steve from staten island
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Yes. You touch the tungsten to the work ever so slightly to start the arc.
TIG welding....humbling skill to learn
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steve from staten island
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Like striking a match
Mike67
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Ya my arc looked like something the Emperor did in Star Wars....
I haven't done any stainless yet, one thing I did find that helped me was I went a size smaller, .040 IIRC. I bought the chem sharp and it does a really good job it just takes a little longer....thinking about buying one of the diamond wheels to sharpen...
I also bought a new helmet...my old auto dark sucked...I couldn't see anything, the arc or the joint, until it was already screwed up. I'm starting to think I may need some cheater glasses...it's hell getting old!
I haven't done any stainless yet, one thing I did find that helped me was I went a size smaller, .040 IIRC. I bought the chem sharp and it does a really good job it just takes a little longer....thinking about buying one of the diamond wheels to sharpen...
I also bought a new helmet...my old auto dark sucked...I couldn't see anything, the arc or the joint, until it was already screwed up. I'm starting to think I may need some cheater glasses...it's hell getting old!
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Also get a fine grinding wheel on your bench grinder for sharpening your tungsten. Dont use it for anything else.
Doing aluminium I think you make a ball on the end of the tungsten iirc.
This thread might go on for awhile!
I am an untrained tig welder that was introduced to it to get a job in a fab shop.
Learning comes fast in that kind of situation. I did it for a living for seven years.
Getting the hang of it at home with a new machine and a car project is a challenging effort.
Play with it and give yourself some tests to see what works with the heat and gas coverage.
I have a Lincoln Square Wave machine for home use and am able (with a small dia tungsten) to round over the edge of a piece of .030" steel without burning it.
My point is learning starts from a small beginning.
A high heat starting point can kill any weld as well as adding frustration for the beginner.
Experiment with the smallest arc possible and add heat to it until you see and feel what is going on at the melting point. From there you can (and will crash/bang) learn fast.
BTW the shine and color of the welds in the first pictures in this thread tell of a proper heat for the task that has good gas coverage. Good stuff for a working connection.
Making the welds look consistent with the ripples is what catches everyone's eye and is not a proper telling of the quality of the weld. It only speaks of the finesse and smoothness of the welder.
Learning comes fast in that kind of situation. I did it for a living for seven years.
Getting the hang of it at home with a new machine and a car project is a challenging effort.
Play with it and give yourself some tests to see what works with the heat and gas coverage.
I have a Lincoln Square Wave machine for home use and am able (with a small dia tungsten) to round over the edge of a piece of .030" steel without burning it.
My point is learning starts from a small beginning.
A high heat starting point can kill any weld as well as adding frustration for the beginner.
Experiment with the smallest arc possible and add heat to it until you see and feel what is going on at the melting point. From there you can (and will crash/bang) learn fast.
BTW the shine and color of the welds in the first pictures in this thread tell of a proper heat for the task that has good gas coverage. Good stuff for a working connection.
Making the welds look consistent with the ripples is what catches everyone's eye and is not a proper telling of the quality of the weld. It only speaks of the finesse and smoothness of the welder.
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cryplydog
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Chromoly, not bad at all for first run. I use the foot pedal primarily for non ferrous materials but on regular steels and SS like tubing and pipe as well as formed sheet metal corners etc. I just use the Hi Freq. and a rocker switch taped to my torch to start post flow, arc start, and ramp up the voltage to like 60 amps for 16 gauge and test it out +or- and usually you will use about 30 amps per 32nd of material but fine tune for best result. Your tungsten should be 1/16 at 2% thoriated is a good all around on those types of matls and up to 1/8" the 3/32 tungsten works pretty good and I use1/32 tungsten on matls down to about .025 to .030, then when you need to stop just ramp down and post. I have used most all types of power supplies in the field but the Millers were our favorites. My shop welders here at home are a mid 80's Miller dial arc 250 HF and a mid 80's Hobart beta mig 2. I would love to try out these new machines of today but I've been retired for 8 years now. Good luck Rod Burner. Oh yeah, don't drag start your tungsten!
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tungsten inclusion?? Meaning contamination of weld by tungsten??
Hardest tig welding I did was using a rotary table that was speed controlled by a foot pedal. left foot table/right foot tig pedal. Now I know what it's like to be a drummer.
steve from staten island
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Yes, if you stick the tungsten into the puddle a piece can break off/melt or contaminate and be in weld. It will show up in a x-ray if you dont see it and grind it out
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vintage chromoly
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Something I’m making.
vintage chromoly
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Nice, this is my "rotary table". My Mother's old pancake griddle attached to an old stool frame. I turn it with my arm while feeding filler at the same time. Making aircraft engine mount attachment spools here..
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vintage chromoly
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Genius!
vintage chromoly
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Other side of the tool:
vintage chromoly
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Coming along:
451Mopar
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I have a real nice water cooled torch Miller Dynasty TIG, and a cheap multiprocess machine with lift start DC TIG (air cooled torch), but haven't used it much the last few years.
Last thing I welded was to cut down and re-welded an oil pickup tube that was too long for the 505 engines oil pan we built earlier this year.
For my additional / unexpected costs, I seemed to have accumulated a bunch of different tig cups and collets for different size diameter tungsten, and tubes of different filler material. I have been using 2% lanthanated tungsten. I haven't sat down and actually compared the different tungsten types on the same materials, so I don't know what works best? With my Inverter machine, I don't need to ball the tungsten tip for aluminum.
Having a dedicated grinder for the tungsten, with one course wheel and one fine wheel. Using the green silicon carbide grinding wheels which are a bit pricy. Just another additional cost to tig welding.
I should be back welding, either this weekend or next as we have to modify a header tube to fit my friends car.
Last thing I welded was to cut down and re-welded an oil pickup tube that was too long for the 505 engines oil pan we built earlier this year.
For my additional / unexpected costs, I seemed to have accumulated a bunch of different tig cups and collets for different size diameter tungsten, and tubes of different filler material. I have been using 2% lanthanated tungsten. I haven't sat down and actually compared the different tungsten types on the same materials, so I don't know what works best? With my Inverter machine, I don't need to ball the tungsten tip for aluminum.
Having a dedicated grinder for the tungsten, with one course wheel and one fine wheel. Using the green silicon carbide grinding wheels which are a bit pricy. Just another additional cost to tig welding.
I should be back welding, either this weekend or next as we have to modify a header tube to fit my friends car.
vintage chromoly
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Just about done.
I may weld nuts on the box steel to thread the dowels into, but I tested it and it works as is.
I may weld nuts on the box steel to thread the dowels into, but I tested it and it works as is.
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