[Higgahardy]

I grab some .60 material mild steel and I’m still having issues with the weld not being shiny and a huge amount of heat input.. I’ve been watching online videos and everyone talks about Maintaining a tight arc and that being the reason for dirty welds if you’re not with high heat soak... So my nood question of the day is how do you maintain a tight arc I feel like I have been but I must not be because my welds look like crap... how do you know when you are and what are some tips ? Is it just keeping the tungsten close to the weld like the dime trick?

[weldyM]

I don't know what the dime trick is but it sounds like you might be moving too slow. Of course arc length is a factor as maintaining the tungsten is critical in focusing the heat where you want it. As close to the action as you can get.

I've never been too concerned with color and I wouldn't worry too much about it until you can get the heat under control.

Try and back off on the pedal some to see if you're just using too much amperage. You only need so much for any given thickness/joint.

[cj737]

What size filler rod are you using, and what size tungsten and cup? If the material is 0.06, then you would be best using 1/16 filler or smaller (and stuff that small to learn on is a tricky) and a 3/32 tungsten and #7/#8 cup for best coverage. Amperage for padding beads would be some where between 50-60 at the maximum. After running a few beads, you'd be lower with the amps, probably down around 40 while welding due to heat soak.

Also, if the material is 0.060, you need to clean both sides to prevent drawing junk through the metal into your weld. Pictures?

[Lightning]

If you're getting discoloration due to too much heat input, try turning the heat UP -- as much as you can stand it -- and moving faster. Try cranking it up until you can't keep up with it with your filler hand. (This is assuming room-temperature workpiece.)

It sounds counter-intuitive but by turning the heat UP and moving faster, you give the heat less time to conduct away into the rest of the workpiece. The heat tends to stay concentrated in and near the puddle. Probably the reason you're getting discoloration is that the you are heating far too much of the metal to be cherry or orange-hot, and metal that gets that hot without an argon shield is going to oxidize and look gray like mill scale.

When I first started tig welding, and I've seen a lot of other guys do this too, I tried to "sneak up" on welding temperature, for fear of blowing through. But what happens when you try to sneak up on welding temperature is that you get the whole darn thing too hot. You might as well try to weld by putting the whole workpiece into a furnace. The problem is that by the time you reach welding temp where you want to weld, the whole thing is raging hot, and getting oxidized/warped/etc. I'm exaggerating here, but you see what I'm getting at, I hope.

Welding aluminum, which conducts heat WAY better than steel, can help you understand the principle better. Usually, the sooner you get in and get out again, the better off you'll be. Good luck.

[Oscar]

Agree completely with Lightning. Remember, a tight arc is only one aspect of the multi-variable equation. That alone will not guarantee you "shiny" weld beads. You need to have the correct torch angle, correct welding amperage, fast amperage up-ramp, travel speed, as well as the correct arc length. For material ≈0.060", you need to force yourself to not use 1/16" filler rod even though that is typically the smallest diameter commonly available at most local places. You might need to simply force yourself to use 0.045" wire (usually ordered online). It is my opinion that it will help greatly because A) you can [eventually] keep a tighter arc since one can sneak it into the leading edge of the puddle with less chance of hitting the tungsten, and B) it takes less heat overall to melt it. Yes you want to puddle quick and hot to minimize the overall heat input, but it shouldn't be because you are trying to feed a telephone pole sized filler rod (relatively speaking of course). 1/4" plate isn't welded with 1/4" filler rod. Why should you try to weld 60-thou material with a 60-thou filler rod? No real reason to.

And even with taking all that into account, joint geometry can still ruin it all! Tight, enclosed fillets hold and "trap" argon, and outside corners and small sized square/round tubing just let it fly out into the twilight zone. If the joint geometry is not ideal, then you need to start thinking creatively and outside-the-box to help yourself in any way you can. Artificial argon dams, copper/aluminum/steel heat sinks, etc, etc. There is no one recipe that fits all.

[R32Guy]

Jody has some really good videos on TIG showing a tight vs. long arc, keeping the filler rod tip in the gas shielding and using a minimal torch angle. These three things along with properly cleaned parts will dramatically improve weld quality IME. A tight arc requires a steady / supported hand. Back-stroking when you add the filler rod works for some folks too to prevent dipping the tungsten in the puddle when using a tight arc. Getting the root of the weld to flow properly from the beginning makes everything much easier.

[Turbo]

I would suggest practicing without filler until you get the color you want, then try to duplicate with filler.

[motox]

keep the filler in the shielding gas.
craig

[Bill Beauregard]

One day I'll likely be diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. I'm exaggerating, but I do shake a bit, As a young man, I was a marksman to envy. Now I maintain by not carefully aiming, I bring to target squeezing. There is a millisecond between being on target, and lead. For me, it works.

With tungsten torch I must steady. I use whatever is handy. I have some copper bricks, I'll use a bar clamp, I have something to rest my hand on with a surface parallel to the weld to rest on. This enables me to get very close with arc length without touching tungsten. I do have to work on Jody's pulling the torch back when dipping filler. I sometimes find filler will jump a bit to get my tungsten.

[pgk]

I hear ya Bill, some days are worse than others. A steady rest and a ever so slight lift of the torch when adding filler seems to help but not totally eliminate dipping. I used to compete in Hi Power and Benchrest, shooting off hand in Hi Power took some getting used to way back when, now days if I do any shooting it's pretty much off a rest. LOL