New tig welder looking for fedback

admin

Hello,I am a relatively new welder and I have a few questions and would like some feedback on this recent 4130 tubing weld. How many sections should it take me to weld a 1" tube? I do it in 4 sections comfortably but I assume it should be fewer when I get more experience.One section of bead has a jagged edge. Does anyone know why? Any other suggestions? Thanks, Chris Attached Images
Reply:Torch angle looks wrong and it looks like you may have excessive arc length associated from that.Round tube is some of the most difficult to learn to weld well. To do so you really need to 1st be able to weld flat joints in all positions. Do yourself a favor and make your life easier. 1st learn to do basic welds in the flat position. This allows you to learn how to control your arc length, torch angle, travel speed and adding filler. Once you can do laps, T's outside corners and but joints consistently and repeatedly, move on and learn all the same joints in teh horizontal position, then vertical and finally overhead.With tube, you have to constantly keep changing the torch angle to maintain a consistent angle and travel speed in relation to the small area where the puddle is. At the same time you are also moving from flat to horizontal to vertical or overhead and have to be able to read the puddle and make adjustments accordingly. You are a long ways from being at that point if you want to be able to do solid welds. The smaller the tube, the faster you have to make these changes. At the tech school we don't start students on pipe until they can master all the basic joints 1st. Then they can move onto simple joints on pipe before moving to complicated joints like you are doing. Then after they can manage these, they can move on to smaller 2" pipe and go thru everything all over again.Each step builds on the ones you did before. Jumping way ahead just slows you down and makes it harder to learn..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:The jagged edge could be caused by low amps or millscale and other debris causing porosity and improper wet-out.
Reply:Bigger gas cup. Gas lens if you have one. And more gas but not too much. For this I would use a #8 and 20 cfh. Keeping your torch near vertical as you rotate around, and filling while not pulling the end of the rod out of the gas stream may eliminate the ragged bead. What is your filler?Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:Thank you for the comments. DSW- I agree that I have not yet mastered the other positions but they don't look as bad as my tube welds. I will certainly keep working on perfecting the more basic joints. I just wanted to try some tubes and I only had a few pieces of 1" stock. The torch angle suggestions make a lot of sense since I find myself not adjusting as quickly as I should. I am using ER70S2 filler rod. I will look into a gas lens.Thanks again all.
Reply:Ya you gota be on you game welding that small of a pipe and only stopping 3 or 4 times or less! How long how you been welding?looks like you got the piece to hot. Steel likes to cool down before welding to much especially a small piece
Reply:I think DSW and others covered everything however....4130 + "NEW WELDER" = Do Not MixThis is the equivalent of asking a cab driver to fly a 777 dream liner with no course heading.Miller Dynasty 200DXMiller Spectrum 250DMiller Millermatic 200Bunch of old blue dinosaurs....
Reply:Flying a 777 is like driving a Town Car.Landing it is another ballgame.
Reply:A lot of the crustiness/jaggedness is due to lack of proper prep-work.  Chromoly doesn't develop a heavy, thick mill scale like plain ol' carbon steel, but removing it does generally give a 0.0001% improvement in finished weld product (I just made that number up---point is, I like it better how it welds after cleaning it to shiny bare metal).  Try this:   get clean ends on all portions that will get weldedRemember to get the inside looking like that as well.  The molten weld puddle will bring out any impurities from the inside of the tube outwards.  So if you want nice, clean, uniform welds, spend the time doing the proper prep work, and it will go a long way.  Of course perfecting technique works as well:   as tight of an arc as you can manage, and proper torch angle is paramount.  Trying to weld around tube in as few "sections" does nothing if the technique isn't there in the first place.  Nothing wrong with stopping to re-position if that is what will allow you to maintain a proper torch angle and arc length, two fundamentals that are often over-looked.Last edited by Oscar; 12-29-2014 at 11:09 PM. 1st on WeldingWeb to have a scrolling sig! HTP Invertig 400HTP Invertig 221HTP ProPulse 300HTP ProPulse 200 x2HTP ProPulse 220MTSHTP Inverarc 200TLP HTP Microcut 875SC
Reply:Just make sure you get nice and comfortable before starting the weld.  It will turn out much better if u are nice and steady.