walking the cup

[F.J.]

I first had a go at walking the cup back in june i think on some stainless pipe fittings with good success. Today i got to do a bit more on 2 similar fittings. It feels pretty consistent with the motion of 'walking' the torch but it is quite tiresome on my arm for some reason. I tried doing it on a flat piece bevelled out but i either couldn't get the torch going or it kept slipping over the work piece. Doing it on a cylindrical shape is easier. Plenty of practice needed but i feel like im getting there

 

[AdrianH]

I see what Jody on Youtube means about leaving marks on the work though, how many amps is that at as that flange looks to be thick, or is it a close-up of a small flange and pipe?

Adrian

 

[oilcooled :)]

Id turn up the amps a little more up 15.it helps a little.Your arms will be sore till you build up the unused muscles that you are using alot while walking the dog.

 

[brokenbiker]

that flange looks to be about half inch? looks better than anything i could knock out with any process, id be happy with that

 

[F.J.]

I see what Jody on Youtube means about leaving marks on the work though, how many amps is that at as that flange looks to be thick, or is it a close-up of a small flange and pipe?

Adrian

I couldn't actually tell you what amps it was as it was done using the customers old tig set. Its a 400 amp water cooled unit and the dial goes from 1 to 7 or 8, i was between 3 and 4.

 

[F.J.]

Id turn up the amps a little more up 15.it helps a little.Your arms will be sore till you build up the unused muscles that you are using alot while walking the dog.

I'll try that next time but what would the extra amps assist with? Does the colour of the weld show any kind of penetrative level?

 

[F.J.]

that flange looks to be about half inch? looks better than anything i could knock out with any process, id be happy with that

The flange was just above half inch probs closer to 5/8" and the fitting was 6mm. I try different positions all the time but defo need more practice on some of them

 

[Richard.]

I'll try that next time but what would the extra amps assist with? Does the colour of the weld show any kind of penetrative level?

No. The colour is purely heat tint and won't give you any idea of the penetration level.
As said above it will be down to getting muscles in practice to get used to the technique without arm ache.
It's not a technique I ever adopt but then I'm not doing open pipe roots day in day out. Nor is my Tig welder ever faced with work that thick, quite the opposite in fact I'm usually dealing with 0.5-3mm which you'd never walk a cup on. So your first attempt is probably better than I could do.

 

[HughF]

It's a technique I've never fully mastered, only managed to nail it once on a big hard facing layup job with stellite. I find the damn cup is either too slippery or not slippery enough. Bending the torch neck till it's nearly flat helps too.

 

[BigDan83]

What size cup and torch was u using?

 

[F.J.]

It was a wp26 watercooled and i think no.8 cup. Cant be sure cos it wasnt my welder i used

 

[oilcooled :)]

Turning up the amps just makes it flow a little easier.you can see yourself as your welding how easy its fusing in

 

[Richard.]

Material is certainly thick enough to cope with more current.
The other good thing about upping the current is it will encourage a faster travel rate which in turn reduces your heat input. This is a good thing especially with Tig.