Welding Tips and Tricks

Firstly hello Everyone, First post here and I think it would be good to start with some pics.

I've been TiG welding for around 2 weeks now and am starting to get a feel for it (I think). I was doing some basic mockups with some Zinc plated Square Tubing I had laying around. I think the results came out ok.
The wall thickness is around 1.8mm (1/16") and I was welding at around 90 amps for the first pass then 110 amps for the second pass (No need for the second pass I know, but just wanted to practise).




However one of the main things I am having trouble with is welding my thin 1.8mm (1/16") tubing to a 4.5mm (3/16") plate. I feel I end up running too cold so the weld doesn't penetrate and just balls up on the surface and looks nasty... I've tried upping the amps, however I just end up burning holes in the Tubing. I'm guessing the key here should be travel speed, but I'm honestly not 100% sure.



Your brutally honest feedback would be much appreciated on all the welds!

On thick to thin you really have to point your torch more towards the thicker piece. A pre heat on the 3/16 to around 200F would help as well.

Poland308 wrote:On thick to thin you really have to point your torch more towards the thicker piece. A pre heat on the 3/16 to around 200F would help as well.

I was welding 1.8mm tubing to 10mm flat at around 120amps without blowing through and the key is was he said, hold the torch over the thicker metal most of the time so it will absorb the heat. Also what works great with weld thin and thick stuff is to walk the cup or just wave the torch over and back. I'm not an experienced welder but I hope this helped.

Thanks very much for the reply David and Poland. I will certainly try this next time I have to do this (which should be around next week or so). I'll let you guys know the results!