Welding Tips and Tricks

Really new to tig and currently going through all the videos on the CD. When I'm welding 4130 with an angled joint, like a 1" piece of tube laying flat on a 1" strap, or the inside of 2 plates at 90 degrees the arc wanders everywhere except where I want it and makes some noise. The metal is clean and the electrode is not contaminated and ground correctly. any ideas?
Thanks!
Jack

Off the top of my head, either your electrode is too far from your weld, or you don't have quite enough gas flow. I'm leaning toward the former. If you're using 3/32 rod, your tungsten should be about 3/16 from the empty joint. Since the argon carries the current, too much or (more likely) too little gas will cause the arc to wander. Is your welding area drafty?

You're learning on 4130? What rod are you using?

Steve

E70s2 I beleive also some 4130 to practice. I'm going to try extending the electrode some, good idea thanks!

No drafts...

When you actually build stuff from 4130, my personal preference is E80-S2 rod. Air cooled E80 filler more closely resembles the properties of 4130 without post-weld heat treatment. I posted on this once before, and discovered I'd lost the article I am citing for this, but am confident in my memory.

Maybe someone else can chime in on this?

Let us know how it goes.

Steve

When I'm welding 4130 with an angled joint, like a 1" piece of tube laying flat on a 1" strap, or the inside of 2 plates at 90 degrees the arc wanders everywhere except where I want it and makes some noise

Make sure HF is not set to continuous and your not on ac. Thouse would be the main two causes of lots of noise.

If your gas is good, make sure your tungsten is ground properly too. Improper tungsten grinding is probably the leading cause of wandering arc.