[Goosepoop302]

Hey all! I recently purchased my first tig welder, a Lincoln 200 square wave (mighty affordable for a new guy) . I have a basic understanding of the process of tig welding and do have some mig and stick experience.

I have been playing in the garage a bit to become familiar with the equipment and figured the best way to learn, is to build! I'm looking for advise and critisizum on what I have accomplished so far with my lack of knowledge.

[big gear head]

Looks like you are doing pretty good. Maybe add a little more wire, or use a larger wire. Keep practicing and post when you have a problem with something.

[Poland308]

I agree not a bad start at all. If you want a weld to look a little beefier don't be afraid to go over top of it and add another layer till you get it filled out. I like to do multiple passes over just a single pass with tig. But that's all relative to thickness of material and how I want the finished product to look.

[Goosepoop302]

Is it normal to look grey like that? For some reason I thought it was supposed to have more of a shine.

I have been practing on some 1/8 aluminum plates as well.. I did some lap joints that I thought came out ok but when I started doin but welds I has trouble getting the puddles to connect. I am cleaning it pretty vigorously but I think I need a brush wheel to do it right. Any suggestions?

Like a dummy, I had my cfh on my regulator way up so I burned a tank of argon pretty fast!

[Poland308]

That's why I recomended several smaller passes. It does look like it got hot. Or it could be from mill flake contamination. Or just from moving too slow. I might not be good at explaining but there is a balance between filler rod size, amps, material thickness, travel speed. These all are combined or are varied to give you an end weld of a specific width and thickness without over heating the material. It helps me to think of a finished weld as several layers not just one pass. One thin layer on top of the last till I get to the correct thickness and width for a given fillet. With out putting too much heat into it on any one pass.

[Goosepoop302]

I noticed when I was working with the aluminum, my filler rod would melt away sometimes as I try ed to dip it in the puddle. I didn't think my torch angle was too Angled.. what else can cause this?

[Chuck_junks]

I noticed when I was working with the aluminum, my filler rod would melt away sometimes as I try ed to dip it in the puddle. I didn't think my torch angle was too Angled.. what else can cause this?

What were your machine settings, material thickness, filler type and size? Easier to correct the problem when the basic facts are known... But a lot of times I find that if my filler is burning off before I can dip it then I'll adjust the way I'm traveling the torch. I'll move forward a bit then as I'm ready to dip I'll pull it back about half the distance and jam the filler in and bring the torch forward as I'm removing the rod. Also try to hold your arc as tight as you can with out dipping your tungsten.

[Poland308]

Angle is the biggest reason but arc length factors in some too.

[big gear head]

I agree with Josh, too much torch angle and arc length will cause the wire to melt before reaching the puddle. It can be hard to keep a short arc with aluminum, but you need to keep it as close as you can without contaminating the tungsten.

As for the gray weld, adding more filler will cool the puddle more and make the weld more shiny. The weld should be flat or convex on the surface, not concave.

[Goosepoop302]

I noticed when I was working with the aluminum, my filler rod would melt away sometimes as I try ed to dip it in the puddle. I didn't think my torch angle was too Angled.. what else can cause this?

What were your machine settings, material thickness, filler type and size? Easier to correct the problem when the basic facts are known... But a lot of times I find that if my filler is burning off before I can dip it then I'll adjust the way I'm traveling the torch. I'll move forward a bit then as I'm ready to dip I'll pull it back about half the distance and jam the filler in and bring the torch forward as I'm removing the rod. Also try to hold your arc as tight as you can with out dipping your tungsten.

Machine settings were 120amps no pulse, 3/32 alum. filler rod ( have to find recipt for specifics), 1/8 aluminum plates. My argon cfh was like 35, I must have bumped it up without realizing


I just did the one below at 100 amps, 11g material, 3/32 filler and 15cfh argon

I'm assuming the black specs are from improper cleaning?

[Oscar]

It's not just improper cleaning. A slight draft for an instant will give you black pepper flakes. Also, outside corner joints are just a smidge tougher because the joint configuration simply does not lend itself to trapping argon to have it "linger around". The direct opposite would be an inside corner joint that can trap/hold argon because you're on the "inside" of the V, not on the outside.

[Goosepoop302]

Good to know! Worried about closing the garage door, what kinda fumes does this produce?

What your saying about argon coverage and location makes sense

[big gear head]

Could be that you contaminated the end of the wire before you dipped it.

[Otto Nobedder]

Good to know! Worried about closing the garage door, what kinda fumes does this produce?

What your saying about argon coverage and location makes sense

TIG/GTAW produces the lowest (by far) hazardous fumes of all the manual processes. A small exhaust fan, like a "better" bathroom fart-fan above your welding table (in the 100cfm range) and keeping your head out of the plume should be perfectly adequate.

Steve S