beginner tig pics

admin

Spent a few hours today laying beads. Learned a few things..- cheap tig gloves are not fireproof-don't set the hot torch on an extension cord, it melts.-don't set the torch on a plastic chair, it melts.-using the hundreds of feet of aluminum wire I pulled out of my house for tig filler will work for practicing technique, but it makes the aluminum crack.-cleaning steel can be a half assed task for mig, but not for tig.. I only switched from wire brushing to actually sanding the rusty scrap for the last 2 rows, and they are the only ones that look decent enough to say I made any sort of progress today.-Everyone says learn on steel before aluminum. To me, aluminum was easier. It ended up that the cleanest metal was the easiest, didn't matter what it was.-scrap copper plumbing can just barely be welded together with 14guage electrical wire as filler, but the nearby solder joint is going to turn liquid, letting half of the pipe fall on the floor startling the crap out of you.- just relax and breathe. I found I kept holding my breath and having a hard time until i settled down and relaxed.used black tip tungsten, 3/32 and 1/8 inch filler ( only er70 filler i have, too big). used around 130 amps on the syncrowave. no pedal as the switch is still broken.welding on 1/4" scrap that started life as 4x4 tube. was then oxy/acetylene cut by a class full of first timers into squares for the mig class I took. Then I welded 9 squares together to make a larger flat plate. So, the dirtiest nastiest metal imaginable, with a lot of dross and crap at the various seams. The aluminum was 1/8" about 70 amps with balance at 5, same 3/32 tungsten. Crater control was too hard to get working right as it would taper off too fast, or it would stay in the heat too long and melt through.. I need to get my pedal working for more than an on off switch!So enough excused, and with all that said, here are some pics of the mess.. how do I turn it from a mess into something worthwhile? Attached Imagesmiller syncrowave 250hobart handler 140home made 400 amp engine driven in progress...
Reply:Well your getting started,so dont forget the first 3 rules in welding!1 clean, 2 clean, 3 clean  then proceed lol.   Rule #4 5 6  practice  practice practice!   Hell i'm still afraid to put my beads out there, but pretty soon!AEAD 200LE, Lincoln precision tig 185, Millermatic 251, Spectrum 625 extreme, Victor torch , Smithy 1220LTD. and  Do all C-4 band saw ,  Always adding.
Reply:70 amps is WAY too low for 1/8" alum. You need to be up at about 150 to get the puddle started and then back down to about 125 and drop as the plate heats up. Your plate shows all the typical examples of an overheated alum plate. Trying to run alum up slowly using low amps simply heats up the whole plate because alum is such a good heat sink. It will suck heat away from the weld faster than you can put it in at those amps until the whole plate is almost at weld temp. When that happens everything will want to melt at once. This is especially true if you don't remove the oxide layer with a brush prior to welding. The oxide melts at a higher temp, and by the time it melts the bare alum underneath is already liquid.Over heating alum will cause all sorts of issues. For one you'll weaken most alum alloys by over heating them. You get around this issue with the weld bead by adding filler with additives that raise the strength of the alum. Your beads will hold, but the base material will fail in the HAZ ( which will be huge). Alum needs to be welded hot and fast. Crank up the amps and pour the heat in fast and then run. The reason alum is so much harder than steel is #1 it's harder to see whats happening because alum doesn't change color like steel does when heated. #2 you have to do everything about 3-5 times faster with alum. Usually by the time you have to think about what to do, it's already too late. You need to anticipate what needs to be done in advance, not react after it's already happening..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:I should have posted some pictures of the back of that aluminum.. Other than just making an arc against some old aluminum tent poles, that was my first time with aluminum, and without real filler - electrical wire as filler as mentioned. I agree, it was WAY too hot, sagging through badly in spots.  I need to get my panel / pedal switch fixed so I can hit it hot and then back down with the pedal. I just cannot seem to part with $50 to miller for a simple toggle switch, and oddly enough, can't find a 4pdt switch anywhere!miller syncrowave 250hobart handler 140home made 400 amp engine driven in progress...
Reply:Crap. it is 1/16th aluminum, not 1/8th.miller syncrowave 250hobart handler 140home made 400 amp engine driven in progress...
Reply:That's how mine first looked - maybe worse...  Just keep practicing.- "If ya can't be handsome, ya may as well be handy!"   HTP Invertig 201Lincoln Power Mig 255CLincoln SP125+Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 38