Welding Tips and Tricks

Well from the photos it should be obvious where i started.
I want to say tanks to "weldin mike27" for posting a link to some very helpful videos that jody posted thanks jody for all your efforts!!! I guess I am just wondering how sound these twelds look to you guys.
pulse off 34 amps very thin aluminum and using the pedal, I find that it is easier to use the pedal to back off as you go and the heat builds. As you can see in the bad photo I was getting a lot of burn through. Thanks in advance guys!!



SCOTT

Remarkable improvement between the two pictures - bottom one shows basically sound welds consistent with a limited amount of " seat time " - most visible faults will improve with practice - don't know how many hours you have so far - but your doing well.

Obvious things that could be improved

1 metal does'nt appear to be cleaned prior to welding - not a big deal when practicing - but a quick SS wire brush always helps

2 try to get something like 1/8" to start with - chasing the heat build up on very thin sheet is a challenge even with experience

3 there appears little frosting around much of the weld so consider setting slightly more cleaning action - unless it's lack of gas cover

4 black soot I imagine is slight tungsten contamination but could be borderline gas cover - check you have sufficient flow

5 try to prop your torch hand on something to keep consistent arc length without chance of dipping the tungsten - & naturally a " Tig finger " may help with this while keeping the Guru in his luxurious lifestyle ( !! )

6 controversial - but when learning it's enough to coordinate both hands without involving one foot on the pedal - I think it's easier to learn without initially using the pedal & makes you get a better feel for what the appropriate amps are - obviously this is challenging on thin material - hence start with something easier

As I see it your on the right track & doing well - just keep practicing - as long as you getting a shiny bead everything else will come with " seat time " - good luck

Thanks, its only about a total of 4 hours practice I just don't have a lot of time right now, I'm in the process of building my dream shop 24' x 45' and it is taking a lot of my time. And as far as using the pedal you are right its like chewing gum, walking, and rubbing your head at the same time! But it got a lot easier real quick! Tunsten dipping you bet I cant help it yet but im workin on it. Ya know I never could see the cleaning action or the shinny puddel until i watched jody's video several times and actually wrote down the settings and set my machine. I think that is probably when I really started understanding the function of each knob "or at least I have a basic understanding of each knob"