My tig welds. Please critique.

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I have only practiced 3 times using my new tig machine. I am new to tig welding, and new to all welding for that matter. I know I am doing it all in reverse, but...... I am taking a mig course this fall. I pretty much am self taught to tig and have picked up every welding book I can find, so that is my only 'teacher'. So it would be nice to have some experienced tig welders critique my welds. I know they are not perfect and I still have a lot to learn, but please tell me I am on the right track. - The biggest thing I learned from my first practice til now is that I was timid with my first welds and not giving it enough heat to get a good smooth pool going. The welds were done with a precision tig 185, 70 amps, mild steel, 1/16 inch filler, no pulse, 15cfm of gas, 3/32 tungsten. I checked the back side of the welds and you could see heat on the other side, but not excessive drop thru. I think I am addicted to welding already. I can't wait to get good at it!Thanks for any advice!!!! Attached Images
Reply:wow. Anybody?????? Are there not many tig welders on this forum?
Reply:My first advice would be to clean the millscale from the metal before welding it.  you'll find it much easier to weld.
Reply:try to use a little less heat and go a tab bit faster but not much then it shouldn't undercut so bad...undercut leaves stress risers in the joints and a smidge of a puddle or stacked dime look as people so think it needs to look like is what you want...if you prefer, you can grind down the weld after that but tig welds usually look so pretty i would leave it.
Reply:Where is my weld undercut? I hear the term often, but I don't see where it is undercut. Can you please tell me so I know what to look for. And thanks for the response!
Reply:I don't see very much under cut...:-)  But the filler is a litte heavy..
Reply:Those welds are looking good! Have you played with the heat much? I'd be up another 20 amps on that, and as engloid said give it a clean before you start. Keep the practice up and in no time you'll have your hand into it as it's already looking so good.Stephen
Reply:Originally Posted by wirehuntThose welds are looking good! Have you played with the heat much? I'd be up another 20 amps on that, and as engloid said give it a clean before you start. Keep the practice up and in no time you'll have your hand into it as it's already looking so good.Stephen
Reply:Dang, those are some nice welds, It's amazing how clean tig is vs Mig, even using .025 with gas. But then again I'm learning. Hey those  are some great welds, I'm new to welding to and I'm hooked.
Reply:Yeah, I agree with robinhood.  Undercut? nah.  But, on the edges about mid way down the bead, you have a couple of places where you could snag a fingernail under the bead (I think the undercut that some have mentioned comes from the overhang, and is not in the base metal, but it's a bit hard to tell really.  Look at the weld again and see what you think).  The sides of the bead should juuuust blend into the base metal with a little ripple.  Looks like you were either adding a little too much filler or not moving quite fast enough, given your heat.  But, hey...perfection is for perfectionists.  A few more times through and things will smooth out more and more.  Timing and bead consistency come with practice.  Anyway, I bet you could beat an angus bull to the ground with that piece and still not crack the weld.  Overall, Not bad.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:Originally Posted by smithboyYeah, I agree with robinhood.  Undercut? nah.  But, on the edges about mid way down the bead, you have a couple of places where you could snag a fingernail under the bead (I think the undercut that some have mentioned comes from the overhang, and is not in the base metal, but it's a bit hard to tell really.  Look at the weld again and see what you think).  The sides of the bead should juuuust blend into the base metal with a little ripple.  Looks like you were either adding a little too much filler or not moving quite fast enough, given your heat.  But, hey...perfection is for perfectionists.  A few more times through and things will smooth out more and more.  Timing and bead consistency come with practice.  Anyway, I bet you could beat an angus bull to the ground with that piece and still not crack the weld.  Overall, Not bad.
Reply:There are several ways to adjust the contour of the bead.  Some mention more heat.  This will give you a wider flatter contour with the same amount of filler and speed, but will also lead to a larger, wider heat affected zone.  Not so much a problem for mild steel, but can be for aluminum or heat treated metals, for example.  Based on the pictures you sent, the heat looks fine to me, it just looks like you are maybe dipping too quickly and maybe a little too close to the last place you dipped.  At first, I'd just try everything the same (timing included), except move your torch and filler just a little (a small fraction of an inch) further each time.  You might try running beads next to each other on a clean, flat surface spaced a bit and with each bead moving progressively faster.  You'll see where you need to be in terms of speed.  You might even lay a ruler down beside the workpiece and count the dips and mark it on each bead, to get a dip/inch if you really want to get analytical about it.  I know a couple of old ga tech grads that weld.  They are trying to get a Robot War thing going.  They are really into this kind of data collection.  I tease them about it all the time, but their welds are much better looking than mine, MUCH!!!With all that said, you should note that the beads you did are actually pretty good, and right now you are really working now on improving mechanics of your technique, consistency of the bead (width and height), and the aesthetics of the bead.  In fact, I'd say your are doing a lot better than I did at this stage of the process.There is a fellow who is a member of this group with a website that has some more info on technique, even a little video.  There are a couple of techniques he shows there, and they may give you a little more in terms of visuals.  He claims not to be that good, but if these are his welds, he is being pretty modest.http://www.weldinginspectionsvcs.com/WalkingTheCup.htmhttp://www.weldinginspectionsvcs.com...mAnimation.htmLast edited by smithboy; 08-09-2005 at 10:03 AM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:I always say, walk what you can and free hand what you have too...
