Any advice/comments welcomed

[K18 NOB]

Hi,

Yet another tig newbie here. Been toying around just trying to get used to the technique and trying to find a comfortable position.

Took some pictures of a couple of beads I've ran and would be nice to get some feedback on how I could improve it, whether it be any error in technique, settings adjustment or whatever.

So for the spec, I was welding on 2mm aluminium sheet, cleaned it up with S/s wire brush and acetone. I was using a blue tip 2% lanthanated 1.6 tungsten and a 1.6 filler rod to match. Gas flow is around 7lpm and using a standard no5 cup. Set the amps to max of 85 and controlled with foot pedal. A.c. balance was 35% and a.c. freq was 120hz

 

[Richard.]

Can't find fault with those settings and the welding looks pretty good. If I had to criticise it I'd suggest you use your pedal to try and keep control of the puddle as you go along. It looks very neat and controlled at the start but then it looks rushed from the half way point when things became heat soaked. Back off the current and regain control. Weld it at your comfortable pace. Looks very good though.

 

[K18 NOB]

Cheers Richard,

I know exactly what you're saying and also why I'm doing it.....I'm still not good at feeding the filler rod through my fingers and I tend to concentrate on it a little too much which leads me to not pay enough attention to the puddle. I know there isn't any real advice for that other than keep practicing.

One issue I am having is trying inner corner welds, I can't seem to get the arc started neatly and it tends to jump from one piece to the other, or focuses the arc on one side causing one piece to form a puddle but the other to stay dry......should I be doing something different for this type of weld?

 

[Richard.]

Don't worry about finger feeding at the early learning stages. Get enough filler out to start and stop at the point you've consumed the length. This way you can worry about the fundamentals like keeping the pool under control.
Fillet joints. Yes the arc will generally favour a side. You need to concentrate the arc and try to focus it right in the corner. Narrow prep on the tungsten and lots of current to get pool going quickly and if machine allows lots of Hz on the frequency. 150hz plus if you have it on tap.

 

[K18 NOB]

By narrow prep do you mean taking the tungsten to more of a point? (Sorry I am very new to this)

My tig allows up to 250hz.......I was wondering about this myself but was getting myself confused, I wasn't sure if it was best to go for a tight arc and really try to focus it into the corner or if a wider arc would help to catch both edges of the workpiece. So if I start at say 150hz and work my way up accordingly?

 

[Chris Stevens]

Try lower frequency, 2.4mm tungsten, increase the start current, and increase max amps to about 120.

 

[Richard.]

Try lower frequency, 2.4mm tungsten, increase the start current, and increase max amps to about 120.

Lower frequency????
No. That's not good advice. Higher frequency is going to help with fillets. Wide arc will be bouncing off the walls and when you do get filler in its likely it won't of melted into the corner creating an under tunnel effect.
Narrow sharp point like a dart with a tiny flat will be spot on

 

[K18 NOB]

Thanks again Richard, will try this tomorrow and post my results........assuming they aren't too embarrassing

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Thanks again Richard, will try this tomorrow and post my results........assuming they aren't too embarrassing

I'll second what Richard has said, and don't be embarrassed fella, we all started somewhere, I dread to think what mine and Richards first attempts looked like. Well maybe not Richard , the mans a demon, but certainly mine

 

[Richard.]

Mine were worse than anybody's first attempts I've seen on here trust me and the beads I've seen from the op certainly would of put my first attempts to shame. I've been tig welding for 17 years and 10 of those were solid day in day out mainly with aluminium tubing 1-3mm wall thickness. Now most of my tig is done at home where it's much more enjoyable. There is an awful lot of great tig welders on here and 1 who is exceptional in my opinion @Paul.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Mine were worse than anybody's first attempts I've seen on here trust me and the beads I've seen from the op certainly would of put my first attempts to shame. I've been tig welding for 17 years and 10 of those were solid day in day out mainly with aluminium tubing 1-3mm wall thickness. Now most of my tig is done at home where it's much more enjoyable. There is an awful lot of great tig welders on here and 1 who is exceptional in my opinion @Paul.

You have a fantastic way of teaching Richard, I sometimes struggle to explain what I mean without resorting to picking up a torch and physically showing someone

 

[K18 NOB]

Good to see there is a wealth of talent here, more so that they aren't too busy to spare a few minutes to help us beginners out.

Belong to many forums.....mainly car related and some of which seem to attract the seasoned vets who have no time for anyone else.

That picture was only my 3rd real attempt at tig. Been Mig welding for a couple of years previous but it's not a scratch on the satisfaction of tigging ally!

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Good to see there is a wealth of talent here, more so that they aren't too busy to spare a few minutes to help us beginners out.

Belong to many forums.....mainly car related and some of which seem to attract the seasoned vets who have no time for anyone else.

That picture was only my 3rd real attempt at tig. Been Mig welding for a couple of years previous but it's not a scratch on the satisfaction of tigging ally!

If that's only your third attempt then I think we can expect to seem some stunning welds in the future! My first journeyman had no time for apprentices and I hated it, I wanted to learn and he wouldn't teach anything other than the bare minimum, my next journeyman took the time to teach me to weld amongst other things, was patient and fought my corner with management, so I try to pay it forward, I know how quickly someone can ruin a person enthusiasm

 

[eSCHEn]

He really is a great teacher Dan, helped me a lot on stainless and we never even met!

Yes. It's deeply frustrating when you have the desire to learn or teach but the emotion isn't reciprocated

 

[K18 NOB]

Yeah enthusiasm is hard enough to hold onto at the best of times especially with little/no support.

In fairness the first time I tried tig was under the watchful eye of a friend with over 20 years profesional experience, after this i instantly went out and bought an R-tech 170a ac/dc digital tig and watched countless videos online to learn as much about the theory/technique, the 2nd time was yesterday for an hour or so and this was today's effort. I'm focusing my efforts on aluminium for now but would like to branch out to stainless.

 

[eSCHEn]

That's a really nice run for such little experience on the process. Like Dan says, looking forwards to the future ones, especially in stainless

 

[Jim Davey]

Try lower frequency, 2.4mm tungsten, increase the start current, and increase max amps to about 120.

Would you like me to stop by and give you some pointers Chris? Sounds like you might have forgotten a thing or two.

 

[eSCHEn]

Meee-yow!

 

[Jim Davey]

It's a genuine offer.

 

[Chris Stevens]

Would you like me to stop by and give you some pointers Chris? Sounds like you might have forgotten a thing or two.

Thanks for the kind offer, but I like the feel of an old transformer set, and think a beginner might well find setting inverter to lower frequency, could make doing butt joints easier?

Looking forward to getting Hitachi back from Cowlins, and to be honest not that worried it doesnt have adjustable frequency.