My first welds with 'Tiggy'

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In my rush to do a little practicing this afternoon with my 'new' Syncrowave 180 I just grabbed couple pieces of leftover 16ga, 2-1/4" mild steel exhaust tube from a recent exhaust system fab, cleaned the edges with a flap disc, looked for the best fit of the rough cut edges, tacked them up and went to work trying my hand at tigging up some CS.  Not that I ever doubted it knowing what I do know about tig welding but I taught myself first hand that fit up is paramount with butt welds with or without filler.With that said, I did as David R suggested in 'My very first SS tig welds' thread and kept my amp setting higher than needed to force myself to work the pedal and eventually found it easier than I expected.  Still need a lot of practice time though for sure.  I need to work with more stick out as I kept loosing sight of the arc as I worked around the pipe and had to stop and reposition.  Didn't think to use more stick out until later.Settings:DCEN3/32" 'red' tungsten (came with the unit) ground to a 'flat tip' point per manual#7 cup (came with the unit)100% argon @ 20cfh (perhaps a little much ?)85amps max (display showed max amps between 10-21amps when I thought to look)Post flow - 12secFiller - coat hangar with coating cleaned off with flapper discPhoto 1:No filler from fit up gap blow-out (bottom) to about 3/4" from the top.Filler used to fix fit up gap blow-out from there up to where gap was just too large to mess with.A couple flat puddle practice welds on either side of the joint.Photo 2:All filler in fit up gap region.A bunch of other practice welds but was all playing with the pedal, fit up gap blow-outs, filler, no filler, arc gap, plunges, etc.  These were just the best ones for a critique.Thanks in advance for your pointers and suggestions. Attached ImagesMM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Congrats on your new welder!  I bet you were happier than a dog w/ two richardsPics not bad for first time.  Keep em coming weld it like you own it
Reply:The weld looks good as does the fit up!I hope my first tig welds and fit up look as good!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:Originally Posted by STwelderThe weld looks good as does the fit up!I hope my first tig welds and fit up look as good!
Reply:Hey, you got it home!!!!  Not laying on the highway somewhere with a really bad story to go along with it. Safe and sound at the Home 20.ENJOYSomeone's gonna be late for supper for a while"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by duaneb55but I taught myself first hand that fit up is paramount with butt welds with or without filler.
Reply:For better fitup, just cut the pipe with a hacksaw almost all the way through then weld it back together.  clean off the coating on the pipe first.  You can get a lot of practice on one piece of pipe that way.No need to critique, you know what it should look like.Practice on some flat stock so you can look at the other side.  Sometimes when its too hot, the bead will "sink" into the plate and be visible on the other side.David  Ready for a coke can yet?  Real world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:try leaving the amps set way up and use the pedal ..but if youre set at 85 and using 21 i guess you are..try a bit of preflow -1/2 second or so--to be sure theres some argon when the arc strikes..6 seconds post is plenty..what david said about cutting tubing/pipe 99% through works great--no fitup, no tack, just practice the bead...
Reply:Originally Posted by Craig in DenverMaybe in a perfect world. I think the whole purpose of TIG and a pedal is for 'adjusting gaps'. And I'm still trying to prove it 'to myself'. Not that I'm qualified, but it's the entire point of owning my TIG.   Show-off.  Something I'd always believed was, the more stick-out the better; easier to see. But something I've learned in class; the more stick-out, the easier to dip the tungsten. Now, depending on the position, I use as short a stick-out as possible. And (sometimes), I bump the cup before dipping the tungsten. Something to think about.Yes, I think. On low amp mild steel, 12cfh will save your bottle.You can cut that in half. If your tungsten isn't turning black/blue, you have enough post flow.Coat hangar  Well, if you don't have porosity...............  ER70S-6 has more deoxidizers (than S-2) and will handle slightly 'less clean' base metal.See my sig for qualifications.
Reply:Originally Posted by duaneb55Craig, Where do I start beyond thanks for the requested pointers and usual jovial comments.  They're always appreciated and welcomed.