Welding Tips and Tricks

first time tig welding today have a Chicago electric dc welder red 3/32 tungsten 3/32 es70-2 filler rods can't get the welds to stack mice get that dime look or definition welding 1/8 inch mild feel like i got it clean any tips or advice woukd be super helpful using a size 5 cup

Your welds are on par for day 1...heck, even week 1 for a lot of folks.

1. You're saturating the part with heat. Work on your heat control. Form a puddle within 1-2 seconds. Dab-Move-Dab-Move. Should be about 1 second per dab cycle. Try to do it faster and more precisely each time as you practice. Shiny silver beads is the ultimate goal for steel. It's a tough goal, even for the most experienced TIG welders depending on the size/thickness of the material, but still a goal none the less.

2. There's a lot of soot around your welds. Check your argon for proper flow (10-15 CFH for a #5 cup should be fine). Check your lines for leaks. Keep your tungsten stickout to within about 1/4" of the cup for a #5 cup. Get rid of that soot.

3. I see the areas where you had some fireworks. Probably because of burn-through when you completely overheated the part, melted through that spot, and sucked in oxides from the now-molten back side of the material. Try not to do that. See #1.

And stop cleaning your welds before taking pics when looking for welding advice from welders!! It makes it harder for us to diagnose what is going on. It does you no favors.

Good luck. Post more pics as you progress.

If it’s truly day one you’re in great shape, I mean that honestly. Anyone that comes up with that in such a timeframe has a natural ability. Just keep welding. The soot looks like more mig to me which is strange for the beads you were running on your flat sample. You’re fillet is consistent which is what I like to see good or bad. It’s workable in the learning process. As stated don’t shine up those welds. You want honest feedback we have to see the good, bad and ugly. Day one you’re on the right track. Keep it up.

Is that rusty surface where you weld them? You need a good ground for good welding.