Welding Tips and Tricks

I Finally got a chance to Try Tig welding with my Alphatig today. Almost a month after receiving it . I went to install a 50 amp circuit and during the process found a short in my main breaker . I went to buy another main and a 50 amp for the welder and they wanted 130 dollars a piece for the breakers . They were special order, apparently outdated 40 years old. I didnt feel safe with that so ....new service and all new breakers. Getting to the barn with 240 took 6 gauge aghhhh. more money. but i feel safer. Well during the wait I practiced dry runs and watched a million videos . I started running straight beads no filler wire, just practicing keeping the tungsten clean , watching weld puddle, keeping straight and using foot pedal. i never dipped the tungsten one time . after an hour of that I ran filler wire on top of the same coupon.after a couple filler wires I decided to actually weld a light stand for my bench out of square tubing . it was like 18 gauge......oops forgot to turn the amps down ! burned through . turned down the amps managed to do alright. never did dip the Tungsten ! here are some things that surprised me. 1. I was surprised how fast the metal heated up and changed my weld pool. 2. How easy it was to use the foot pedal. 3. How fast filler wire went !!! 4. How easy it was to see the weld puddle and tungsten . I bought a Lincoln viking for around 300 dollars and it has a big viewing area. It went well , better in some ways than I expected harder in others I didn't, but Im on my way now. The number one surprise for me was .......I had such a good time ! Im 57 and felt like a kid with a new train set ! woot woot !!!!

edit ; I definitely felt the need for a Tig finger !!! little finger got mighty warm !

Wait until you try aluminum on AC.

post some pics

when a beginner says they have never dipped a tungsten they are often long arcing it. its a real fine line between a good short arc and dipping.

aluminum, i don't think is all that difficult, its just different. to me stainless is the hardest as you need to be a lot faster and still be accurate.

tweake, yeah i was really watching the arc length closely, in fact that was my main concern , lol. I probably lacked in filler technique because of it. sometimes I think I was too close . my weld puddle would shrink up if i closed the gap and not get a good pool. I noticed if I tried to lengthen it it would flicker back and forth and again lose my puddle. I forgot in the beginning that I could let off my foot pedal . When I first jammed it on I didn't even think about backing off a little. just went faster. After I got used to the idea of the pedal and got an actual experience using it , I could go at my own pace so to speak, well I could pick the one I like more, lol. I have to tell you there is a lot going on when you Tig . there are a lot of little individual things to try. I noticed when I ran to small of an arc my tungsten would stick when I added filler to the front of the pool. I didn't have hardly any angle on my torch and as soon as I angled it another 5 degrees or so that took care of it. or I could lengthen my arc a little.

Oscar , I am dying to try ! After today I think i might need to spend longer than I thought just running beads on steel, lol. Very humbling. I certainly learned a new appreciation for all those great beads I see. Tig is very precise though isn't it. everything you do has a consequence. Because there are so many variables it really leaves room for some to attain anywhere from professional to gifted status, lol. i just hope to learn usable welds . hopefully in a month of practicing I can try aluminum though .

thats what i like with tig, you see it and control it to make it do what you want it to.
it certainly sounds like you got off to a very good start.

Ran some beads today , learned a lot. everything from 50 to 160 amps just to see what would happen. those ones that look like they are sitting on the top are the low amp ones , the ones that are kind of melted in are the hot ones, lol. I didnt clean with acetone or anything just a flap disc. I did learn some things about tungsten ! I must have dipped or stuck that thing a hundred times. At first I would use a pair or heavy cutters to snip off the nasty end and then sharpen. after at least ten times i could tell something wasnt right, so I got my glasses and inspected it . Splintered !!!! it splintered about a inch where I snipped it. I found out the best way for me to get a clean end to grind was to snap it off. it is a lot harder to not dip the tungsten when you are trying to pay attention to more things. I played around with a multitude of settings from not even being capable of creating a pool ,to blowing through in a second. I tried using the foot pedal to control my width instead of my speed and found out they really run hand in hand dont they ? It seems to be a combo of both . Ill bet when someone is good with this thing they are in total control. I did notice a distinct sound , like a pffft every time I dabbed filler wire on some of the welds ??? Is that normal ? Gonna keep practicing . some welds I welded on top of other welds , that was different too.

DL - don’t ever snip or snap off the end of a tungsten. Grind the tip off by using the edge of the wheel, then resharpen it. You will get microfractures in the tungsten. You may not notice them until you use more amps or AC current, but they’re there, guaranteed.

Dipping is part of learning. Fastest way to tell is the color of the arc. The moment it turns color from yellow to purple/green/blue, STOP; you’ve contaminated the tungsten.

To get better control of the pedal and puddle, abandon the filler for a while. Use a piece of 1/4-> steel. Scribe some parallel lines about 1/8” apart. Run your torch along those lines creating a puddle within them. Focus on using the pedal to make a puddle wide enough to touch the edges, then travel forward in deliberate steps to maintain it. Use the pedal to keep the puddle wide enough, taper off gently if the puddle grows too much. Arc length just about 1/8” away, very slight angle back on the tungsten so you can see clearly. Relax your hand, and slide your arm along to move the torch. You should be holding the torch like you would a newborn’s hand; just enough to say “Daddy loves you” without crushing it

Tension in your hand and arm make movement a challenge. It’s the unintended consequence of focusing on so many things that you won’t realize you’re doing it. Take a few practice sweeps along every weld, always. This gets your muscles oriented into the next thing you’re going to do. You’ll make really pretty dimes with this method, teaching you how to read the puddle and manage it with heat (pedal).

