tig rookie needs a miracle (VERY VERY long)

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i don't even know where to start please bear with me guys i'm frustrated. if someone can hypnotize me over the internet and make me a welder i'd be eternally grateful. i just can't weld like i want to be able to, nor do i have enough practice.  i've avoided the welding i need to do on one of my race cars as long as i can. now i'm used to looking at professionally built 4130 dragster chassis and the welds these guys produce are hard to find issues with so i know i'm setting the bar a little high for a rookie. i really wish i had that skill. for the most part i will be welding mild steel .125" and under and 4130 tubing .083 wall. i also want to get a (lot) better at aluminum.here's what i have and what i "think" i know.what i have:1995 syncrowave 250, foot pedal HW-20 water cooled torch, CK-9 air cooled torch should be here tomorrowspeedglas 9000xwhat i think i know:DCEN, roughly 1 amp per .001" thickness, HF startstraight argon 15-20 CFH (a little too much?)1/16" and 3/32" 2% thoriated tungsten er70s-2 filleryou want to keep arc length short as possiblecan't get things too cleangas lens is always a plus?for aluminum i know you need AC HF continuous and depending on balance varies your cleaning/heat input. i only have 2% thoriated and get the impression one of the others might be better as well as different gas blends. also i was originally under the impression you wanted a ball on the end but it seems people are getting away from that. what i've been doing is pointing the electrode a little then rounding it off a touch with heat. from my experience with aluminum once you get a puddle you need to be ready to rock and roll with the torch and filler. also with the heat conductivity you need to pay close attention to backing off as things progress i can put down some beads i'm not completely ashamed of as long as everything is under best conditions but most of the work i need to do won't be. there will be a lot of out of position with the pedal being all but impossible to work with the foot so i'll have to resort to some other body part. to add to this there will be a fair amount of joining .125 to .050ish sheet metal and getting joints all but gapless is going to be a challenge.because of confined areas about the only way i'll be able to do some of it is to change hands (i'm right handed) and feed the wire with the right hand. i'm probably going to try practicing a little left handed but at this point being proficient at that is being pretty darn optimistic.i've been thinking about cleaning, fitting and tacking everything then having someone come in and finish weld but that does my skill level no good and i take pride in being able to do nice work. as a machinist i can turn out some decent quality but when it comes to welding i struggle. obviously i've found that as long as i practice a little i improve but one of things that concerns me is that with zero personal training i could be practicing bad habits.one thing i battle is needing glasses, rule number one you can't weld it if you can't see it. i wear 2.5s for welding. i ran out to the LWS and tried one of the lens that goes in the helmet but that's just not going to cut it. looking through that thing made me feel like i was in a carnival fun house due to the parting line in the center. so i went back to the glasses and on that particular day the glasses started fogging...i just couldn't win i know this sounds obvious but for me the hand skills i think are my biggest problem. usually if i can rest my hands i'm not completely lost but once i have to start free handing things go downhill. one thing that seems to be a problem is any tugging on the torch cable. if possible i usually drape the cable over my shoulder so there's minimum weight on the torch. i've been working with the hw-20 water cooled and while it's not a heavyweight torch between the cables and the zippered cover i find it bulky. i believe i can get away with a gas cooled torch for the majority of stuff i'll be doing and the one i ordered is the single cable superflex so hopefully this will help with my torch control.i've been all over the internet trying to absorb info and pointers. one thing i wonder about is the machine i have VS what's available today. unfortunately i lost my job of 16 years and this is a hobby so a new machine isn't in the cards. i'm sure just about any skilled welder would have no problem with this particular machine but for me i need every crutch i can get.for anyone that might have made it this far and not fallen asleep am i completely lost or is there hope?Last edited by jamesc; 05-31-2012 at 08:46 PM.
Reply:sorry these aren't the best pics but here's a couple of things i've done. the first two are spring boxes that will be welded into the frame rail for the leaf spring to mount into. the two shots on the car were frame ties done quite some time ago, it was clean when i welded it Attached ImagesLast edited by jamesc; 05-31-2012 at 07:51 PM.
