Welding Tips and Tricks

Long time MIG but new to TIG. Practicing a lot on scrap 316 and laying a pretty decent bead on flat stock and tube scraps with the ultimate the goal fo fabricating bow and stern rails for my sailboat project. I am almost there with the tee welds but the flanges are giving me fits. Practicing by inserting scraps of tube in 1" holes drilled in some 3/16" plate.

My problem is I can't figure out how to get enough heat into the 3/16" plate without overheating the .065 tube. Using a 1/16" thorated electrode, 1/16" filler, 12-15 cfh argon at about 80 amps DCEN. Cheap "learner" DC inverter rig. Any suggestions?

Hey Gashmore,
those can be a big pain also in the small guage tubing you are using.I am not sure if the welder you are using has ac freq control or not but you can turn that up to a more concentrated arc , then start your arc on the 3/16 and when you see it start to puddle then move up to the tubing.But getting the puddle to start on 2 different size materials takes a lot of practice for sure. If you are jigging these up try to take a propane torch and pre-heat the base plate first then set in your pipe and try to get your bead to start. Most of it is arc control so make sure to have a pointed tungsten keep the arc on the base , build heat then swing up to the tubing.
Hope that helped a little but it is a pain in the butt to start a weld like that.
Gary

Thanks. More practice. I was afraid you were going to say that. This cheapo Tig is DC only so I just have to use up a lot more tube 2" at a time.

Gashmore, that 2" length of tube is going to heat up very quickly which will add to your woes. Try clamping a heat sink on to the short length of practice tube or insert a longer length into the base plate material and trim it off after you weld.

After many hours becoming expert at grinding electrodes I hit on a good way to practice without wasting a lot of stainless tube. Started inserting a piece of 7/8" tube into some 1" and TIGing the joint. Polish, inspect, cut out the weld and do it again. Once I made a few welds with pretty even 1/8" beads I finally got up the nerve to try an actual stanchion base. Came out pretty good for a nubie with a cheapo DC TIG/Plasma/stick unit if I do say so myself.



I have to admit that I cheated a little by cobbling up a rotary table from shop scraps, a lathe faceplate and a 24VDC gear motor I found on ebay.



The rotary table worked great but it got me used to not having to worry about maintaining speed and position so now my saddle tee welds look like crap.

Hi Gashmore, glad your seeing progress and encouraged to do more! First I think Gary may have mis-read just a little, as for stainless you would not be using A/C nor the frequency control. Stainless as you know is done on DCEN. Second, just me but I would be using a 3/32 tungsten on this weld. The thickness of the parts is WAY within 3/32 range and I'd bet you will find the arc more friendly and plenty precise. The slightly wider arc cone may be a little easier for you to blend the heat. Just focus your arc, angle the tungsten, towards the thicker base. It just takes practice, and you;ll have it!