Welding Tips and Tricks

Not sure if this is an aluminum only area but need some advice on my stainless beads. 30cfm argon, 3/32 lazr tungsten 110 amps on a Lincoln 200 Square wave. Why does the first inch on my beads look like they're a bit hot? At least I'm consistent....................

forgot to mention Furick 16 cup

1/8th inch coupon

110 amps is hot for 1/8” material. What size filler?

Stainless gets hot quickly. If you are barely getting a puddle then add filler, the base will overheat before you get the puddle/filler merged. Try adding less filler or use smaller filler and add more as needed.

Because the beads look “ropey” I’d say you’re over-adding filler without adequate heat. Remember the filler chills the puddle but the base keeps soaking up heat.

All this assumes you’re using quality gas lenses and no gas flow issues or drafting going on? You can also add 1.5-2.0 seconds of preflow to get a cleaner start.

.045 filler . Furick gas lense BBW 14 and 16 cup. Bought the Furick beginners kit. No draft. Lincoln Square Wave 200 "factory set" pre and post flow.......ugh........

Thanks alot for the help. Still working on it.

Start off running a bead with no filler. That will help you understand a stainless puddle, travel speed, and heat control.

Once you get comfy with that, add filler. Stringers of stainless beads are very awkward. You should not ever really have a “proud” bead with stainless. Welds tend to be very flush to the base material because as a rule, the material is used in “flow” and “heat sensitive” environments. Not all mind you, but it is the material of choice in those situations. And the welds tend to be butt, lap, or tee.

So if you want to practice welds, cut your coupon and make butt welds or lap welds to get a better feel for it.

Great advice! Thank you

One other nuance I notice about your beads is the torch angle. At the start, you look good, but as the heat changes, you seem to be tilting backwards causing the ridges to elongate and the HAZ to narrow.

You need to be extremely sensitive to torch angle and distance with stainless. It is not tolerant of technique flaws as they show up really quickly. Make sure you are sliding your arm, not "reaching with your hand/fingers" as the bead moves along. Slide your forearm along so your wrist/hand don't change and thus keep the weight off your torch hand side.

Wow...............................you can tell that from a couple crumby welds? Thats exactly what I do. I'm trying to position my forearm differently to avoid that wrist action. It also causes my beads to drop low as I go along (even though I scribe .....occasionally). Could that tilt also be directing my gas away from the previously welded portion and causing the overheating at the beginning? Keep the ideas coming. I'm commited.......to figuring this TIG thing out (even though I have absolutely nothing to TIG other than coupons). Thx

If you lay the torch back and “push” the puddle, then yes, you’ll diminish the shielding gas from protecting the puddle behind you.

I’ll say it again, stainless “ain’t easy”. Heat shows all flaws in technique, equipment, speed, etc. But don’t despair, you will now be able to compare your next coupon from your last. Take pics with your phone (automatically dated for your records). Look back over time and you’ll see the improvement yourself.

The best welders I know always say, “I try to make my next weld better than my last.” And some of these guys weld like magicians after 40 years day in, day out but still keep trying to improve. It’s a learned and trained skill. You will get it if you keep at it.

Quick question, does your machine have pulse? If so, that can help with stainless weather autogenous or with filler. I use 50%, 20%, 1.2 PPS. I like the tempo and the heat control. I don’t have to rush and the low background (20%) keeps the puddle from overheating.

i would go up a size or two with filler. rough rule of thumb for sheet metal is same size filler as material.

bulletbusiness wrote: ↑Sun Sep 10, 2023 12:00 pm Why does the first inch on my beads look like they're a bit hot?

Because when you stopped welding the gas lens continued to provide argon shielding