Reply:I don't see anything wrong with what you posted that a bunch of intensive practice probably won't fix. Machine listed is  an excellent machine and shouldn't hold you back. I'd have opted for a 20 series torch myself vs the 9 series, since it's the same size and is water cooled, but no biggie for what you are doing most likely. There is no "magic bullet" to suddenly make you a great welder. You jsut have to go and keep doiong it right until everything "clicks" and becomes second nature.If you want to get serious, the best bet would be to look around and see if a local tech school or community college offers a night class in tig. It sounds like you have the basics down, but having someone watch you weld will often help pick up some of those small things you are doing wrong that can be limiting you some what. After that, it's simply hours and hours of practice. There's really no substitute for that. My suggestion would be to work on out of position welds free hand. That's usually where I see most people start to make the real breakthroughs. A lot of it is by that time in the class, they've finally gotten enough practice in that things are starting to become unconscious and they no longer need to think about adding filler, maintaining arc length, travel speed etc, they just "do" it.As mentioned you absolutely MUST be able to see the puddle. If you can't most of everything else is pointless. You might think about going to the eye doctor and getting a specific prescription for welding. Last year I noticed I was unconsciously switching from looking thru my glasses to looking over my glasses while welding. My regular glasses were now too strong, yet I still needed glasses to see in general around the shop. ( I'm near sighted.) The doc set me up with a prescription that's set to focus at roughly 16-18", yet still strong enough I can use the same glasses to drive with if needed. It's taking a bit of getting used to switching between glasses, but I find if I put on the "work" glasses about an hour before I have to do any welding my eyes have enough time to adjust and I'm not having any more issues. Since the glasses are for "shop" type work, I had the prescription set in a set of safety glasses to kill two birds with one stone. Explain to the doc what you need to be able to do and they will be able to get you set up right. A good optometrist deals with these things all the time, so it's no big deal for them. A box store guy might or might not be able to understand what you need.Good luck..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:thanks for your input i just realized i gave bad info on the torch it's an HW-20. i did look around for a local tech school for just the reasons you mentioned but couldn't find anything really. i have even considered taking one of the short courses at one of the schools like lincoln or hobart but at this point i'm kinda in a time crunch i fully understand that i need practice more than anything else i'm just concerned there's something basic i'm doing wrong that's working against me which is why i tried to give such detailed info. i figured if i could spend even a little time with someone skilled they could thump me on the head if i was making some gross error. for the most part everything i've learned has been the hard way i just really started posting trying to get pointers.stupid question on filler rod. i've been in a habit of hitting it with a scotch brite pad then wiping it with a clean paper towel. is this overboard and/or does removing some/all of the copper have a negative impact?one thing i certainly need to work on is feeding the filler through my hand. at this point to do anything decent i can only feed what i have extended past my hand then i have to stop and move the rod. i did watch a video earlier that showed a couple different techniques one of which i liked but i'm still no good at that. i've been using a thin pair of sheepskin (i think) gloves which help with the welding for sure.thanks again
Reply:To me if you are in a time crunch to learn, the only real way is to look at a class. Lincoln or Hobart would be excellent choices. In reality there's no " fast" way to get where you want to go. It's all about how fast you can absorb and process the information. I've had students drag on and on and fall way behind everyone else and then one night they have an "Ah ha!" moment and it all clicks. Then all of a sudden they are banging out joints and moving way ahead of everyone else who'd been doing fine. The big thing about a class is that with someone who knows what to look for watching you, they can point out errors and help you move forward at whatever your maximum rate is rather than for you to keep repeating problems. In general a class IS the fastest way to improve for the majority of newer tig guys. If it's critical you get where you want to go as fast as possible, then go with the best class you can possibly find. Hobart and Lincoln would probably be at the top of my short list for that.Honestly, if you can't find the time to take a class, then my guess is it would be best to have someone else do the welds if they are critical like you suggest and