Thank you very much.
I tried pulsing, but minimum base current was still too high. Chill blocks were in place. I am going to blame poor fit up as the most likely culprit.

After coming to terms with 1/8", 1/4" and 1/2" steel, I went in the other direction and tried to join some 26ga sheet metal (1018). Not much luck with that. The only thing that worked out consistently was spot welding by sandwiching two pieces, setting max amps to 45 and flooring the ...

I decided to learn TIG welding around the time that Covid started. Not knowing anything about equipment, I went to the local Airgas outlet and bought a 20cuft argon bottle for $100 (empty). What the salesperson forgot to mention is that the bottle was used & due for hydrostatic testing within 15...