Welding Tips and Tricks

Okay, I'm just a hobbyist welder, but a real tool junkie and felt the need to get a Dynasty 200DX to upgrade from my Econo-Twin HF TIG...

Just like I would love my golf swing to be like Fred Couples, I would like to be able to make welds like Jody!

When it comes to welding, I am trying to figure the best way to improve and wonder which hand is best for torch and filler rod...??? I realize good welding is a combination of skill, talent, coordination, knowledge and experience.... My artistic talent was "NOT" inherited from my Dad...he could free-hand draw and paint with the clear distinction of being an "artist"! Me, not so much to not at all, little talent/control with the pencil, unless it was drafting...

Here's my question, I'm basically right handed, except for writing and using a fork! Which hand combination do some/most of you use to accomplish your best welds?

I always use my right hand but I practice left hand for going left to right with tig but if I'm wanting to stack dimes ill use my right hand holding the torch I would try going with the left hand holding the torch because you write left handed but hey being good at both couldn't hurt!!

It depends on where you want to go with your welding. If you need to make a living out of it you will need both hands.
If you only intend to be a hobbyist you will get away with right hand only until the odd occasion where you will have difficulty from obstruction. You will still find a way with your right hand but it will take you heaps of time to get it done.

So why not be as good a welder as you can be, it costs nothing to use your left hand and if you use it long enough it becomes normal. Every pipe weld I do I use both hands just to keep my left hand in practice whether it needs it or not and you know often my left hand welds turn out better than my right! Go figure! Sometimes it even saves time because you can reach more of the joint without repositioning.

Also it is very rare to find a two handed cup walker (I've never met one yet), but I have met some that can lay a beautiful right handed lace but can't use their left hand at all and therefore need another welder to finish a butt where they can't walk right handed. So my advice is to learn freehand first with both hands. You can always learn to walk the dog later if you're looking for a prettier lace finish.

I'm right hand dominant; and I too write, as well as; use forks, sporks, and spoons with my left hand. With that said, I mainly tig weld with my dominant hand; but as others have stated, I have practiced welding with my weak side to have some familiarity at doing so.

I'm right handed, but 23 years of playing guitar gave my left hand so much dexterity that it felt "normal" to hold the torch in my left and not my right. If I try to hold the torch in my right hand, I can still weld because I am focused on reading the puddle, but it feels as "strange" as if I was trying to write with my left hand. I thought to myself, "well I still write with my right hand....", but the difference is when you're writing, you're using a lot of finger dexterity mostly, not so much finger-arm dexterity. On the guitar, my left hand is using both finger-arm dexterity, something that my right arm/hand has not been subjected to the same degree. Go figure.

I'm surprised that I'm actually not all that much worse with my left hand than I am with my right hand moving the torch. But maybe that's because I'm still not all that good with the torch in my right hand to begin with

I recently had a friend bring me his truck to remove a broken exhaust manifold bolt. With the obstructions I had to go lefty to get at it. Upside down, wrapped around a brake rotor and using a switch instead of a pedal is probably not the best time to start getting comfy with the other hand. Ya never know what's gonna get thrown at you. Practice both

Glen,
Congrats on the Dynasty, you will love it! I am predominantly right handed and hold the tig torch mostly in my right hand. Personally I say get down tig welding with your most comfortable hand and then practice with the other. Nothing wrong with trying it or giving it a shot once a week, but in my opinion you need to get comfortable with the predominant hand first. However I am not saying don't practice of try both at the same time, I just feel a lot of weldors might get ahead of themselves jumping right into advanced techniques. This is my opinion and take it for what it is.
I do weld with my left and can do it but it is not as nice as my right. I do agree that there will be a lot of situations where you will need both. There will also be situations as described above, that no practice can prepare you for. I was using my knee yesterday to run the foot pedal, not something they teach you in welding school
-Jonathan

I am right handed but if i have a patch job to weld i will always go lefty for a while ....A couple of guys i work with wont even try so therefore struggle on some jobs..

Any apprentice welders we get in that come my way are always told to practice it..

As mentioned above , i have also had to use a knee to operate the foot pedal as well as using an elbow a couple of times..

