Just bought this today

alloy said:
The bead was about 5/16" wide.

I practiced some tonight and had one good bead, then it went downhill from there.

I'm having a problem finding a way to hold the torch and controlling my hand/arm movements. I do one decent bead, then can't repeat.

Here is my best bead so far.

View attachment 88023
Click to expand...

Yeah... that looks pretty good... :victory:

I will be in the same place as you soon... bought some steel for a project and have not 'stick-welded' in too long... probably will run a dozen rods or so to get the feel back... before starting the project.
May be too embarrassed to post a pic... :lmao:
 
That looks real nice. If you are welding on a table try to rest your arms on it. some times I clamp anangle or something to the table or part to rest my forearm or hand on. One more thought. How do you hold the torch? if you are holding it like a hammer, try holding it more like a pen. thumb and index finger on either side of the top just behind the cup. Let your palm rest against the handle. You should also try to run some passes with smaller beads. try 5/32. this is one of the great things about TIG being able to run small tight strong welds. you have the basics down pretty good it looks like. so all you need for smaller welds is travle a bit faster. Remember find a wayto rest your hands or forearm on something. Just remember have fun and practice. as someone said you have come a long way and pretty quick. Mark
 
Thanks everyone. The encouragement does help. Several times I'm just walked away in frustration, but always come back.

I don't even know what I did different on that bead, it just happened and couldn't repeat it. But now I know I have it in me so I will keep trying. I did it once, I can do it again. Just going to take lots more hood time.

I have a HF welding table I use. It's a nice little table, just not easy to slide my hand across even with the tig finger. I am going to have to experiment on how to hold the torch and be able to side my arm and not just my hand and be be consistent. I really appreciate all the suggestions. They really help.

GA,GYRO:

Do you wonder why my pic of the last bead is so small? Well it's because I cropped it to remove the crappy weld beside it. I wait til I have something decent to post a pic of. You would laugh if you saw all my welds from day one to now :)
 
alloy said:
Thanks everyone. The encouragement does help. Several times I'm just walked away in frustration, but always come back.

I don't even know what I did different on that bead, it just happened and couldn't repeat it. But now I know I have it in me so I will keep trying. I did it once, I can do it again. Just going to take lots more hood time.

I have a HF welding table I use. It's a nice little table, just not easy to slide my hand across even with the tig finger. I am going to have to experiment on how to hold the torch and be able to side my arm and not just my hand and be be consistent. I really appreciate all the suggestions. They really help.

GA,GYRO:

Do you wonder why my pic of the last bead is so small? Well it's because I cropped it to remove the crappy weld beside it. I wait til I have something decent to post a pic of. You would laugh if you saw all my welds from day one to now :)
Click to expand...

Sounds like you and I could compare 'bad' welds... and maybe have a contest to see who improves the most... :lmao:

I used to be pretty good stick welding, and do oxy-acet regularly (heating and AC work)... yet have not stick welded in over a year. Used to get an order once a year or so, for a 'cage' around an outdoor AC unit (thieves stole them for the copper). Have not done a cage since 2012... so I am a bit rusty. I hope the rods are not moisture laden... that makes for difficulty keeping a clean bead going.
On the Oxy-Acetylene... did a system change today, had to do 16 joints (CU tubing inside another CU tube or fitting-each end of a fitting counts as one joint). Did them all with 1+1/2 18" rods of 'SillFoss', in about 10 min... no leaks. It is more a brazing process... the goal is getting the CU just hot enough to get good flow into the joint.

Back on the stick welding:
Will fess up and post ONE pic of a really BAD weld when I get started... then only the good ones... fair enough.... :whiteflag:
 
That's fair.

But can you top welding with the wrong gas for two weeks? :nuts:
 
alloy said:
That's fair.

But can you top welding with the wrong gas for two weeks? :nuts:
Click to expand...

Hmmm... ya got me there...
My Lincoln gas powered stick welder (AC/DC+/DC-) does not have shield gas...

However...

I have been known to use the wrong rod, set the amps too high or low, burn the material or cold joint, etc...
Thus the need to 'tweak' my skills a bit before going after the project.

Most of my recent stick welding has been those cages... have not really done any real steel fabrication in many years. With a bandsaw, a definite need, some steel, and a goal...
Might just get those skills dusted off and working again...
And I might have to eat some crow... since I did agree to post pics...
Silly me... :roflmao::roflmao::roflmao:
 
Alloy post some of the bad welds, it would be easier to trouble shoot the bad then to tell what you did right on the good. We all had bad ones when we started and most of us still get some bad ones once in a while. Are you standing or sitting?, are you using the amp petal just as a switch or varying it?
 
I'm sitting. I do use the pedal but probably not enough. I depress it to get the arc started then then after I get a puddle going I'll back it off to where I get a good puddle and hold it steady. I've tried varying the pedal but don't get good results that way just yet.
 
YouTube has been absolutely fantastic at helping me get a better grip on welding. Watching someone do a weld as opposed to reading or just trying blindly is huge for me. There are tons of channels out there where people are doing welding. Some of them are professionals who are giving out good advice and some are not quite as skilled.

Two of my favorites are:
https://www.youtube.com/user/weldingtipsandtricks Has info on all welding processes but has great TIG info. If you look for his TIG videos he does one where all he does is change the amperage and shows the effects on the weld. That one really taught me I was running cold. Usually was doing 90 amps and should have been more like 120 amps. Also some good beginner tips and its more of a beginner channel.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Welddotcom Lots of equipment reviews and Q and A but he also does showcase technique and he does know what he's doing. I'm working through his videos right now.

Watch a few videos now and then, pick up some tips, realize what mistakes you might be making and try to work on that.
 
Been tig welding for a while. A few tips:
get that thungsten way up in there in the puddle as close as you can, you will dip it quite a bit, but keep at it.
The welds you posted seem to be too hot, but they are actually too low amperage. Whats happening is by using lower amperage you are spending too long on one area, burning the metal up. So try to stab the pedal a bit more and get the puddle moving.
For grinding the thungstens a good ol grinding wheel will do, but you have to use it only for thungstens. Chuck up your thungsten on the drill chuck and grind then with the tip pointing towards the top of the wheel. You want the grinding marks to run parallel to the thungsten. Try not to breathe the dust.
Have music playing when welding, it will help your rithim.
Dont tig galvanized crap, now that you are scavanging for metal to weld you might pick up some galvanized crap, trust me been there. If you are welding something and you see a cotton candy/powder forming after welding it, you are most likely messing with galvanized. If so, put the helmet down and open up the garage and get the fumes out. I've got poisoned with this crap before and it will ruin your weekend.
Work on your feeding hand. It was the hardest thing for me when i was learning.
Give aluminum a shot, get some soda cans and weld them together. It will teach you pedal control. And something to bragg about when the buddies come by.
Challange yourself every time you can and Have fun
 
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