Welding Tips and Tricks

i tried tig a few weeks back but had no end of issues due to poor work aera and thin electrode.
got some 2.6mm (3/32) electrode and a stronghand nomad welding table.

so todays effort was a whole lot better. still dipping the tungsten, hitting it with the rod etc. but a lot easier starts and at least i'm starting to get some welds down. did a few lap, butt and corner joints, went great then absolute dogs breakfast . did some corners joins on some tubing, which i've blown holes through with the mig before. rather pleased i didn't blow holes through and it went ok.
its much more precise, i can move the puddle around, see what i'm doing.
i really like that

not using anything fancy, just a manual torch, gestimate the amperage. bit of an issue stopping, hanvn't got the knack of snapping out.

learnt the importance of securing the work piece. nothing like bumping the work and drowning the tungsten. resharpen again arghhh!

tweake wrote:i tried tig a few weeks back but had no end of issues due to poor work aera and thin electrode.
got some 2.6mm (3/32) electrode and a stronghand nomad welding table.

so todays effort was a whole lot better. still dipping the tungsten, hitting it with the rod etc. but a lot easier starts and at least i'm starting to get some welds down. did a few lap, butt and corner joints, went great then absolute dogs breakfast . did some corners joins on some tubing, which i've blown holes through with the mig before. rather pleased i didn't blow holes through and it went ok.
its much more precise, i can move the puddle around, see what i'm doing.
i really like that

not using anything fancy, just a manual torch, gestimate the amperage. bit of an issue stopping, hanvn't got the knack of snapping out.

learnt the importance of securing the work piece. nothing like bumping the work and drowning the tungsten. resharpen again arghhh!

This sound like me!! Now you know how I got my name. What helped me, get a 4" X 6" X 3/16" piece of aluminum and do row after row of welds. I did 2 rows then let it cool. Do front and back then the edges. This helps with tungsten dipping and pedal control. You'll have good days and bad days.