First Tig welds

admin

Well I'm practicing my Tig welding with my Thermal Arc 80. I was having major issues with melting the Tungsten into the cup, every time. My welder is used, so I had no idea how to set it up, so I set up the torch as + and the ground as -. Yea, that didn't work . Once I figured it out, I went to it. 10CFM of Argon, 16 gauge steel, 1/16 thoriated tungsten, and loads of smiles!!! No filler rod yet, but I'm prob going to go back to Lowes to pick up some more scrap sheet metal to continue practicing. Overall I'm happy. You can see on the right side of the steel where I was actually AC welding, it didn't work at all! Heart for the wife
Reply:Looks like too much heat and not enough filler slow down a bit practice makes perfectHobart mega arc 250 Airco dipstick160 air liquide cutting torches arc air gouger and so many more goodiesIf you cant dazzle them with brillants baffle them with bullsh$t
Reply:He said he wasnt using any filler.  Turn your flow up to 15 and I am just guessing, but try and tighten up your arc gap between the tungsten and work.  Actually try that before you add more flow.   Your welds dont look especially hot.  So I would assume you arent using enough amps to break down the tungsten quickly.  You have a rough guess to how many amps you are using?Lots of toys.
Reply:Yes I am using about 50-55 amps. I'm still getting used to trying to touch start it, and it sucks, but I'll keep trying.