Tig Woes

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I am starting to learn to tig (mild steel) and I kept having problems. I am practicing welding tubing so I can eventually get to the point where I can tig weld my roll cages, but I had a hard time getting the filler to "fill". It would stick to the tungsten very quickly. I just read that the tungsten needs to be INSIDE the cup?? I thought it had to be out of the cup... Someone told me they use music to pace themselves and they just tap the filler in or something... Some tips to get me going would be nice.. Thanks
Reply:how wide is the gap between the tubing and what size filler are you using?
Reply:I leave the tungston sticking out just so I can see the sharpened part.  About 1/4" give or take.  Filler shouldn't stick to the tungston because it should never touch the tungston.  Once you contaminate the electrode, stop, grind and start again.Everything clean?No gaps?DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:sounds like you are intentionally touching the filler to the tungsten? If so, you are mis-understanding the process....hold torch near vertical, maybe 1/8" to 3/16" from the base material. Get a puddle started, maybe 1/4" diameter or so. Hold your filler rod at a very *slight* angle to the base material (i.e. nearly 90degrees with respect to your torch), and gently poke it into the edge of the puddle. The puddle melts the filler a bit, adding material to the puddle.Move your torch along, towards your filler rod, until about the edge of the puddle. repeat above process.It takes some practice, without a doubt.Good luck,John
Reply:It is a "t" joint, no gaps anyways. I dont know what size the filler rod was... I know that the filler shouldnt hit the tungsten but I have a hard time keeping the puddle going and when I try to add filler I always end up hitting the tungsten...
Reply:Tig takes a lot of practice, but it sounds like you are on the right path.  I usually have my tungsten sticking out no more than 1/8"  *unless* I am welding an inside corner or something where i really need the extra stickout.  Just remember:  Pause, dip, move, pause, dip...etc...   I found that "We wish you a Merry Christmas" was useful as a learning song, but everybody has their own way...lol
Reply:You might also try just doing beads on a flat piece of steel - no sense having the variable of tubing added to the equation when you are learning. Run some beads on a flat piece, no joint involved, to get the coordination between your hands worked out. Keep at it, you'll get it!- John
Reply:Yeah I figured I would want to weld cages so learning tubing would be important but I think I will go to something easier for now! Ill let you guys know how it goes.
Reply:fordman, I agree with runchman. Get some flat stock to learn on. General TIG setup. Start with the base metal thickness, and match the tungsten diameter and filler to that.Example 1/8" mild steel base metal, weld a flat stringer beadred tungsten 3/32, stick out 1-2 diametersfiller 1/16"-3/32"  E70s-3 (mild steel)nozzle 3x tungsten dia. gas flow 20 cfh argonamps 85-95torch angle 15deg. push anglework angle 90deg flat position1/16"-1/8" arc gap between base and tungstentravel speed to produce a weld bead one electrode diameterfiller metal close to base metal @ 20deg above and no side angledip straight into the puddleget as comfortable as possible and practice a little with no arcthen give it your best make sure you have a good view of the puddle when you dip the filler to the electrode or in the puddle take a break and grind it, tungsten should be ground to @ 15-25deg angle always grind in line with the tungsten not perpendicularmake sure you have a good ground and clean metal with good joint fituphope this helps you can do it post some pics
Reply:Ron covell has an into to tig video for $40 or you can rent it from smartflix.com for $9.95  It showed me some things I was doing wrong....Thermal Arc 185 TigHTP 200 MigCraftsman O/A1942 Bridgeport Mill12 Ton Hyd PressConsew Walking Foot