So.... I want to learn TIG welding.

[Toleman]

I'm no expert but have had a 4 hour lesson recently and done about 100 bar of gas.

They do look a bit cold but your about right on amperage. Either your going to fast (my problem I suffer with most) or your filler rod is too thick and cooling the puddle too much. 1.6mm will do most of what you'll probably ever do with the set up. Possibly try again with another 5 amps.

If you ever get the chance to shadow somebody it's a beautiful thing tig welding. Imagine your playing an instrument.

Next practice ensure your tungsten is sharp - the arc will mirror the angle of your grind.

10 - 15 degree tilt back of the torch. This gives a leading edge on the puddle and allows you to see.

Strike the arc nice and tight and look for the puddle to form. Once it's formed tiny dab of filler then move up and wait again till its puddled, dab and move on.

Once you've got some confidence and are comfortable it should be a really smooth action of slowly sliding along with the torch and a tick tick tick tick tick with the filler rod in time. Like a clock ticking but not necessarily one dab a second.

Keep up the practice!

 

[Hood]

Even at 43 amps it should be fine. A long arc may be the issue with both shielding and high bead.
I am not great at steel, have done very little of it, mainly Alu and stainless I do, I find the Alu the easiest.

What size tungsten are they?
What dia filler?

I have just tried some 3mm steel (thinnest on hand) and 110 amps was about the best for a lap joint for me and 120amps for a run in the middle of a plate.

First one is at 90 amps, too cold I would say.

Next one is 120 amps on right, slightly too hot and 110amps on left, looks about right to me.
As said don't do much steel so not that great at it.

 

[Oldbanger]

thanks for the feedback guys... I'm using 1.6 rods and tungstens... no6 cup with about 7mm stick out on tungsten. I did try moving a bit slower and feeding the rod directly into the pool instead of trailing slightly ahead of the torch... the welds seemed to be a bit hot... very flat in appearance and I managed to loose the stacked effect (the looked more like mig) . I'll have another go after my tea and post up some pics... need to register grind my tungstens... I managed to dip 5 of them as I practiced today.... oh the joys!!!

 

[Toleman]

Ok so now you see how every little aspect has an effect.

You probably have a closer arc now so the slower speed isn't necessary.

Have a re-grind and up the speed slightly.

Remember to dab the filler at the front of the pool. Closest side to your filler hand.

And post some more pictures!

 

[Oldbanger]

Ok so now you see how every little aspect has an effect.

You probably have a closer arc now so the slower speed isn't necessary.

Have a re-grind and up the speed slightly.

Remember to dab the filler at the front of the pool. Closest side to your filler hand.

And post some more pictures!

will do my friend!!!

 

[Richard.]

The advice given from both gents above sounds good to me.
Current is a very funny thing and is almost impossible to give full on accurate info on. A common rule of thumb is actually around 30amps per 1mm thickness of mild steel. But....... sheet size, joint type, what's underneath it, machine, even your style all has an effect on actual current needed and that common rule of thumb can often be way off. Hoods pics are on much thicker gage and a joint configuration so they won't show you much to compare yours too but if you look at the weld he's done the width remains consistent there for his arc length and travel have been consistent.
Look at the "dimes" (filling internals.)
Quite consistently timed apart but no huge steps between them. This is due to filling going in at well timed intervals.
Your tungsten prep looks good. Keep them this way. Keep your arc 1-2mm long and take your time. Don't over stretch just do an inch then stop.
Do another inch then stop. Look at the run. Think about where it looks like it needs improvement then do the improvement. An inch of quality is far more impressive than 6 inches of s###.

 

[Oldbanger]

tried to butt 2 pieces together...

then ran a few more beads...

 

[Oldbanger]

I'm definately going back the way... when I first did those initial cold welds it felt a lot nicer than what I'm producing now... I'll keep practicing.... also think I should invest in a welding table... everything I've done so far I've been hunched over on the floor... it has not been comfortable!!!

 

[Richard.]

tried to butt 2 pieces together...View attachment 115429 then ran a few more beads... View attachment 115437 View attachment 115438 View attachment 115440

Pic 1 is the best but you need to slow it down a bit.
It's a shame your eleventy milllion miles away. I think 4 hours under the wing would see some wonderful results come out from the back of your torch. Keep goin. You'll get it.

 

[Hood]

Definitely a good idea to be as comfortable as you can when tig welding, especially when learning, you need to be balanced properly and hunching over on the floor is not the best for learning. In real life jobs it may be required but get experience in a comfortable position first.
I have a vice on my bench and that is where most of the small stuff I do is perched, either in or on the vice. I always planned to make a proper welding bench but just not got round to it yet.

 

[Toleman]

Pic 1 is the best but you need to slow it down a bit.
It's a shame your eleventy milllion miles away. I think 4 hours under the wing would see some wonderful results come out from the back of your torch. Keep goin. You'll get it.

He could fly into stansted.

 

[Oldbanger]

cheers guys... I appreciate the words of wisdom and encouragement
I'll crack out the mig and cobble together a small table... at least then I won't be doubled over on concrete!!!
tomorrow after work I'll get on it... will keep you gents updated with my progress

 

[Toleman]

I have a piece of 5mm plate with a piece of box section welded on. I then clamp it in the vice.

 

[Richard.]

cheers guys... I appreciate the words of wisdom and encouragement
I'll crack out the mig and cobble together a small table... at least then I won't be doubled over on concrete!!!
tomorrow after work I'll get on it... will keep you gents updated with my progress

TUT TUT!!!
You should be cracking out the TIG to build your table.

 

[Oldbanger]

how we doing guys? I'm back again with my most recent of attempts, sat a bit more comfortably on my multi gym with a small table in front of me today I decided to switch my torch to the left hand and filler in the right.... it felt so much better!!!

my welds are still looking very grey and definitely inconsistent but I think holding the torch in the left works better for me?
I did turn my gas up to 15lpm but it may be my cheapo gas lenses letting me down.

 

[Hood]

Coming along
Had my weegie pal through today, you could have hitched a lift with him and I could have shown you a wee bit of how I do things. Then again I am self taught so probably have loads of bad habits and maybe not the best for learning from

 

[Oldbanger]

you have a weegie pal... isn't that a contradiction in terms?!? breaking the unwritten rule
If I didn't have to work every hour God sends I would have been very grateful for a bit of tuition.... better to learn from someone who knows a bit... so far I'm teaching myself and I know didly!

 

[Hood]

Yes, the WGW as I call him, he has been on holiday the past week or so and I think his wife sent him through to see me today to get some peace
He brought his drone and took some video of sunny Arbroath, just uploading to Youtube at the moment, taking about 3 hrs

 

[Oldbanger]

one of my colleagues has a drone... bloody hard things to fly... he took great delight in trying to chase me down with it one day !!! thankfully he has the hand eye co ordination of a visually impaired fish - it didn't end well for his drone!

 

[Hood]

The modern ones are simple to fly, must be if the wee ginger weegie can do it He was trying to get me to have a go but no way I was going to take control of someone elses £1000 drone


This thing has anti-collision detection, he flew it at the workshop at full tilt and it stopped about 0.5m away and wouldn't go any further. If it loses signal it flies home automatically, you can even just tell it to come home by pressing a screen button and it will come back to where it took off from and just hover waiting for you to tell it to land. I think they have come on a long way in the last year or two.

Here is a link to the video, amazingly clear, especially if looked at on a decent sized monitor rather than just a phone.