Day 1 - Tig

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Well, today is officially my second day of learning to TIG aluminum; but because I'm taking pictures today, I'll call it DAY 1.I posted the results of my efforts.Believe the amperage was around 150.  Balance was set to 7.  I need practice. Attached ImagesAcademyKP03Miller Sychcrowave 200
Reply:You do have gas flowing right?
Reply:Originally Posted by 65535You do have gas flowing right?
Reply:Originally Posted by gnm109Yeah, it appears that you either have too little or no gas flowing. Check to make sure that you have 15-20 SCFH........You need to establish a good puddle before proceeding. The manual has a section in the back regarding the basics of TIG.Did you clean the metal properly? Aluminum will start to oxidize after only a few minutes, even after cleaning. The problem is that clean aluminum will begin to melt at 1,200 or so deg. F. while the oxide needs more than 3,000 deg. F. to burn away. So if the metal isn't clean enough, you can end up with a big hole in your work, especially if it's thin sheet or tubing.
Reply:Originally Posted by AcademyKP03Well, today is officially my second day of learning to TIG aluminum; but because I'm taking pictures today, I'll call it DAY 1.I posted the results of my efforts.Believe the amperage was around 150.  Balance was set to 7.  I need practice.
Reply:I had the gas adjust to around twenty; amps around 150I cleaned up the aluminum with S/S brush and acetone; although, I think I could have done a much better job ..... going to practice some more and post the progress soonthanks for the adviceAcademyKP03Miller Sychcrowave 200
Reply:Also I was using 3/32 red electrodes -- should I be using green 3/32?AcademyKP03Miller Sychcrowave 200
Reply:Red is good.My Photos on Flickr
Reply:What kind of base material is that?  It doesn't even look like aluminum to me.
Reply:Don't regrind if it's green tungsten. Just break it off and let i ball up. If it's lanthanated make it a blunt point and it will just form the tiniest ball on the end. Gas between 12 -18.....argon....concentrate on keeping your torch hand resting on something to control it and then practice even harder. You need to be STEADY. And with aluminum you will learn fast to control the foot pedal....Dave Originally Posted by zapsterAnd not only that stop using contaminated tungestion!!Everywhere there is "smoke" around a weld is contamination from either the filler touching the tungestion..The tungestion touching the base material..Or a combination of both..Grind to a point and continue..The second you touch anything..STOP!!Regrind and continue..Thats what I see going on here.....zap!
Reply:Originally Posted by SupeWhat kind of base material is that?  It doesn't even look like aluminum to me.
Reply:Hey AcademyKP03, I'm with Pulser there. Are you using Argon?Is your machine on AC?Are sure the pipe is ally?How far away is your electrode from work piece?As a side note ...everybody's first weld looks like that!Don't get discouraged , there are some gun welders here who are really helpful.Oh and another easy mistake.... its easy some times to mix up your filler are you accidentally using S/S filler on ally?Last edited by Brett; 11-27-2007 at 03:45 PM.A good guess is better than a bad measurement
Reply:I've seen this before. Are you trying to dip the torch and filler into the metal? The torch stays ABOVE the metal from 1/4 to 3/8 inch. Do not touch the torch (tungsten) into the metal. Some people see SMAW, FCAW and GMAW and think GTAW works the same way. It doesn't. John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Good grief... looks like I came over and did that blind folded...  I made a mistake of forgetting to switch from DC to Ac and they looked just like that......Wait till "day five"  with practice they will look greatLast edited by lewray; 11-27-2007 at 07:01 PM. weld it like you own it
Reply:Originally Posted by MicroZoneI've seen this before. Are you trying to dip the torch and filler into the metal? The torch stays ABOVE the metal from 1/4 to 3/8 inch. Do not touch the torch (tungsten) into the metal. Some people see SMAW, FCAW and GMAW and think GTAW works the same way. It doesn't.
Reply:since you have just started TIG welding, I would recommend you get some steel 1/8" and practise with that.  Run as many weld beads as you can fit on the plate. Once you get good at pushing the puddle around and keeping the electrode out of the puddle and maintaining the precise distance from the puddle to the electrode, then get some 1/8-3/16" plate of a KNOWN aluminum composition and practise on that.I think you are setting yourself up for failure running your first TIG weld on AL (maybe?) tubing. Try the easy stuff before you graduate to the hard stuff.  Your tungsten looked like it was dipped into the puddle.Tim