Reply:Stick to learning the free hand, the cup walking comes easy LATER. I'll post some photo's in the next few day's to show what I mean. I think your doing really well at the free hand now, it's just a practice thing to iron out the fine points.  One thing, I have a continuous flow of filler regardless of cup walking or free hand but that's personal.Cheers Stephen
Reply:Originally Posted by satexasuserDang, those are some nice welds, It's amazing how clean tig is vs Mig, even using .025 with gas. But then again I'm learning. Hey those  are some great welds, I'm new to welding to and I'm hooked.
Reply:It is my third time Tig welding bud.
Reply:I don't think halbritt is slamming your welds so much as he is stating what you're up against.What he says is really true.  Tig is definitely not point and click technology.  There are some who seem to have real talent and seem to do it well naturally, but I have never seen anyone just sit down and get it all in a day or even several days.  There are too many variables that are in the hands (and feet) of the weldor (not the machine), not to mention the metals you are attacking.  Like I said above, the best tig weldors I have seen are those that work at it with a very structured approach, or those folks who are naturally talented and blessed with a lot of coordination and fine motor skills.  As a former athlete, I have good coordination, but not good fine motor skills, so I had to practice a lot.  And, if you put the torch down for an extended period, you will see your skills deteriorate, just like you would if you didn't play a sport for a while.Lots of folks try out welding, run a few nice beads and think they are done.  Tig really requires more.  Lots of guys that weld every day forget how long it took for them to get where they are in terms of their skills.  Like any learning process the full picture developes over time and some days you make quantum leaps others your running in circles.  These welds are a very good starting point, but they arent where you want to end up, right?Last edited by smithboy; 08-11-2005 at 03:17 PM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:I hear you smithboy. I can def. see it as something that you could get rusty out if you did not do it all the time. - I was also blessed as a fairly good athlete, so some people were surprised how well I picked it up in a relatively short time. I do understand I have a lot to learn, and will always be learning. - But it is nice to be blessed with good eye, hand coordination. I understand what Halbritt is saying. It is def. a challenge, but I am willing to learn. I know nothing can touch a TIG with apples being apples, but in this experimental period, I at least think I am on the right track. I have never even tried GMAW or SMAW, so hopefully, I can pick that up fairly easy if I get good at TIG. Time will tell! Thanks to all of you for your input. I have learned a great deal in here, and is a favorite site of mine for information.
Reply:Originally Posted by kshellrazorIt is my third time Tig welding bud.
Reply:halbritt, I have found the "Butter" Setting on my mig and man it had some uuuuugggghhh(penetration). I guess I had to keep trying the settings on my weld-pak 100: I set it to A, 1.5 and 25 CFM for my Argon. I'm welding inside of my crew cab a replacement floor piece and I have a5 foot butt weld line with 1/4 in filler. And today I struck gold with my settings. These were some of the flattest welds to date with no splatter or popping just a pure shhhhh sound coming out..   Weld-Pak 100 Mig. New to welding and melting anything metal
Reply:kshellrazor, noticed you got a pt185. is it difficult to adjust the amps on that thing, mine jumps all over the place like it has a mind of its own. its done it since day one. just trying to figure out if i should bring back to get it fixed..BTW nice welds im still practicing too. im struggling with aluminum
Reply:Hey Broken, don't take it back. Mine does the same thing! haha - it is real sensetive. I can always get it where I want it fairly easy now. Just turn it nice and smooth. But I agree with you, - it does have a mind of its own!
Reply:Here is you fella's a cheat that really helps (you may already know this, but...).  Get yourself some opaque scotch tape (not the clear stuff, it never comes off after a while) and a sharpie.  when you find the sweet spot for a thing you do often, put the tape where the knobs are reading and use the sharpie to leave yourself a note.  You can still see the amp numbers or what ever, but you have a little arrow and a note to get you there fast.  If you find a sweeter spot later on you just peal and re-stick or peal and replace.  On stuff you do less often, keep a notebook of settings that works best.  This keeps the machine as clean as possible (for later re-sale) but puts your personal touch on it in the meantime.If you use a bunch of different tungstens you should also take notes on this also.  Although, people tend to follow charts for sizes and types, opinions differ quite a bit on this.Last edited by smithboy; 08-15-2005 at 11:57 AM.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.