TIG drills

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I just stuck my first 2 pieces of steel together tonight with a TIG.  Not the greatest (looks like an inebriated dirt dobber's work) but I'm still happy.  Not bad for a $100 dollar ac/dc tig welder.  My question is what are the best TIG practice methods?
Reply:Originally Posted by spitfireflyrI just stuck my first 2 pieces of steel together tonight with a TIG.  Not the greatest (looks like an inebriated dirt dobber's work) but I'm still happy.  Not bad for a $100 dollar ac/dc tig welder.  My question is what are the best TIG practice methods?
Reply:Originally Posted by spitfireflyrI just stuck my first 2 pieces of steel together tonight with a TIG.  Not the greatest (looks like an inebriated dirt dobber's work) but I'm still happy.  Not bad for a $100 dollar ac/dc tig welder.  My question is what are the best TIG practice methods?
Reply:What welder are you using? I'm building a budget (some would say useless) TIG setup and I'm jealous that you got a setup for $100! That's crazy!
Reply:Hey thanks for the replies.  I will head off to the scrap yard and get some scrap pieces.  I will post pics as I go.Taiden - I got the welder (ESAB 250 UM) off craigslist.  The guy I got it from said that it was broken and that he thought it might be the foot pedal.  He said he wasn't an electrician and that he would rather MIG weld anyways.  All that was wrong with it was one of the wires in the foot pedal was broken.  Now it works great and it's an AC/DC machine.  "I've been buying lottery tickets lately too"
Reply:Wow you got lucky! You might hit the lottery tonight. Post up some pics of the welds. Congrats on the machineYa gotta spend money to make money!
Reply:Originally Posted by spitfireflyrHey thanks for the replies.  I will head off to the scrap yard and get some scrap pieces.  I will post pics as I go.Taiden - I got the welder (ESAB 250 UM) off craigslist.  The guy I got it from said that it was broken and that he thought it might be the foot pedal.  He said he wasn't an electrician and that he would rather MIG weld anyways.  All that was wrong with it was one of the wires in the foot pedal was broken.  Now it works great and it's an AC/DC machine.  "I've been buying lottery tickets lately too"
Reply:Taiden,It's not that hard to wire up 220.  How far is your breaker box from the garage.  I was lucky and my breaker box is in the garage.  I only had to wire about 2 feet to put my plug in.
Reply:spitfireflyr,It's a complicated situation. It's an old house with grandfathered wiring, and a house I am renting, so 220v in the garage simply is not an option... sadly.
Reply:Do you have a plug in for the dryer.  You could always make an extension cord.
Reply:The dryer is hardwired into its circuit.Unfortunately I've looked into my options and still haven't come up with a good solution...
Reply:Well here is the first pic.  The top 2 on the right were before I figured out that I wasn't pushing the pedal far enough.  The second pic is of my old welder.   It's a beast, about the size of a small freezer.Couple of questions:How do you set the intensity, and high frequency control?I know that they are only use high frequency to start in dc. Attached Images
Reply:wow, that is a steal of a deal on that machine. If you'd like, I'll give you $150 for the ESAB.
Reply:Sweet man!  Start building crap.  Coupons are cool, but wine racks are coooooooler Although, i'm ADHD as hell, but i just find it more rewarding when you build something rather than waste so much gas running endless beads on flat stock.Post some more pics as your projects progress!
Reply:Built my welding bench today.  I'll post pics later.  it's hard to keep the tungsten out of the puddle when you are having to reach.  Had to learn to use my knee today to press the pedal.
Reply:haha...congrats on the awesome deal man! I got almost the same deal as you! $100 for the welder and lots of help from the guys on the forum to fix the PCB problem (remote problem too). gonna buy me an argon tank next week and be ready to go like youabout your welds; any experts please correct me if I am wrong, but by looking at the welds on the left, I think you are moving the puddle too slow. how I like to do it (which may not be correct), is start my first puddle and feed some filler into it, remove the filler rod, fairly quickly move the puddle a concise distance, such as the new puddle will be centered roughly at the end of the old (now cooling) puddle. then add more filler, and repeat. its almost a jerky motion, but I find I get a better looking bead and more penetration per puddle. I like my welds with lots of separation between the starts of each puddle - roughly 50% overlap.find a nice aluminum mountain bike and study those welds, they are usually a good example
Reply:while you are learning to make the puddle, practice to keep the arc length as short as you can..long arc length is the cause of many problems.
Reply:I'm working on the arc length.  It's not too hard on the bench, but if you are working at some off angle, using your knee to move the pedal, it gets very difficult (for me).  I'm doing college courses right now and I am about 2 papers behind, due tomorrow and I haven't even started them.  Hopefully this weekend I will have a chance to practice welding, and not just sharpening my tungsten. LOL.
Reply:Originally Posted by spitfireflyrI'm working on the arc length.  It's not too hard on the bench, but if you are working at some off angle, using your knee to move the pedal, it gets very difficult (for me).  I'm doing college courses right now and I am about 2 papers behind, due tomorrow and I haven't even started them.  Hopefully this weekend I will have a chance to practice welding, and not just sharpening my tungsten. LOL.