Looking for much needed feedback

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Greetings all! I have been tiging for about 6 months now. I guy at work got me started, but he transfered to another department. So now I am responsible for the brunt of the stainless welding. I thoroughly enjoy it and I strive to make every weld look better than the last. Which is what brings me here, hoping some pros can tell me how to improve my craft. Thanks in advance! Attached Images
Reply:I have had a couple of people ask me if the pipe weld was done on a positioning table, and no, it wasn't  it was done in two passes, top to bottom, X 2.I cut it twice and it'still too short!-work-Miller Maxstar 200Optrel Satellite -home-Miller 150STHArcOne Python 8000
Reply:Oh, and 6 months ago was the first time I have ever done any sort of welding. I have done a little mig and a little stick since, but 90 percent of my work is tig. I work in a dairy, so there is tons of stainless.I cut it twice and it'still too short!-work-Miller Maxstar 200Optrel Satellite -home-Miller 150STHArcOne Python 8000
Reply:nice sanitary I've done tons of sanitary with in food and beverage plants and pharmaceutical.... do a lot of it in the field and for the pharmaceutical we use a orbital welder.... do you freehand or walk it?
Reply:Walk. Never even tried freehand. Seems like it would be a lot more difficult. I can flip up my hood and have a conversation walkin it I cut it twice and it'still too short!-work-Miller Maxstar 200Optrel Satellite -home-Miller 150STHArcOne Python 8000
Reply:I walk it most of the time but freehand just as good in tight spots.... my company didnt want people walking the cup on sanitary because a few guys cooked the stainless and left cup indents in the weld or it was just plain black.... but a few of us proved to them the walking can be just as good if not better.... personally though freehand is faster but your hand needs to be steady
Reply:I've never had those types of issues with sanitary. I run it about 40 amps, give or take depending on pipe size, and my personal best is 12 3" welds in an hour. If I'm in a spot with limited clearance, I'll watch my cup walk with an inspection mirror while I'm in a spot I can't see directly. My initial problems were the opposite, I would walk too fast and not have full penatration. But now that I really have my sanitary skills down, I'm looking to improve my structural skills.I cut it twice and it'still too short!-work-Miller Maxstar 200Optrel Satellite -home-Miller 150STHArcOne Python 8000
Reply:yea those guys came from refinery backgrounds so everything was hot hot hot lol had to teach them to turn it down. i run a lot of sanitary a sch 10... been doing a lot of carbon lately and structural but the structural has been Mig
Reply:Very nice. Looks like the guy who taught you did a good job. Free hand is a whole different ballgame however.The one issue I have with guys who learn tig by walking the cup is that in some cases they really don't lean the "basics". They get by simply by learning to time how they move the cup and don't really learn what is needed to be able to do things freehand where they have to maintain arc length, torch angle, travel speed etc simply by watching the puddle. Walking the cup takes a lot of that out of the equation. I'm not saying walking the cup is "wrong". It has it's place, and obviously you can do it well. I do see it as a "crutch" in some situations as it's not always possible to use this technique..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 the input! Just to clarify, I only cup walk on pipe.I cut it twice and it'still too short!-work-Miller Maxstar 200Optrel Satellite -home-Miller 150STHArcOne Python 8000