I am bad at tig welding!

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Hi, I'm a 16 years old and was wondering if any of you people on here had any tips on how to tig weld? I cant seem to get a constant beed. What am I doing wrong? I will post some pictures of my welds tommarow when I get home from school since that is where the tig welder is. And if your wondering the tig welder I'm using is a miller dynasty 200 and I'm welding 16 guage steel. Thanks!
Reply:Well, first off, welcome to the board!!Pictures will definitely help us out in helping you.Secondly, I would start by practicing on something thicker than 16ga. Try at least 1/8" until you get the hang of it and make sure that the metal you are welding on is CLEAN.You didn't mention if the 16ga is hot rolled or cold rolled...if it's hot, the scale on it will make your weld turn to crap.Clean whatever you are welding with acetone first. Then place the acetone container FAR away from your work area.You might even try some stainless first, that way you can just fuse it and learn the consistent movement required to control your bead then you can move onto controlling your filler.- Paulhttp://all-a-cart.comWelding Cart Kits and accessories
Reply:I learned by reading this write up on a mustang forum - http://www.turbomustangs.com/smf/ind...?topic=45418.0I ended up printing the first 4-5 pages and bringing it down to my jobs shop and practiced practiced and practiced. I am still practicing. I make projects too keep practicing. The more you burn the more you learn. Good luck... There are a lot of good guys here that will help you....
Reply:Good advice from ZTfab, try welds without filler first, and try stainless first, try thicker first.A 90 degree, outside corner joint, on stainless steel, 1/8" thick, done without adding any filler, would be the simplest thing to start with. Start with some small tack welds about 4" apart, so the joint will stay tightly fit-up for welding.  A tight fit-up joint, with no gaps, is critical to getting a consistent fusion weld (without filler).Try a straight line movement of the torch down the center of the joint, constant speed, no weaving, and most importantly - a constant tip-to-work distance (arc length) of no more than 1/8", ideally around 1/16" or less.  With a short arc length, the transfer of power from the arc is more concentrated and controllable.  I"m more experienced in automated welding  than manual, so I always think in terms of how a machine would control every movement perfectly, since imperfections in movement cause imperfections in the weld.This type of fusion welding practice should be a simple first step, easier than trying to add filler and weave, etc.  This will give you a good idea of how good your argon shielding is also, slight gold is good, blues and purples are not good, and crusty black is the worst.  Use a gas lens for the best shielding, and "higher flow rates are not better, they cause turbulence", experiment and see what flow rate you need, it may be only 10 -15 cubic feet per hour of Argon (cfh).!00% Argon, no CO2 or O2 mixes, these are for MIG.
Reply:I like this..its about time someone else had the answers... ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Also, if it isn't obvious already to you, rest part of your torch hand against something while welding, so your hand isn't just 'hanging out in space' as you try to keep the tungsten close to the work. If you can have the edge of your hand against something solid, so just your fingers are moving the tip of the torch, it is much easier. - John
Reply:absolute cleanliness for tig.  Don't worry to much about shop class, pay a little more attention in english     Sorry, just messing with ya. DewayneDixieland WeldingMM350PLincoln 100Some torchesOther misc. tools