TIG practice is messing up my stick skills!

[joshuab]

Ever since I started practicing TIG all the time, whenever I weld stick, I forget to feed the rod, and it burns up and the arc goes out. It only has to happen a time or two before I get back in the habit, but it happens, literally every time.

Just whining...

[redbeard]

Really? I was just the opposite, trying to extinguish the TIG arc by pulling the torch away. 20+ years on a buzz box makes for a hard habit to break.

[DaveO]

just the opposite, trying to extinguish the TIG arc by pulling the torch away

Same for me, I think it's a matter of muscle memory, or something. Just the other day I realized, hey, I'm remembering to NOT pull the MIG gun away from the weld, which had been a problem for me in the past.

[everlastsupport]

Just remember, if there is a switch (trigger or pedal) you stay in after letting the trigger/switch go. Post flow for TIG is key (downslope is using it). But on the other hand, we don't use a lot of stick anymore. Flux core if welding outside. Spoiled I guess.

[Paul Moir]

... Just the other day I realized, hey, I'm remembering to NOT pull the MIG gun away from the weld, which had been a problem for me in the past.

My cheap POS Lincoln is trying to teach me the opposite these days, what with it's torch switch sticking...

[youngnstudly]

I have to double check every time I go from stick to tig that I flipped the TIG/STICK switch. The first time I tig welded on my machine, that switch wasn't on TIG and I couldn't figure out why the heck the arc would stay dimly lit after I let up on the pedal! Took me a minute to figure that one out.

[Mr120]

I'm surprised nobody has said they've had problems pushing the MIG gun into a weld ... It's hard to untrain the muscles and do something different.

[joshuab]

I'm surprised nobody has said they've had problems pushing the MIG gun into a weld ... It's hard to untrain the muscles and do something different.

I don't MIG weld, and it's always fascinating to me to watch the way a MIG welder manipulates the gun. So totally different from either a TIG torch or a stick electrode.

[cornonda]

When I get rusty on stick, I find myself almost waiting for the non-existent "post-flow" to stop!

[Jason]

I with Mike on this one, I try to never stick weld anymore... I never have had problems switching from MIG to TIG and opposite but then I don't really do both processes in the same day either.

[jameslo]

I've been going back over my Oxy/Acetylene skills hoping that will help if/when I get into TIG. Strangely enough, I'm gas welding better now that I'm out of practice than I was the last time I was doing it with any regularity.

[jameslo]

If you think going between MIG, TIG and stick is fun, try going back and forth between airplane, helicopter and glider. That'll drive you berserk, too.