Just bought this today

Sorry I've not answered sooner. Been really busy at work. Our programmer left yesterday and we have been staying late trying to get all we can from him on the parts he programmed before he left.

I'll try and answer everyone that replied.

I've been using several different motions. I started with an "N" motion, then my GF's son (he's in welding school now) said to try a "C" motion, and I've also tried small circles. The material is 4130 .100 wall tubing from work.

I'm holding the torch at a slight angle pointing towards the way I'm going with the weld.

The material is very clean. I ran it over my belt sander and it's shiny and oil free.

Today I picked up some 6"x 6" 3/16" CRS plates from the Steel Yard to practice with. They were pretty cheap, only $2 each.

Can someone explain arc force setting? I have this on my welder, but some I've looked at don't have these settings.

I will do some more practicing this weekend and if I get anywhere I'll post pics.
 
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Thanks for the link. It looks like according to miller the arc force function is turned off when in tig mode. I'm not sure on an Everlast the same thing happens. Just for curiosity sake I'll play with that setting today and see if it makes a difference.
 
Well I found out what one of my problems was. I had a tank with argosheild in it and not pure argon. I guess I didn't realize there was a difference. I got the tank swapped out and it did make a difference. It's a whole new ball game with the argon. I pretty much had to start over. But I've made progress in the last two days.

I'm struggling with torch control, I'm jerky and not very controlled yet. I did go almost 1/2 hour without dipping the tungten today. My longest time so far.

To save gas I have pre and post flow turned off, so the beginning an the end of the bead isn't good. But after paying $95 to exchange my tank I'm doing everything I can to save gas.

So how am I doing, what do I need to work on?

11-16.jpg

11-16.jpg
 
I wish I had more TIG experience to be able to better advise you. It looks like this weld is a bit hot. Not dipping the tip is a good thing. I have a tendency to do that, but I just keep welding anyway, most of the time :nuts:. You might try welding with that new gas torch you bought. The hand movements are about the same, and the gas torch is a bit more forgiving.

About all I can say is keep practicing and pretty soon you will be a pro.
 
Well the acetylene tank is empty, so can't use the torch setup. I do think my GF is going to fill the tanks before we give them to her son, so I may us it for a little while before he gets it.

I've had so much hood time this weekend I've used 1/4 of my tank up since Friday. But I've made a lot of progress. I see short parts of my bead looking like a tig weld now and then, just need to work on control with my hand and heat.

As far as I can see my beads look like a mig weld and not tig. I'm just trying to figure out what I need to change to get the proper look to the weld.

Maybe with a few thousand hours more practice my beads will look like a pro did them, but that won't happen anytime soon :)
 
The weld looks pretty good. It is either a little hot or you are shaking to the side and whipping back. This is what is causing the under cut at the sides. The next thing is a timing issue. To get a uniform weld you must progress at a uniform rate. Try moving in steps, and count. (1, 1, 1) dip small with every pause. This will help get the stack of dimes look. All in all not a bad weld. By the way how wide are they? P
 
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.

t11-17-14.jpg

t11-17-14.jpg
 
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That one looks good!
 
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Looking good! You've already come a long way in a short amount of time. Welding is just one of those things that the more you do it, the better you get.

For me, finding the best and most comfortable way to prop both my torch arm and my rod arm will make my welds smoother and better. TIG is much more forgiving than other forms of welding when it comes to stopping, and picking up where you left off to continue your weld.

You may find it necessary to change positions several times as the weld progresses. The more comfortable and stable you are, the better you can lay a smooth and consistent bead. You will find that as soon as you are out of your "comfort range" with regards to propping your arms or hands, the quality of your weld will tend to drop off.

It looks as if you have the basics all covered. Experiment with slightly hotter or colder and see how it affects your weld. Experiment with torch and rod movement techniques to see what feels and works best for you.

After I had my flat welds looking pretty good, I tried welding round tubing (exhaust pipe). It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. It was like starting over again for me. Challenging, and fun though.

You're off to the races. Have fun!

GG
 
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