Hello Jody Im in a 2year welding program and in my second semester. I am in Tig and struggle with the dab method. I have figured out how to do the lay wire method. But I still struggle with the Dab Method. I have been trying to watch your videos but I can't grasp the method. My instructor has us start on mild steel 14 gauge then work our way to stainless and Aluminum. Can you please help Im struggling
- weldin mike 27
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Weldmonger
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Put on some AC/DC in your headphones and dab the rod in time with the base drum. Move a little in between each dab. If alum, pull the torch up a little when dabbing as the puddle likes to swell towards the electrode. The precise movement and amount of rod will come with practice, but this will help with the timing.
Heavy Metal music to dab by! 
If you are struggling with "dabbing" it's possible you are sticking the wire in where you need to be feeding the wire in. Practice without a torch. Hold the feed wire in your preferred hand. Glove on. Practice advancing the wire gently, and consistently until you walk the entire wire through your fingers. Do this about 1,000 times and you'll have it down just like all the pros.
You can use a variety of techniques to feed wire. Some split their fingers and pinch with their thumb, some twist/roll the wire as they feed it, others use 2 fingers against their thumb, sliding the wire between. You just have to figure out the method that works for you.
When you feed, you move the torch in equal amounts/distances.
If you are struggling with "dabbing" it's possible you are sticking the wire in where you need to be feeding the wire in. Practice without a torch. Hold the feed wire in your preferred hand. Glove on. Practice advancing the wire gently, and consistently until you walk the entire wire through your fingers. Do this about 1,000 times and you'll have it down just like all the pros.
You can use a variety of techniques to feed wire. Some split their fingers and pinch with their thumb, some twist/roll the wire as they feed it, others use 2 fingers against their thumb, sliding the wire between. You just have to figure out the method that works for you.
When you feed, you move the torch in equal amounts/distances.
Dont use thicker filler than 1/16. It can disturb your rythm if it doesn't melt fast enough. Don't try to push in a lot with each dab either.
Pictures from my scrap collection:
http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... f=9&t=5677
http://forum.weldingtipsandtricks.com/v ... f=9&t=5677
I lay filler in crook of thumb area and through index and next finger. Then you move the two fingers toward thumb, pinch and feed and repeat that movement. When your bringing fingers up for another bite you pinch the filler in crook of thumb. It becomes natural after a couple hundred times. At first the end of the filler will be moving all over where you really want it to dab into puddle but it will steady in time. If only a short weld I just hold and dab.
My main issue is when do I dip the wire and is it at the base of the puddle. All I keep getting is little balls that form up and it looks like a caterpillar Im not getting those nice dimes like jody. Here is a pic of my three day and I was using the lay wire technique. I was just making a u shape around the filler wire. 
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With aluminum filler I stick in and pull pull back slightly with torch, at same time, move torch while filler is back a bit stab and pull back torch. I find torch needs to be at right angle or you will heat and ball up the filler from the heat. Not such a problem with ER and steel welding. Aluminum is less forgiving and I find myself moving quickly.
And what size filler rod? 14ga is pretty thin stuff. If you are getting "caterpillars" then you're adding too much filler or not using enough heat.sambo1985 wrote:I forgot to mention this is 14 gauge mild steel in the pic
There's a delicate balance between heat, arc length, rod diameter, travel speed, and metal thickness. If you're new to TIG, guess which one is the most challenging to master? If you answered "All of the Above" you have a great understanding of welding.
Its simple really: you can be taught the technical aspects of welding. You can mimic what you see, you can make good technical decision about what wire for what application, but at the end of the day, laying strong, good looking beads comes only through hours upon hours of good practice. No one can short-circuit that for you. Critique what you're doing? Sure, maybe even provide a decent trick or two. But unless someone with significant experience is watching you weld by looking over your shoulder, offering advice and good instruction, you are simply going to pass through learning curves.
As I look at the picture, my impression is too much filler, and too long an arc length. The edges of your strings are "undercut" which is a result of under filling, or too wide a heat zone. On 14ga I'd be using a small cup (#5 or #6) a 1/16" tungsten, and probably a 1/16" wire. My cup would be in contact with the plate, my tungsten just barely sticking past the cup. Then I'd feed wire/lay wire and try to almost touch the puddle by manipulating the angle of the torch, pushing the puddle.
Watch for the edges to burn in, and when you see a bit of keyhole at the front of the puddle, you know you need wire. Minimize the keyhole, but you need to travel the torch to require more wire. That's what causes that "lay dimes" look. Those are the freeze lines of the puddle caused by the torch traveling. If your dimes are elongated, you're short on wire, too stacked up like a caterpillar, too much wire.
Make sense?
By the way, you're doing pretty gosh darn well for being a second semester welding student. Don't get frustrated.
3/32 wire on 14ga is just too darn thick in my opinion. Maybe for making a fillet weld or bridging a gap, but no way for a stringer bead.sambo1985 wrote:I switch between 1/16 filler and 3/32 filler. And using same matching size of tungsten for filler
It should be plenty, provided you don't feed too much wire in too fast.
Bear in mind, adding filler cools your puddle. Get the puddle to right heat so as to weld but not blow out, then suddenly here comes a big wad of weld wire. Blam-mo! Puddle gets cold. So you have to "work" that added metal into the surrounding metal by raising the temperature. Then travel, then add, then repeat. It's just downright "it all depends" on the circumstances.
Just practice a little bit with 1/16-1/16 on 14ga using basically the same amps. Travel further between adding wire. Come back the other way and add wire faster. Take notice of the differences. More wire=more heat required. Faster travel and you can get away with more heat because you aren't staying in one place.
By the way, are you using a pedal or static amperage?
Bear in mind, adding filler cools your puddle. Get the puddle to right heat so as to weld but not blow out, then suddenly here comes a big wad of weld wire. Blam-mo! Puddle gets cold. So you have to "work" that added metal into the surrounding metal by raising the temperature. Then travel, then add, then repeat. It's just downright "it all depends" on the circumstances.
Just practice a little bit with 1/16-1/16 on 14ga using basically the same amps. Travel further between adding wire. Come back the other way and add wire faster. Take notice of the differences. More wire=more heat required. Faster travel and you can get away with more heat because you aren't staying in one place.
By the way, are you using a pedal or static amperage?
Lift Arc is a substitute for HF start or Scratch start. All 3 can still use a pedal. But I'll interpret what you meant is static amps. 
School boy!
Try lowering your amps to 60 and run it. Then try 55. Then 50. You'll find a sweet spot for your speed and wire sizes.
School boy! Try lowering your amps to 60 and run it. Then try 55. Then 50. You'll find a sweet spot for your speed and wire sizes.