First tig welding attempts, and wp26 torch questions

[presure2]

Hey all, got my power pro205 in Monday, and have been playing with the tig.
I've never tig welded before, only welding experience I have is messing around with my 110v mig welder welding up exhausts and what not in the garage.
A buddy gave me a peice of ~3/16" aluminum diamond plate he had laying around, so that's what I started on. These pics are the first 3hrs of practice.
Various settings thruout, but the last couple pics are setup with:
3/16" aluminum diamond plate ( welding on the backside)
3/32 2% thoriated tungsten, sharpened to a dull point
3/32 4043 filler
~120-125 amps or so
AC freq. ~1:00
AC balance ~10:00
No pulse
A hair of pre and ~ a few seconds of post flow





I was pretty happy with the bead in the middle of this pic



Suggestions and comments are welcome and needed!!!
At least I feel like the hrs spent on jodys site helped alot, definitely would suggest to anyone starting out to make the time to go thru jodys site and watch and read as much as you can, lots of helpful info and as he calls it, "no bull, no frills, down and dirty welding tips and tricks!"
For those who don't know who I'm talking about, his site is www.weldingtipsandtricks.com
Also learned alot from you guys as well!!

[WILD BILL]

I'll say your progressing faster than I did

[WaWelder]

Looks to me like your doing pretty well for a beginer. The welds I made the first time were not any better. Like you said, Jody's site is an amazing resource. The only suggestion I can give is to keep practicing. I spent several hours just playing with the various settings on my 250ex. Have fun!!

[presure2]

Thanks guys. Got some more practice in today, tried a t joint, broke way easy, definitely not enough penetration, which I pretty much expected.
Still need lots more practice, and a run to the local lhs, the gas cups that were sent with the welder are odd, they set 5,6, and 7 cups but only the 5 fits into the white collar that goes on the torch, but then the cup won't thread into place.
I ended up using the 7 cup, without the white collar.
Imma hit the local welding shop, see if I get some help from them and get some spares.
Also burned a couple 6010 rods, nothing pretty to show off, but it definitely sounds great and burns smooth, but thats another forum. Lol

[IST Dave]

Still need lots more practice, and a run to the local lhs, the gas cups that were sent with the welder are odd, they set 5,6, and 7 cups but only the 5 fits into the white collar that goes on the torch, but then the cup won't thread into place.
I ended up using the 7 cup, without the white collar.

It sounds like you may be trying to install the cups backwards. The chamfered side should be toward the torch, sealing against the white collar.

-Dave

[presure2]

It sounds like you may be trying to install the cups backwards. The chamfered side should be toward the torch, sealing against the white collar.

-Dave

hehe, you know, that is a distinct possibility.
ill get some pics this weekend.

[worntorn]

Try scribing some lines about 1/2" apart on the coupon, then try to follow the line when welding. It's best to have 3 or more coupons marked out like this, that way you always have one that is cooled enough to weld on when you are doing steady weld practice.

Once all of the lines on all of the coupons are filled up with weld, go back and do nice straight beads in between the existing beads.
In this way you will be learning to make a straight weld at the same time you are learning to tig weld.


Glen

[presure2]

Try scribing some lines about 1/2" apart on the coupon, then try to follow the line when welding. It's best to have 3 or more coupons marked out like this, that way you always have one that is cooled enough to weld on when you are doing steady weld practice.

Once all of the lines on all of the coupons are filled up with weld, go back and do nice straight beads in between the existing beads.
In this way you will be learning to make a straight weld at the same time you are learning to tig weld.


Glen

Thanks for the tip, glen, I'll have to try that.

Anyone have any thoughts on the torch issue? Found out new Bedford welding supply is 1.4 miles from my work, so I will probably stop by there tommorow while I'm on my lunch break with the torch and see what we come up with.

[worntorn]

oh one other thing, make it easy on yourself and start in by tig welding on mild steel. Not saying it can't be done by learning on Aluminum right off, but it is more difficult, so you might as well master torch handling and rod feed while welding the easier metal. I think the overall time required to get proficient will be less if you start out this way.

Aluminum requires more pedal control and is generally just a tougher row to hoe.

Glen

[robx7fcna]

Clean, clean and clean! That aluminum looks kinda dirty, I would hit it with a wire brush, then wipe it down with some acetone to get a nice clean bead. Aluminum is a sponge and sucks up oils and contaminants like crazy, so it makes a huge difference to prep the material before you weld

Other than that it looks like you are off to a great start. I see a couple of black spots where you might have contacted the tungsten to the base metal, if that happens make sure to clean up the tungsten to maintain a nice even arc.

[dgarnier]

Do you always get a black soot spot when you hit the tungsten? I have been working on getting the tungsten as close as I can to the puddle with out dipping in. Some times I will start getting what looks like a green glow to the arc and I just assumed that was when the filler hit the tungsten.

