Looking for fundamental TIG welding tips

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Some of you might have seen my post in the Miller section about researching & bringing to life an old Arc Pak 350. Well, today I ran my first ever TIG weld without any filler and i`m hooked. I had no idea what to expect as i`ve never handled a TIG torch or so much as seen someone TIG weld before. I just ran a couple quick clean beads across some 3/16" mild steel with pure argon and about 60-70 amps estimated.So some of the questions I have are:How do you guys hold the torch? Do you try to rest your forearms, or would I be better off trying to hover free hand from the start? I realize that many welds I might do will not have any place to rest my arms, so it might be best to learn a more difficult technique to begin with.What kind of distance should I expect to keep the electrode from the work piece? Gas flow, i`m running about 15 CFH pure argon right now on my initial tests and the welds look great.It seems to be quite a learning curve from MIG or my personal favorite - stick welding.And the last thing - when moving the torch, should I try to keep it in a very uniform firm straight line, or do any sort of weaving, circling, or movement - moving in a clean straight line alone seems to hold a nice puddle.If anyone has any suggested reading, please pass it along - I do a ton of reading & research on any subject that interests me.I have also had alot of trouble finding any photos or videos of people TIG welding to see their technique, stance, and so forth.
Reply:Im pretty new to tig welding so I cant personally give suggetions but you tube has some interesting videos on tigging.
Reply:Weldingtipsandtricks.com has the best videos and easy to follow printed information that you can find, and its all free.Esab Migmaster 250Lincoln SA 200Lincoln Ranger 8Smith Oxy Fuel setupEverlast PowerPlasma 80Everlast Power iMIG 160Everlast Power iMIG 205 Everlast Power iMIG 140EEverlast PowerARC 300Everlast PowerARC 140STEverlast PowerTIG 255EXT
Reply:To answer your three direct questions;Torch angle should be 75 degrees to the work piece; with filler (when you do add it to the equation,) at ~15 degrees to the work piece; being 90 degrees to the torch.Keep the tungsten within 1/8" of work piece.Gas flow between 15 & 20 cfh is good for most applications.As for resting the arm; floating freehand is tough, if you can succeed at it, you will be pretty much limitless with positions."SOUTHPAW" A wise person learns from another persons mistakes;A smart person learns from their own mistakes;But, a stupid person.............never learns.
Reply:http://www.lincolnelectric.com/knowl...icles/list.asphttp://www.millerwelds.com/education...les_search.php  Drill down to find this: http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/gtawbook.pdfhttp://www.esab.com/global/en/education/processes.cfmhttp://www.hobartwelders.com/elearning/Lincoln sells an extensive but inexpensive line of hardback and paperback welding instruction and reference books at their website.  https://ssl.lincolnelectric.com/linc...p?PID=16&cat=8Last edited by Teddco; 04-09-2010 at 10:50 PM.TeddCoHTP Microcut 400 & Invertig 160DC  Smith Dual Guard MD-510 OA Rig  Lincoln SP135+  Hobart Stickmate LX 235/160
Reply:Most the basics are covered. As for moving in a straight line or running some sort of weave, thats all going to depend on what you're welding. With a little experience it should become obvious weather you want to run a weave or not. As for learning to weld without any arm support, that is an excelent idea. I recomend learning to do it standing on one foot (other foot is operating the pedal), overhead with nothing around you to lean against. If you can learn to do that, anything else will be a cake walk.
Reply:Thanks everyone for the info, this is a huge help - i`ll devour this for the foreseeable future. Originally Posted by Grimm1Most the basics are covered. As for moving in a straight line or running some sort of weave, thats all going to depend on what you're welding. With a little experience it should become obvious weather you want to run a weave or not. As for learning to weld without any arm support, that is an excelent idea. I recomend learning to do it standing on one foot (other foot is operating the pedal), overhead with nothing around you to lean against. If you can learn to do that, anything else will be a cake walk.
Reply:I suggest learning without using foot control as it takes one variable out of the guesswork.  It's a must-have for aluminum but not mild.  As for hand position, the pic without gloves is for clarification only.  Note fingers gently rest on workpiece.  May have to stretch further as workpiece heats up. Attached Images
Reply:just learning how to TIG ... only have a lift off TIG without foot control for now. power supply is an old tomstone Idealarc 250. keeping a lookout for a HF ... hope an affordable one pops up soon. thanks for sharing....