take the class when you have the time and keep practicing. As I said, there's no "magic bullet", gizmo or trick that will make you "super welder" overnight. Tig takes a long time to get really good, and once past the basics, it's all about intensive practice and working on all the "little" things until you can't stand it any more. Then go back and keep at it.As far as filler prep, some of this is dependent on what you are trying to do. for the average use, it's probably overkill assuming good well kept new filler. Older poorly kept filler would probably benefit from some prep. When the welds MUST be top notch, there's no such thing as too clean. Aerospace work comes to mind as an example of this level. Yours is probably not quite that high, but still worth the effort to do it right. I can think of a lot of other things the average guy glosses over that would be more important as far as prep goes however.I suggest a lot of my students, who are having issues feeding filler, practice just going thru the motions feeding filler. Sit in front of the tv with your tig glove on and work a piece of filler back and forth thru your hand over and over and over and over and over.... The idea is to make this motion  as "normal" as possible. It's sort of like when you learned to write originally. It took time to learn how to hold a pencil and go thru the motions. This is no different..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:I don't have anything to help you, BUT I want to congratulate you on one of the BEST posts asking for help I've ever seen either here or on any other of my hobby websites. If there were a little smiley face for a standing ovation, I would put it here but best I can do is this: For anyone else not getting it, our "rookie" friend did the following:1) researched on his own the stuff that is easily gotten2) he put in sweat equity before coming to mommy. I.e., he TRIED as best he could3) gave specifics about his equipment, technique and what he thinks he understands4) respectfully asked for help instead of acting like he is owed it5) put up some pictures.  Good pictures.6) responded to the help and is appreciative.Where is Sundown?  He needs to grab a beer, relax in his chair and read this thread.  It will renew his faith in humankind.Seriously, jamesc, your post is awesome.  If I knew tig, I'd help in anyway I could. Good luck, amigo.
Reply:The big thing about a class is that with someone who knows what to look for watching you, they can point out errors and help you move forward at whatever your maximum rate is rather than for you to keep repeating problems.
Reply:I was asked by one of the local tech school teachers to come in and help out with his night classes and I've been doing so the last couple of years. Mostly it's helping guys get the basics down and spotting the big errors that are holding them back. It gives me something different to do and lets me keep my hand in since I don't weld everyday for a living, generally on an as needed basis at work and more of a serious hobby. After you've worked with a few dozen students you begin to pick up some of the basic errors that happen over and over. Being somewhat detail oriented doesn't hurt.The biggest suggestion I can make if you are going to do this yourself is to pay attention to details and work on consistency. I make a point of suggesting to students that they try to control one thing at a time until they can do it without thinking. Everything else they should try to remove from the equation as much as possible. A lot of what I do is tough to explain to students. It's hard to explain for example just how far down I press on the pedal with tig. My reply is enough to get the results I'm looking for... Not the reply they want, but it's the truth. I often try and explain it like how far down do they need to press the pedal of their car to drive 45 mph. What gear are you in, are you going up hill or down, are you going around a curve, how much of a load do you have in the vehicle... There's a lot of things going on as you drive, but most people can manage this and never think twice about it after they learned it originally. At the same time they can talk on the phone, eat dinner and change the radio station while driving thru heavy traffic on a windy road... Remember how hard it was just to maintain a steady speed back in drivers ed though? Once you learn to read the puddle and manipulate it, then it's all about controlling all the tiny variables all at once, much like you manage to do while driving. Travel speed, arc length, addition of filler, amps from the pedal, torch angle and motion... just to name the big ones. The thing that separates the average tig welder like me from someone like Zap here, is the fact he's done it over and over so many times, he can do all of this stuff and never have to think about it. My skills improve or get rusty, mostly depending on whether or not I get to practice on a regular basis..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:Mr weld.com...Do not post your links here BEFORE you get ahold of the ADMINISTRATOR...Or else.Thank You....zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.