[presure2]

Yea, this aluminum is really crappy, and the soot is crap burning off when I dip the tungsten, I assume.
I used a 40grit grinding disk to cut off the crap and crud. I gotta bet some better stuff to practice on.

[jakeru]

That is correct. The "soot", aka "smut", happens when aluminum gets on the hot tungsten tip and vaporizes, then the aluminum vapor condenses (usually combining with oxygen in the atmosphere) and forms millions of tiny aluminum oxide particles (they have a black powder "soot like" appearance due to the small size of the particles.) You can also wipe it right off.

Also, yes, sometimes its possible to touch your tungsten and not get any smut or very minimal amount. Sometimes you get a big blob of of metal wicked up onto your tungsten. It depends what you are welding, and how hot your tungsten is. Sometimes if you get just a tiny bit, you can "burn it off" and keep welding. Trying to burn off a metal blob off your tungsten can make a mess though. And your tungsten may not really ever fully recover from it, until you grind it down fresh.

[yotarover]

Hey all, got my power pro205 in Monday, and have been playing with the tig.
I've never tig welded before, only welding experience I have is messing around with my 110v mig welder welding up exhausts and what not in the garage.
A buddy gave me a peice of ~3/16" aluminum diamond plate he had laying around, so that's what I started on. These pics are the first 3hrs of practice.
Various settings thruout, but the last couple pics are setup with:
3/16" aluminum diamond plate ( welding on the backside)
3/32 2% thoriated tungsten, sharpened to a dull point
3/32 4043 filler
~120-125 amps or so
AC freq. ~1:00
AC balance ~10:00
No pulse
A hair of pre and ~ a few seconds of post flow





I was pretty happy with the bead in the middle of this pic



Suggestions and comments are welcome and needed!!!
At least I feel like the hrs spent on jodys site helped alot, definitely would suggest to anyone starting out to make the time to go thru jodys site and watch and read as much as you can, lots of helpful info and as he calls it, "no bull, no frills, down and dirty welding tips and tricks!"
For those who don't know who I'm talking about, his site is www.weldingtipsandtricks.com
Also learned alot from you guys as well!!

you did better than i did when i first started tigging (my teacher said Aaron you can stick and mig like a villain im gonna leave you alone for the next couple days when i come back you better be able to lay me a bead and spell your name) i miss that woman *yes a woman taught me to weld* i couldn't do anything but just melt the metal and waste the tungsten , keep practicing you'll get there

[presure2]

yea, thats what its all about! the pics at the bottom of page one are more recent that these ones you quoted, definetly more consistant.
gonna try and get some practice on 1/8" steel today in a little bit.

[aaxiss]

I'm still out of commission, envious of you guys getting to play in your man caves. Presure2 Please add you first name to your sig or I might just start calling you Celica LOL.

You are making some great progress, I definitely see a lot more steadiness and uniformity in your weld now compared to the first pictures. Well done . P P P

[yotarover]

keep burning that's the only way your gonna get better. when you get burnt out from trying to run beads or trying to nail a position. just start welding crap together get creative or jump to really hard position. (just like with a woman try something new it might blow her mind) for me and few others we were having trouble doing the simple positions. but excelled in doing to hard ones like over head and so on.

aaxiss- man let me tell you i feel ya. been taking radiation treatments for the last month, every since i decided to wire my building to get power out there. my welder has been in the box they shipped it to me in. i haven't even been back to school to finish up my degree, had to leave before the semester ended last year cause i started feeling sick. now i can't go back till i pay back a freaking 200$ student loan i forgot all about lol. from what my doc tells me i may not even be able to be around the welding arc. i def can't handle to heat and sun anymore im only 26 and had 2 brain tumors and surgery's in my life. now i may have to sit on the side line and watch all you guys weld "not trying to hijack your thread Preasure"

keep up with what your doing

[aaxiss]

Not it Hijack either. But keep up the good Fight Aaron, Never take Dr. word 100% at anything he tells you you can't do. You want to weld, go weld (Baby Steps) or at least go open that new welder up, It might inspire ya. Tell the Dr to give ya a Prescription for reglan (anti-nausea) That will help. That sounds screwy what the Dr. said about never being around an arc, It's just very strong UV Radiation (Same as the sun). If ya have to, Put an AC Unit out in your shop to help with the heat issues. There is also clothing and devices to help control body temp Issues. I use some .

Do you want to go back to school? If your Able?, If you do
I'll help ya get the $200.00 I hope it's not 200k.

( Have you Tried Writing a formal Financial Hardship Letter to the school?)

If you Send Me a Copy of The Bill or Last letter with balance ETC. I'll set up a Charitable foundation for you so I can legally ask for money to help pay that off for ya. I'm sure Everlast Would Give a dollar as would most active members to help get ya back to school.

" Never be too proud to accept help when offered, but never be too selfish to offer help when needed "

Let me Know if I can Help in any way Aaron, Please

HIjack over

[MR2 Josh]

Great progress man!