't ahead, behind or beside the arc. I was doing that in the begining especially on vertical ups MMA..... I had beads running everywhere because I was focusing on the arc and NOT watching how the bead was filling on the underside of the puddle. I'm sure you won't have this problem so much because of your welding experience it is more for newbies. And as far as the arc length.... works just like you figured. The only thing about varying the arc length is the arc will become a bit unstable but it shouldn't really effect you.
HughF
Member
- Messages
- 6,482
- Location
- Work: Dorchester, Workshop: Corfe Castle, Wife's place: Frome
This is all excellent advice from Chris, I can't really fault it or add anything to it. Remember to grind your tungsten axially, not radially. The latter will introduce a wandering arc, so hold it in-line with the wheel, not across (that is a bad explanation but I'm sure you've got it figured).
I have some tips for prepping zirc tungstens for ally work, not sure if you've got an ac set, but if you do, and you have balance control (my tips don't work well if you don't) then I can write that up with some pics if you want.
Hugh
I have some tips for prepping zirc tungstens for ally work, not sure if you've got an ac set, but if you do, and you have balance control (my tips don't work well if you don't) then I can write that up with some pics if you want.
Hugh