I'm left handed and have a much harder time feeding the rod when I switch to right handed than I do manipulating the torch, seems weird to me. I clean the tungsten much more when I'm welding righty because I can't seem to feed the rod very consistently. If you plan on doing much pipe welding it's a good idea to practice with both hands.

My biggest problem anymore is being able to get were I can see well, and if you can't see it doesn't matter which hand you use it's damn hard to Tig weld.

Len

About 15 years ago, a good friend and I hustled pool for sport (playing for beers, not serious money), and he had a 7' barroom table in his living room. I would go over every day when he was gone, and play against myself, right-hand versus left-, twelve games a day.

Not only did I get good at left-hand, but my right-hand game improved dramatically... I think this is because training my left hand made me rethink the fundamentals. I can also drive a nail, throw darts, even write, with either hand.

In TIG welding, I no longer even think about what hand to use. I just use the easiest reach, whether it's torch in right, or in left.

Another thought... Do you always use the same foot on the pedal? I switch that up constantly, based solely on comfort of position.

It's always good to practice both, but if you have a strongly dominant hand, I suggest learning the torch there first and feeding with the off hand, so when you try the other way, you understand what you're trying to teach the opposite hand to do.

Steve S

Steve beat me to it but I was going to suggest the opposite foot pedal training as well. For the past week I have been using my left foot just to get better at it.
-Jonathan

danielbuck wrote:I'm surprised that I'm actually not all that much worse with my left hand than I am with my right hand moving the torch. But maybe that's because I'm still not all that good with the torch in my right hand to begin with

This is me too! I do use both as needed in the past, just not what I would call good. I really appreciate the responses that have flowed in... I knew right from the beginning, being good with both hands is the answer, it just seems obvious.

I was curious about the starting point for improvement (one is avoid using the MIG...)

Otto Nobedder wrote:.....Another thought... Do you always use the same foot on the pedal? I switch that up constantly, based solely on comfort of position.

It's always good to practice both, but if you have a strongly dominant hand, I suggest learning the torch there first and feeding with the off hand, so when you try the other way, you understand what you're trying to teach the opposite hand to do.

Steve S

Steve, I think your answer is the format I was looking for, you suggest the torch control comes before the filler rod, and I think that's a good place to start!!! As for the foot pedal, I've never used one, not available on my previous machine....

Try this, lay the torch on the table then clear your mind, walk away do something to where you don't think then walk in and pick the torch up. Whatever hand you use unconsciously is the hand to use. I automatically grab with my left hand because I am left hand dominant. I am however ambidextrous. I can write and do stuff with my right hand almost as good as with my left. If you want a definite answer clear your mind and just grab the torch and whatever hand you use unconsciously is the one you will probably have the best luck with. Again it doesn't hurt to use either hand.

Otto Nobedder wrote:About 15 years ago, a good friend and I hustled pool for sport (playing for beers, not serious money), and he had a 7' barroom table in his living room. I would go over every day when he was gone, and play against myself, right-hand versus left-, twelve games a day.

Not only did I get good at left-hand, but my right-hand game improved dramatically... I think this is because training my left hand made me rethink the fundamentals. I can also drive a nail, throw darts, even write, with either hand.

In TIG welding, I no longer even think about what hand to use. I just use the easiest reach, whether it's torch in right, or in left.

Another thought... Do you always use the same foot on the pedal? I switch that up constantly, based solely on comfort of position.

It's always good to practice both, but if you have a strongly dominant hand, I suggest learning the torch there first and feeding with the off hand, so when you try the other way, you understand what you're trying to teach the opposite hand to do.

Steve S

Switching feet for the foot pedal is something that i dont even think about ....which ever foot is closest and the most comfortable is the one that gets used....

It does get a bit tricky when you are in such a confined space and cant use the foot pedal and have no trigger on gun....having someone else operate the pedal while you concentrate on welding and relaying whether you want more or less amps , that gets a bit mad....only ever done it twice in 30 years and i have been on the gun once and on the pedal the other...

Here's a sample of welds done each hand... It was rollouts on the bench, so I "could" have swapped around and done them all right-hand. It was faster and more convenient to just switch hands, but looking at the image, I might do more of this stuff "southpaw" ... You'll notice in both the cap (top weld) and fill (lower weld), the left looks better. I suppose this is because I still have to focus a bit more when the torch is in my left hand, where the right has become automatic...

Steve S