Welding Acute Angles

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Hey guysIm working on a subframe brace for a buddys car and I am tring to finish tigging it all up ,its made of 1-1/4 X 1/8 Angle and 1X1X.065 tubing the problem is there a few spots where its aprox. a 30* angle that needs to be welded I can get an arc to start but cannot get a puddle to form far enough down  in the "V" to run a decent bead or about 3/16-1/8" above the joint ... I am getting the tungsten down there but it seems that the arc is coming off the tungsten sideways Im using a #8 nozzle with a gas lens on wp-9 torch with 1/16 red tungsten with a sharp pointSince most of you guys have been doing this longer than I have what do you suggest doing in this situation?Fire Power FP160 migHarbor Freight 165 amp tig w/ foot pedalLincoln AC 225Victor O/A
Reply:Try a smaller nozzle or get a gas lens collet body so you can put your tungsten out farther. Try some 3/64 tungsten also it will probably hold up better to a longer stick out. --Gol'
Reply:- Do not use magnets to hold the tubing. - mechanical clamps only. Do not wrap your leads around the tubing (arc blow is more noticeable on acute corners)- Why are you using a #8 with a 1/16" tungsten?-Try a small truncated cone instead of a sharp point on tungsten. ~.035" flat spot on end helps point the arc a little better for me.- Prep the joint to remove all mill scale/oxides/paint/contaminants. Especially important with fillets.There was a thread on something similar posted a while back but I cant find it.-Matt------------------------------------------
Reply:All the parts were cleaned of mill scale and tacked togeathers I tried a truncated point but since the are was "wandering" for lack of a better word I thought a sharp point would be better since it focuses the arc in a smaller area I thought it would help get the puddle going where I needed it  as far as using a #8 cup I did try a #6 but that did help get it a bit further into the v but I still needed quite a bit of stick out and had a few problems with gas coverage where as a #8 cup with a gas lens I get the gas coverage but loose the accesibality......I think thats my answer I just need to try a #5 cup on a gas lensLast edited by partsguy22; 10-14-2008 at 11:28 PM.Fire Power FP160 migHarbor Freight 165 amp tig w/ foot pedalLincoln AC 225Victor O/A
Reply:Originally Posted by partsguy22All the parts were cleaned of mill scale and tacked togeathers I tried a truncated point but since the are was "wandering" for lack of a better word I thought a sharp point would be better since it focuses the arc in a smaller area I thought it would help get the puddle going where I needed it  as far as using a #8 cup I did try a #6 but that did help get it a bit further into the v but I still needed quite a bit of stick out and had a few problems with gas coverage where as a #8 cup with a gas lens I get the gas coverage but loose the accesibality......I think thats my answer I just need to try a #5 cup on a gas lens
Reply:Ill try the tin foil gas dam that seems like a very good idea  I will also try the truncated point on my tungsten again ,just may be a smaller flat spot this time ill let you guys knowFire Power FP160 migHarbor Freight 165 amp tig w/ foot pedalLincoln AC 225Victor O/A
Reply:what arc length are you able to get ?how much  stickout you are using?
Reply:Turn the gas up and stick out the tungsten.  Do what you gotta do.  They do make extended cups about 2" long in small sizes.You may have better luck with a gas lenz and more stick out than a plain cup.  Just find a way to keep the gas in the area.David Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:If you do this thing a lot, you could always get one of these bad boys!
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadwhat arc length are you able to get ?how much  stickout you are using?
Reply:You may need to increase your amperage to get the arc to focus.Move your ground clamp as close as possible too.  There is a small possibility that you may be getting some arc blow.
Reply:supe what the hell is that? i had a colonoscopy and they used a thing like that....
Reply:Originally Posted by weldbeadsupe what the hell is that? i had a colonoscopy and they used a thing like that....
Reply:Originally Posted by SupeYou may need to increase your amperage to get the arc to focus.There is a small possibility that you may be getting some arc blow.
Reply:sounds like it might be a good idea if i ground up some tungs diferent ways and tried an acute angle to see how it goes.....
Reply:Stick it in those spots first, the proceed with you tig I would in just that order.Miller Thunderbolt 225Millermatic 130 XPLincoln HD 100 Forney C-5bt Arc welderPlasma Cutter Gianteach Cut40ACent Machinery Bandsaw Cent Machinery 16Speed Drill PressChicago Electric 130amp tig/90 ArcHobart 190 Mig spoolgun ready
Reply:Thanks for all the help guys I ended up using a #6 cup with a gaslens with foil damalong with a very small flat spot (.020")on the tungsten as well as uped my amps  it still wasn't easy but it workedFire Power FP160 migHarbor Freight 165 amp tig w/ foot pedalLincoln AC 225Victor O/A
Reply:Arc gap needs to be almost zero. As arc gap increases, the heated area will increase exponentially. You need the arc around 0.020" from the joint, and then you have to lift slightly to maintain the gap as the fillet forms.
Reply:capnbondo, are we talking about an autogenous weld, or are you gonna feed rod into that 0.02 arc length?