tig info

[dennis]

I kinda know how to tig. I got about 5 minutes a few years ago. I made a couple fair beads.
I have no clue what to get as far as good gas mix for steel. Might play with a little stainless.
Actually I have no clue to any consumables and have never looked at a filler rod that was put in my hand.
I only have 2 things to set. Power and flow? Yep, a little stupid on the tig.
My original idea was to have one of my guys teach me but I had to fire him right after getting my everlast. Now I either have to learn via the web or go up to my dads and owe him forever.

[sportbike]

What welder do you have?

For the most part, just pure argon for shielding gas. You can mix Helium or some others, but just pure argon will suit for 90% of welds on pretty much all alloys.
For "mild" steel, get some 70-S2 or 70-S6
For stainless, 308 / 308L will do.

For starters, you can pull some wire off of a mig spool and use that. It will probably be ER70-S6 (check the label though)

[dennis]

Thanks. My welder is supposed to the same as the pu205. That should be enough info to get me started in the right direction. I usually ask airgas but I got bent over last time I took their advise.

[Spike]

Another thing to look at is your electrode material. (the bit of tungsten alloy sticking out of the TiG torch in your hand).
For steel and stainless you'll use a 2% Thoriated Tungsten electrode. (red markings on the end of the electrode)
If you venture into trying aluminum welding, you'll use a Pure Tungsten electrode (green marking on the end of the electrode), as well as a setup that has an Alternating Current (AC) Welding function.

I love TiG welding, i love finding new alloys and materials to work with, and it's very rewarding when you push up to the next level of ability. It takes some patience and dedication to doing something well to get it right, but the techniques are not impossibly hard. Stay with it and enjoy the experience.

[zoama]

2% lanthanated tungsten (light blue) works great for everything. Pure tungsten (green) is not recommended for inverter welders. No need to ball the tungsten for aluminum with these machines. A pointed or slightly truncated tungsten works well.

[Spike]

2% lanthanated tungsten (light blue) works great for everything. Pure tungsten (green) is not recommended for inverter welders. No need to ball the tungsten for aluminum with these machines. A pointed or slightly truncated tungsten works well.

I just got some lanthanated tungsten last week and I will absolutely agree that it is infinitely better than usng pure tungsten! I love how it lasts, the quick restart and that it doesn't ball up or contaminate!
This is the first I heard of an inverter welder not working with pure tungsten. I did not notice any change of performance or function between my old syncrowave 180 and my super 160p... the pure tungsten was just as much of a pain either way. =) after getting the lanthanated, I wnt ever use or recommend pure tungsten again for aluminum!

[welderdude]

Electrode and cup size are 2 other things to keep in mind. Im guessing your welder doesn't go past 200 amps so 1/16'' and 3/32'' would be perfect for your application. the cup size can can become very importing with metals like stainless that need good shielding. for steel, usually a #6 or #8 is plenty good. with stainless, usually the bigger the cup, the better the gas coverage which leads to happy welds. A gas lens is also a useful thing to have. it replaces the regular collet and helps smooth out the gas flow which allows for less shielding gas to be used and can also let you extend the electrode out farther than with a regular collet.

Jody as a pretty good video on different tig cups.