Reply:The short answer is get as comfortable as possible when learning to weld until you have the confidence that all is well. You probably got that part with SMAW etc.After you learn the settings, look, feel, sound, etc, the "little man in your head" will help you adjust to difficult positions and torch angles.Many used to insist that a person learn to gas weld first before tig. That was no fun if the torch was a Victor 300 series with the long 000 tip....Still some folks doing bike frames that way (not with the sledge sized torch though).Matt
Reply:Some great advice already, I would add; 1. Grip the torch in your hand as lightly as you can without it falling out, this stops your arm cramping up, thus giving you more freedom of movement.2. When welding free hand, use a slight weave or circular motion even if you don't really need to, as it is far easier to control the torch this way.3. Learn how to walk the cup, as sometimes it's just easier, say you're welding a horizontal tube to the side of a post, like on a hand rail or something. Not saying that you should reley on this method, but it's another string to your bow. 4. Learn how to feed the filler wire with your fingers, then learn to do it without resting your arm/hand on anything. 5. Learn how to use the "lay wire" technique as well, as sometimes dipping the filler will just make an out of position weld harder than it needs to be, When you're doing it right you should feel a slight resistance, kind of like you're pushing a stick into the sand. Hope this helps!
Reply:Thanks everyone for the tips, I tried everything except walking the cup and in my opinion I was able to produce some decent dime shaped welds - however not very consistent since i`m so new to this method. I found that resting on the bench became the most sloppy because I was unable to slide my hand along for a longer weld - once I started hovering above the weld it was much cleaner.And my other big issue was my tendency to feed the filler metal in constantly and produce some TIG like MIG welds, lol. But once I figured out how to maintain a puddle and make a quick clean dab every second or so the welds began to look more like my high end bicycle frame.Now I just need to work on consistency and maintaining a very equal sized weld throughout the process.I do have new questions though:Most important - I only tried one T-joint and it was terrible, it seemed the tungsten was too far from the metal - so does this mean my cup size is too big? (lol) or the tungsten is not out far enough?Thanks again everyone, i`ll add some photos later.
Reply:How far is your tungsten "stick-out"?If you are using a gas-lens, you can stick-out about 1/4" without having any lack of coverage problem. That should be enough to put the tip of your tungsten plenty close to the joint."SOUTHPAW" A wise person learns from another persons mistakes;A smart person learns from their own mistakes;But, a stupid person.............never learns.
Reply:just think the whole time..."I will not lose my job to a robot". get conmfy hold that speedway like a pencil and move your arm like a chicken wing when you feed that rod. Try pulse and **** lift arc.
Reply:Originally Posted by papabearHow far is your tungsten "stick-out"?If you are using a gas-lens, you can stick-out about 1/4" without having any lack of coverage problem. That should be enough to put the tip of your tungsten plenty close to the joint.
Reply:Originally Posted by carlitoSome of you might have seen my post in the Miller section about researching & bringing to life an old Arc Pak 350. Well, today I ran my first ever TIG weld without any filler and i`m hooked. I had no idea what to expect as i`ve never handled a TIG torch or so much as seen someone TIG weld before. I just ran a couple quick clean beads across some 3/16" mild steel with pure argon and about 60-70 amps estimated.So some of the questions I have are:How do you guys hold the torch? Do you try to rest your forearms, or would I be better off trying to hover free hand from the start? I realize that many welds I might do will not have any place to rest my arms, so it might be best to learn a more difficult technique to begin with.What kind of distance should I expect to keep the electrode from the work piece? Gas flow, i`m running about 15 CFH pure argon right now on my initial tests and the welds look great.It seems to be quite a learning curve from MIG or my personal favorite - stick welding.And the last thing - when moving the torch, should I try to keep it in a very uniform firm straight line, or do any sort of weaving, circling, or movement - moving in a clean straight line alone seems to hold a nice puddle.If anyone has any suggested reading, please pass it along - I do a ton of reading & research on any subject that interests me.I have also had alot of trouble finding any photos or videos of people TIG welding to see their technique, stance, and so forth.