Another thing that matters is where the pedal is beneath you. Make sure it’s comfortably within the reach o yuor leg, a nice natural, easy motion to “heel and toe” it. It takes a while to develop the touch to ramp your amps without pounding the arc. That’s why the scribes line drill helps. You’ll really see what happens when you move your foot just a little.

Then, after you’ve done this a while, add filler to your drill (same scribed lines). A small dip, travel, pause and dip, travel, pause and dip, travel... Do short runs, maybe 3-4” only. Stop and evaluate what you’re doing and think about movement, tension and eye position. It will come to you very quickly. I do this drill anytime it’s been a few days since I’ve welded and need to weld something that the appearance matters. Heck, I’m only human and need the tuning constantly.

cj737 wrote:DL - don’t ever snip or snap off the end of a tungsten. Grind the tip off by using the edge of the wheel, then resharpen it. You will get microfractures in the tungsten. You may not notice them until you use more amps or AC current, but they’re there, guaranteed.

Dipping is part of learning. Fastest way to tell is the color of the arc. The moment it turns color from yellow to purple/green/blue, STOP; you’ve contaminated the tungsten.

To get better control of the pedal and puddle, abandon the filler for a while. Use a piece of 1/4-> steel. Scribe some parallel lines about 1/8” apart. Run your torch along those lines creating a puddle within them. Focus on using the pedal to make a puddle wide enough to touch the edges, then travel forward in deliberate steps to maintain it. Use the pedal to keep the puddle wide enough, taper off gently if the puddle grows too much. Arc length just about 1/8” away, very slight angle back on the tungsten so you can see clearly. Relax your hand, and slide your arm along to move the torch. You should be holding the torch like you would a newborn’s hand; just enough to say “Daddy loves you” without crushing it

Tension in your hand and arm make movement a challenge. It’s the unintended consequence of focusing on so many things that you won’t realize you’re doing it. Take a few practice sweeps along every weld, always. This gets your muscles oriented into the next thing you’re going to do. You’ll make really pretty dimes with this method, teaching you how to read the puddle and manage it with heat (pedal).

Another thing that matters is where the pedal is beneath you. Make sure it’s comfortably within the reach o yuor leg, a nice natural, easy motion to “heel and toe” it. It takes a while to develop the touch to ramp your amps without pounding the arc. That’s why the scribes line drill helps. You’ll really see what happens when you move your foot just a little.

Then, after you’ve done this a while, add filler to your drill (same scribed lines). A small dip, travel, pause and dip, travel, pause and dip, travel... Do short runs, maybe 3-4” only. Stop and evaluate what you’re doing and think about movement, tension and eye position. It will come to you very quickly. I do this drill anytime it’s been a few days since I’ve welded and need to weld something that the appearance matters. Heck, I’m only human and need the tuning constantly.

This is an awesome post ! I will do this with the tungsten , it was getting depleted fast ! lol. Yes I did notice the color change , I thought it was something in the metal , not being cleaned sufficiently. That is an excellent tip ! I was gonna go back to running just beads no filler , but felt like I was regressing, cool to know its ok to go back ! lol. I have been smashing the pedal full tilt at the beginning thinking it needed all them amps to start, I will try this today. I like that idea on scribed lines , I was thinking my puddle was too narrow , it is only as wide as my tungsten.3/32. Thanks for the feed back.

hmmmn now Im wondering if my weld puddle is too narrow because I am holding too close of an arc ? if i try to wait for the pool to get wider it just burns through. Maybe I should raise it up till I get the right width ? Is it my arc height that controls my weld puddle when I am just running lines with no filler wire ?

Another question what is the point of sharpening both ends of the tungsten ? if I ball up the end I cant flip it because the balled up end wont fit in the collet, lol I must be missing something, lol

If your puddle is too narrow, you might be too tight. It could also be the taper angle of your tungsten. Your arc length should be just longer than the filler diameter. 3/32 filler, 1/8” distance.

Flipping the tungsten end-for-end works if you don’t badly bugger the tungsten.

Today welding practice was great. Those tips on watching my tungsten arc color was right on. I concentrated on running beads with no filler . I noticed that if I set my amps exactly where i thought they should be it didnt leave me with any wiggle room, so i turned my amps up around 20 amps more than I need and it made a world of difference. The pedals power curve seems to all be in the last 10 percent , so if I turn my amps up the pedal is more manageable. I dont care for the pedal , its uncomfortable but does the job for now.

I was having some trouble with this square tube from a old ladder stand . It seemed like it wouldnt get a weld pool going , I noticed that it had a orange tint and smoked more than my other metal . The arc was white but it threw orange sparks sometimes.

All in all it was a good practice day.

Are you certain the ladder stand was steel? If so, it might have a galvanized coating on it. If so, DON’T weld it, the fumes from the coating being burnt off will kill you.it might have a zinc coatin, which isn’t great either, nor easy to weld through.

Glad your practice saw improvement.