First time..

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After months of just viewing on the board.. i finally registered after getting my own TIG ... i bought a low end model for NOW since i am limited to a couple of things.. one of them being money! Eastwood Tig 200 .. its a thin sheet metal, NOT the best starting point since its so thin... BUT at first, if you notice the bottom left hand it was not hot enough i thought, then the arrow points to something like a stack but it was tooooo hot. it was at around 70 amps, i started at 40.. i still need a lot of practice.. hopefully i can get good like some of you guys.
Reply:Hello. Really can't see much in that dark picture. When looking for suggestions and help, post as much info as possible. Material, thickness, filler and tungsten size, amps you have the machine set at and approximate weld amperage if using a pedal, etc. The more info we have the better our suggestions can be without guessing. Good luck..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:Good to know Using a 1/16th Tungsten25 gauge sheet metal with 1/16th filler rod. I used what the chart said for 1/16th which the sheet metal isnt SO i lowered the amps to 45. TIG 200 from Eastwood and used the pedal.  Originally Posted by DSWHello. Really can't see much in that dark picture. When looking for suggestions and help, post as much info as possible. Material, thickness, filler and tungsten size, amps you have the machine set at and approximate weld amperage if using a pedal, etc. The more info we have the better our suggestions can be without guessing. Good luck.
Reply:Originally Posted by LuisNits a thin sheet metal, NOT the best starting point since its so thin... 25 gauge sheet metal with 1/16th filler rod. I used what the chart said for 1/16th which the sheet metal isnt SO i lowered the amps to 45.
Reply:Wow THANK YOU so much, honestly this has been the most helpful site i have been on. right now all i have is 1/16th tungstens for both alum and 1 for steel. i have 1/16th f. rods for alum and steel as well. i will try and find some thicker and long pieces in order to practice on and like u said run beads and get the feel of the pedal. here is one thing, i think i had the tungsten out to far. here is a picor is it ok?why i ask is because i noticed the arc/ spray is very wide.
Reply:No that looks fine as far as how far out the tungsten is sticking out. How far away you hold the tungsten from the material will cause a larger arc. Think of it as a cone, the closer the point is to the plate, the smaller the base of the cone will be. I usually suggest newer students keep the tungsten about 3/16" off the material. It prevents them from dipping the tungsten too much, and is close enough for decent control. I usually suggest students use a bit more stick out with the tungsten so they can see the arc better. The only down side is good gas coverage is harder the farther out you go. A gas lens will help with this. You can often get the tungsten out stupid far and still have good coverage. This can help the new student see the arc and puddle better until the understand whats going on. If you can't see the arc/puddle, you will not be able to weld effectively.1/16" for alum will be almost useless for you at this point. Trying to run on alum thin enough to take the amps 1/16" will handle will be way too tough. For the 1/8" alum we teach students with, we use 1/8" tungstens. 3/32" ones would also work, but you are right at the top of the amp rating on AC with most "mixes" of tungstens. The 1/8" size also makes it easy for the students to spot which tungstens that have in the machine. 3/32" with us is for steel/stainless, 1/8" is for alum..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:Well all newbies start somewhere right? AND we also mess up sometimes right?  wellllll after ur post, i asked myself... Did i have it on ac or dc!? I had it on ac!!!!!! Son of a b! Lol. So you saying start with 3/32 for alum? K
Reply:Depends on the thickness of the alum, the amps you are running and the type of tungsten. I can get away with 150 amps on 3/32" 2% lanthanated, but most times I'll just use 1/8" because it doesn't round over as much and keeps a better point when doing 1/8" alum with AC. I'd probably suggest using 1/8" if you go to do alum.Note alum is a completely different ball game than steel. You need way more amps, and you have to stomp on the pedal to get the puddle going fast and then go like crazy to out run the heat. This makes heat control much more important. Stick with steel to get started..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:Tried a much thicker piece of steel today. i got this nice bead here. dont mind the others i was messing around to feel the puddle as you said. that piece is as thick as 3 quarters .25$ stacked. i used about 80-90 amps. i THOUGHT it wasnt enough, what do you think? I will try again 2morrow but i feel like the puddle is just not puddling to a thinner puddle like most beads. these are very tall puddles.. how would i get a thinner puddle?
Reply:COLD MAN COLD!!!!!!!!. 3 quarters, I;d shoot for 1/4" thick, you need to crank that machine up. Look at the toes (ends of the width).  get yourself some 1/8" thick HR flat bar 2" wide, cut them into strips of 6". And start running beads on each one, letting the strips cool down inbetween. Get good with this, before jumping into aluminum. Learn how to control the puddle.
Reply:so wow, i gotta crank it up?  k i will go get some thicker steel and do as told. ill report back. thanks again guys!
Reply:its a good thing that you post questions here to start something new, i do it a lot to, i watch welding videos on youtube a LOT of times, and i can say that all the TIG technic video on youtube are the best of all process, and if you search a bit you'll find some users of this forum have their own channel and really good explanation!Good Luck!Calculator > Bevel Square
Reply:yeah i actually have been following weldingtipsandtricks for awhile, maybe 2 months before i even bought one. i am getting the tig welding basics dvd soon so ill keep an eye out for that. ill let you guys know if its worth it.  ive been a long time lurker here also, seeing others questions and answers. it helped a lot
Reply:With tig a good rule of thumb is 1 amp per .001" of material. So for 1/8" you'd be looking at roughly 125 amps. I usually have the students set the machine a bit higher, say 140-150 amps. so they can run just a bit above the suggested max if needed. You can't weld with amps you don't have available. I generally don't recommend working with material much thicker than 1/8"- 3/16". Part of the idea is that you want the material to be thin enough that you can burn thru if you stay too long in one place or use too much heat. Almost anyone can make pretty looking beads on 1/2" even with settings that won't work with thinner materials. That really won't teach you anything. The idea is to develop heat control. Trying to work with material thinner than 3/32" to 1/16" when you 1st start out, and all you will do is melt holes. The material is simply too thin to handle any excess heat. Your skills aren't developed enough at that point and people get frustrated when everything suddenly melts on them. Miller has an online tig calculator or if you get their student pack ( available from Millers site) it comes with a nice little slide rule like calculator that gives suggestions on filler size, amps, tungsten size etc. I'd highly recommend the student pack to anyone who's trying to learn tig. You can also download most of the material in the tig book..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:So here i tried again, 1/8th thick steel and set the pedal and machine at 180-200 amps. Here are some puddle passes i did about 20 of them over and over. And then i tried some welds, i liked this one its the one on the right of course. i tried to get a feeling of the angle and also how to dip the filler rod. what do you guys think. im going to keep practicing.
Reply:On thin metal  (sheet metal)  don't spend a lot of time at a low heat setting moving slow...The least amount of heat you put into the weld past melting the filler and parent metal the better......So try to get your heat and dabs in sync. and establish a rhythm.it takes time but when you figure it out you will be able to run beads faster and not over cook the metal.....Takes practice, so don't get discouraged.....Heat is sheet metals enemy (Warping occurs even more ) Skip welding is advisedcooling with air hose in between welds.  Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock