TIG Aluminium Welding - Correct?

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Hi guys,I am a back yard engineer from Melbourne Australia and have made a video of us doing some aluminium welding with a TIG in the shed and I was wondering if any of you could give me some feed back and comment on what we are doing wrong or right?Your help is very much appreciated.CheersCammo
Reply:Well it's not the worst video I've seen, but...You seem to sharpen the tungsten to a sharp point, but later it is balled up. There's greater possibility of dropping tungsten into the weld unless you either grind the point off, or ball it up on a test piece.  200amps seems a lot for what you were welding, so either you were only half down on the controller or you are using a lot of electrode positive (cleaning action) which would explain why the electrode is so balled.It would be better if you were wearing safety boots2nd hint - it's not tungsten carbide - just tungsten (well strictly speaking - usually tungsten alloyed with zirconium or lanthanum, etc.)15mm is a big arc gap to start with, somewhere between 2 and 3mm would be more like it.Lack of penetration at beginning of the first weld (needed to linger more before adding filler). Second weld was betterTypo at 1:10 setablishedfiller rod slip at 1:24 doesn't look good, and your filler is balling up1:28 you remove the shielding straight away - potential for contamination.You didn't tack or clamp up the work beforehand - poor technique to be conveying to beginners.Is this meant to be an instructional video (like it says in your comments)? If so I'd ditch it and do another (properly), if it's just to get feedback on technique, then I'd put that right at the beginning, not the end. Hope this helps- Mick (another aussie)
Reply:With that inverter machine, you don't need a balled tungsten to weld Aluminum.  It looks like you're using pure which balls up right away.  Try 2% Lanthanated ground to a point.It also looks like you're holding the filler rod too close to the arc and it's melting before it hits the puddle.  You kinda want to slide it under the puddle at a shallow angle so it's only melted by the puddle and not the arc.Your aluminum should be freshly brushed with a SS brush.  It looks dirty to me.I'm also a bit surprised that it took so long to form a puddle.  The second try was on hot metal so it looked much better.  At 200 amps on the machine, I would've expected a puddle almost instantly.  You have to mash the peddle down at the beginning and then back off.Last edited by Drf255; 01-06-2013 at 07:21 AM.TA Arcmaster 300CM3XMT 304S22P12 suitcase feederX-Treme 12VSOptima pulserTA161SMaxstar 150STLHypertherm PM45OP setupStihl 020AVP, 039, 066 Magnum
Reply:+2 on the lanthinated tungstenMiller bobcat 225g  - spoolmatic 1Mm250 - 30a spoolMiller spectrum 375Thermal arc 95 Everlast Ex 250As the boiler turns, these are the days of our lives
Reply:+3 on using 2%La tungsten.  It will stay "pointier" and the resulting arc will be more focused, and less likely to ball up the filler before you get to actually dab the puddle with it.Along with leaving the torch directly over the end of the weld for the post-flow to cool the weld and avoid contamination, it is generally considered a good idea to add in an extra dab of filler on the last bead just before slowly tapering off on the current while swirling the arc around in a tiny circle.  This avoids making a "crater" in the last bead which may cause the bead to start cracking.Last edited by Oscar; 01-06-2013 at 12:05 PM.
Reply:+4 on the Lanthanated tungsten.At the end of your weld, taper off the foot pedal and agitate the puddle a bit to not leave a crater like Oscar said. And hold the gas over the frozen puddle to allow the postflow gas to cover it like Oscar mentioned, as opposed to yanking it away. Yanking it away is a bad habit to form. Other metals, like stainless, or titanium needs copious amount of post flow.I see you are dripping your filler metal into the puddle. I teach my newbies to cram filler into the puddle and plump it up for correct thickness and reinforcement. When I see dripping I know that horizontal, vertical, and overhead tigging are out of the question.Last edited by shovelon; 01-06-2013 at 12:28 PM.Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:Pretty much what the guys stated more heat, more direct dabs, your final welds looked good especially for a beginner......Also be VERY careful grinding your tungsten with it pointing at the direction of the wheel/sander  when it catches that stone or belt and goes through your hand it won't feel good......or it explodes all over and hits someone in the face/eyes.......get rid of the rest and point it down...  Miller Dynasty 350Twenty Six HammersThree Crow BarsBig Rock
Reply:Originally Posted by B_CPretty much what the guys stated more heat, more direct dabs, your final welds looked good especially for a beginner......Also be VERY careful grinding your tungsten with it pointing at the direction of the wheel/sander  when it catches that stone or belt and goes through your hand it won't feel good......or it explodes all over and hits someone in the face/eyes.......get rid of the rest and point it down...
Reply:Originally Posted by B_CAlso be VERY careful grinding your tungsten with it pointing at the direction of the wheel/sander  when it catches that stone or belt and goes through your hand it won't feel good......or it explodes all over and hits someone in the face/eyes.......get rid of the rest and point it down...
Reply:Hey Guys, really appreciate all of your feedback.  Ok, will go thru and set it up again using hopefully all of the tips you have given us here.  Really helpful.* Must change the tungsten to 2% (Blue?)* Grind electrode from the top* Will clamp the work piece* Will use the safety boots I wear everyday!* Welder only set on 70A, can go to 200A* Ball it up on a test piece (Copper and is this totally necessary?)Thanks for the tips, will re-do a vid so you can let me know if we are moving in the right direction.Ok so I was mucking around in the shed and cut out some steel sheeting with the plasma cutter.  Let me know how I can improve this please:
Reply:Balling up of the tungsten is not necessary unless you purposely need a wide arc/cleaning action to the workpiece.  The use of 2%La (blue band) tungsten allows the tungsten to maintain a sharp point for better arc control, which is what most people usually aim for.  Even then, if you purposely need a ball on the tungsten for a wide arc, pure tungsten balls easier due to it's lack of current capacity compared to other types of tungsten blends.Last edited by Oscar; 01-12-2013 at 10:59 PM.