First time TIG welding

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Thought I would post pictures of my first tig welds. After much waiting I got my Miller Dialarc HF up and running. Had to wire it in and than I built a home made water cooler and had to find a food pedal and get some argon. First picture is of no filler weld, Second is trying to get the rhythm down to get the filler added. Next I had some washers laying around that I figured I would practice with. Started looking around and decided to build a tool for the lathe. I turned down a bolt and welded it to the other one adding filler material on it. The first three pictures were from the first day welding, and the tool was made on the second. Any tips are always appreciated! Hope to start doing aluminum and brass brazing soon. Attached Images
Reply:Not too bad.  Not quite ready to do an International Harvester Scout II floor     , but getting there.  What amps, size of tungsten and filler rod are you using?At workMillermatic 252Syncrowave 250DXAt HomeLincoln Pro Mig 140Lincoln AC/DC 225/125
Reply:A few quick cut and paste quotes for what I usually suggest students work on when learning tig. Originally Posted by DSWAs far as things to work on, here's what I'd suggest. You have a tremendous amount of control with tig. Besides the pedal, you can control the heat with arc length, travel speed and the size and amount of filler you add. I'd suggest you do a few basic drills and get a feel for what each will do for you. I usually suggest students eliminate as many variables as possible from the equation while doing these drills. Set yourself up so you are comfortable and can rest your torch hand and slide it along to help maintain a consistent torch height and arc length. Warm up by running some puddles with no filler keeping the arc length and travel speed the same. Just use the pedal to control the heat. Then readjust the machine so you can mash the pedal to the floor and eliminate it from the equation. I usually suggest that students set the machine at roughly 110 amps to do this working with 1/8". It is a bit "cold", but allows them to make the adjustments with the other perameters. Then do the same drill just using arc length to vary your heat, followed by just using travel speed. Since you already know what the puddle looks like and have a good understanding of how to manipulate it with the other processes, all you are doing is getting a feel for what each variable will do for you.
Reply:You should spend a bit more time on your chuck key since it is something you will use all the time.  why not turn the head and threads off both bolts, then weld together, so it is not such an obvious quickie?  How did you get the front of the bolt square?  Good job on the washers, thats pretty small stuff for your first time!miller syncrowave 250hobart handler 140home made 400 amp engine driven in progress...