TIG newbie just playin

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Had some time this afternoon to TIG.  Ugly welds and beads, but I'm still on my first bottle of gas and first pound of wire (only owned the machine a week).  My TIG welds are strong but very ugly.  Got miles to go.The angle (tig1 and tig4) is just running beads.The 1" x 1/8" flat bar (tig3) are welds (weld/cut/weld/cut . . .).  The huge craters in the bar were holes I burned yesterday that I filled today.The thing in the middle (tig2) is 1/8" bar welded to some 24 gauge sheet.  Didn't burn through the sheet but melted the crap out of the edge of the bar.In a while I hope to post some much better welds.  It's fun.  Like it much better than MIG (even though my TIG welds look like such crap just yet).Cheers. Attached ImagesLast edited by phila.renewal; 03-23-2007 at 06:58 PM.
Reply:Don't give up.. You will make it eventually..Try to remember what don't work rather than what does..Sounds strange..But at first your gonna be saying.."Well that did'nt work" much more that "Well thats just fine"...Trust me.. ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:I won't give up.  It's been a little frustrating 'cause the first few fusion welds I did right out of the box looked great so I thought maybe I could get the hang of it quick.  No so fast!  Tonight I started practice welding on the sheet metal.  Bead after bead after bead.  Much easier to see the heat on the thin stuff.Went back to the 1/8" angle and it's getting a bit better.  I have no pedal so by the end of the bead, things are moving quick.I'm still having trouble stopping, but I'll leave that for another time.Here's a couple more beads.  Much better than the last. Attached Images
Reply:Originally Posted by phila.renewalI won't give up.  It's been a little frustrating 'cause the first few fusion welds I did right out of the box looked great so I thought maybe I could get the hang of it quick.  No so fast!  Tonight I started practice welding on the sheet metal.  Bead after bead after bead.  Much easier to see the heat on the thin stuff.Went back to the 1/8" angle and it's getting a bit better.  I have no pedal so by the end of the bead, things are moving quick.I'm still having trouble stopping, but I'll leave that for another time.Here's a couple more beads.  Much better than the last.
Reply:Practice , practice , practice............ The last pic looks a hell of a lot better than the first few. Learning to TIG without a pedal can be a bit trying....... but it is experience that is good to have._________________Chris
Reply:Thanks for the tips.  I will keep practicing and trying.  I really enjoy it and look at it as a challenge.  The sheet metal practice actually does help 'cause if you get too hot or lose the rhythm it lets you know in a big way.    It's also a lot cheaper in terms of wasting materials for practice.I tried to add a pedal to my TIG unit (the Harbor Freight red), but in playing around with the circuit I melted a tungsten quickly so I decided I don't know what I'm doing without a schematic and would end up either burning the unit or me pretty bad.   The circuit will let way too much current flow and I'm sure would quickly self destruct -- so experimenting by making changes and observing outcome to try to figure out how it was designed have ended.  The objective was to add a second variable resistance to the existing current control, but it appears that it uses that control as a voltage divider and I have no way to know if the resistance across the entire pot is important to it, so to make it work I would have to replace the existing pot and add a pot to keep the total resistance across both pots the same as stock.  I may try a more conservative approach another time.  If I can figure it out, I'll post instructions so other guys with the HF can also add a pedal.Anyway, no pedal or finger control.  I had been moving slower at the start and then as the metal heats up move faster to try to keep the puddle consistant.  I'll try lifting the torch more at the end also.  Thanks for the tip!One thing that makes it fun is looking at a lot of the TIG welding you guys are doing and trying to measure up.  A lot of great work.One inspiration is my better half has promised a better unit for my b'day if I make her some orny out of aluminum.  I have been using MIG for that but I think TIG is really the way to go for good weld appearance without a lot of post-weld finishing.Anyway, again thanks for the words of encouragement.  That does help to keep it fun even when it's frustrating at times. Last edited by phila.renewal; 03-24-2007 at 08:24 AM.
Reply:The second set of pics look good. Don't worry about the lack of pedal. I rarely use mine. When you break the arc, you want to break and get back down quickly to keep the stop shielded for several seconds. If you just break the stop gets crudded and is more likely to crater. PPull away at moderate speed to reduce the heat, then the moment the arc breaks go right back down just about to contact.When you start adding filler, it is a lot easier to control the heat... the filler cools the puddle down as it melts in.Some people have mentioned one one or another of the boards that they just took the panel pot off the HF machine, put iton a cable, and used that for the remote current control, if you feel it will help you. I started learning to TIG using a Lincoln SA motor-generator, scratch start, gas valve on the torch. It was actually nice to run, but I really appreciated the Synchrowave when it showed up in the shop for the HF start and the footswitch more than the current control on the pedal. I mostly only use a switch (foot or fingertip) these days. If you are a little hot, run faster or shovel in a little more filler. Too cold, turn the machine up. Too hot is better than too cold.Too cold has all kinds of problems. Incomplete fusion being the most obvious, but you put more heat into the work when you are cold (you have to move so slowly) giving a bigger HAZ and the associated reduction in properties of the base metal, distortion will be greater, and a bevy of other issues. Too hot can lead to problems as well, but you need to be way too hot for real trouble.
Reply:I think I'm starting to get the hang of it.  Maybe it's like riding a bike.  Have to fall off many times before getting the hang of it.The pic is 1" x 1" square thinwall tubing.  I forgot to put a dime in the pic. I'll soon be fabricating a set of steel window frames for a basement bulkhead for a neighbor (the neighbor wants sort of a medieval  style looking window).  I test finished some of my most recent TIG welds and the grinder can be put away.  A fine flap disk was enough to make it look as if it was always one (close enough to get started anyway).  Success!  Anyway when I finish the window frames I'll post more pics.  Thanks again for the help and encouragement.I'm still waiting for my b'day --  Attached Images
Reply:Getting better and better. Make sure when you end the weld that you hold the torch over the hot area for about 5 seconds or so. The metal needs the purge gas and you won't get those pesky little holes at the end.John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:Looks MUCH better.  Build those window frames.  Make some $ with that machine.David