First Time TIG Welding

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I pulled my fathers Precision 225 TIG out of the back of the shop a month or so ago, he has used it a handfull of times and someone in the shop had ripped the TIG hose while it was sitting. Anyways I got a new one a few days ago and put it on! So I do have a project I am building out of 304 stainless steel, and I had bought a helium/argon/CO2 gas bottle (not sure on the mix exactly off the top of my head) and some 308 wire for our MIG and tacked the project up last year, since then it has sat, but I am at the point where the rest of the peices are cut for it, and I need to complete it before seeding starts. I have scrap parts from the project though, and I wanted to try learning how to TIG with them. I do have a fair bit of stick and MIG experience, but to me this seems a lot harder. I have watched a lot of videos on TIG welding, and got a new appreciation for anyone who can do it!What I need help with is picking the right filler metal to practice on my 304 pieces, my father has filler rods, but they are not in boxes, and the bags arent labeled, so how exactly do I identify them? are they stamped on the rod anywhere? Most of the welds I have to make are on 1/4" or thinner SS. BTW I am making metering boxes for an air seeder, they go on the bottom of the tanks, and have a roller that meters out the correct amount of seed or fertilizer, and as you can imagine the old boxes were mild steel, and fertilizer ate holes through them, I got the old boxes measured up, and a guy laser cut them for me. For the season coming up I only need 1 meter box completely built, as I only use 1 of the 3 tanks for fertilizer, and the other 2 are fine, but I will replace them after this season with my new SS ones. So for this first  box I may just finish up welding it with the MIG, but I still want to start practicing with the TIGSorry for such the long post, I know this may sound familiar to a few of you, as you have helped me set up my MIG for SS welding, but I appreciate any and all help I get from this forum!
Reply:Most steel filler is stamped with the number of what it is..look for a small flattened out section near one end...Steel filler looks almost like copper because of the coating..(NO need to get rid of it like others have tried in the past)...Stainless filler looks like stainless..but the alloy number is usually put on with ink and can vanish really fast..Use a magnet and see if it sticks to it..If NOT then you have some stainless alloy..Aluminum looks sorta like stainless but will be stamped also and be very light in weight compared to anything else...You will need straight ARGON to TIG with..After you get "Set Up" come back for more answers.....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.
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterMost steel filler is stamped with the number of what it is..look for a small flattened out section near one end...Steel filler looks almost like copper because of the coating..(NO need to get rid of it like others have tried in the past)...Stainless filler looks like stainless..but the alloy number is usually put on with ink and can vanish really fast..Use a magnet and see if it sticks to it..If NOT then you have some stainless alloy..Aluminum looks sorta like stainless but will be stamped also and be very light in weight compared to anything else...You will need straight ARGON to TIG with..After you get "Set Up" come back for more answers.....zap!
Reply:Originally Posted by zapsterYou will need straight ARGON to TIG with...
Reply:Well looks like I got 4043 aluminum filler rods, and 4343 (I think, hard to read) definitely aluminum super light rods. I also have some ER 70s2 rods, not a single SS filler rod, oh well.I dont really have much aluminum to play with, but I thought maybe I should practice using some of the 70s2 filler rods, any suggestions for amps/tungsten to use? Gonna have a few rainy days this next week so I can get some hours in practicing in the shop.Don't worry guys, I run straight argon in the TIG, and the triple mix in the MIG for SS. I was very surprised at how nicely the MIG did SS, was expecting something worse, but you have to be very careful with the heat, or it will warp badly. I found with the MIG and triple mix that it lays a much flatter weld, but after a little bit of practice I got use to the puddle and it was easy to catch on!
Reply:I'm a retired Nuclear Weld Engineer, I can send you All WPS information on any type of welding you needed ,
Reply:I have stainless rods that are also stamped on the ends with the info.  You can use your stainless mig wire for filler as well, it will be small for what it sounds like you are looking to weld but for practice you could always double or triple it up and spin it together in a drill if need be.
Reply:Originally Posted by MecmecI'm a retired Nuclear Weld Engineer, I can send you All WPS information on any type of welding you needed ,