TIG Welding Learning Post
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That's a good link. Might save me hunting down somebody with a tig when I have a few alloy bits to join.

Paul,

definately looks like you dipped the tungsten, when you do that stop, remove it, regrind it and reball the end using DC on a bit of steel. Also stainless brush the workpeice in stroke of the same direction.

If you try to worth through it you're just pissing into the wind....

I'm particuarly deft at dipping the tungsten so I usually place the tungsten level, or slightly below the cup.

I think one reason the cup cracked is when you dipped the tugsten it picked up enough ally to bridge across to the cup and so transfer lots of heat to it.

settings wise you have more Knobs than on mine, and i never bother with the pedal, i just pulse the trigger.

for what you are doing there i would have the current set to about 100-120A initially, then back it off after striking up to about 75A, preflow about 1sec, postflow about 2-2.5 sec, down slope amps about 2 sec, and I always run the cleaning amps (pulswidth?) all the way up to give max cleaning, Gas i run about 8 somthings LPM?


You are running a white tip tungsten arn't you Paul?

Thanks Joe.

I'm running the white tip tungsten, 2.4mm diameter.

Gas flow was all over the place. I'll get some more gas in the week and try again next weekend.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

that stuffs good for small repairs and the like, not much use on big stuff as its hard to get enough heat into the metal.

the material ends up being quite hard, so its good for tapping a thread into.

That's Durafix Easyweld. I've bought some as a back up, but want to get the hang of TIG welding, particularly as I have all the gear.

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Oh the only other thought Paul is, sit down and weld, but you probably are anyway.

Had a few moments this afternoon to play. First sample was a complete balls up, second one was well chuffed. Then got confidence....and was fooked again!

Using the shroud as a resting post works really well (Carls idea), gas was set on 7 cfh, 1.5 rods & approx 120 amps. This is 2.0mm 5251 h22 aluminium.

I found it hard to stand up and use the foot pedal, even when sober

Saul Bellow - "A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep."
Stephen Hawking - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."

Another thing that made a difference, I had the tungsten about 8-9mm out of the shroud.

some great efforts, i think it must be hard, I've done a little with my Mig welding alloy, this is also very hard.

Best 1/4 mile 13.2 seconds @116 mph
First 5 port miniturbo to make over 200 bhp on a carb?
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I can also cheat abit...if you can't weld it, bend it!
I have one of these...but in a lovely shade of green............



It was surplus to requirement by a former employer....but they didn't realise this at the time.

Edited by Jason G on 13th Dec, 2009.

lmao Joe!

That bit doesn't look all that clean to me, I've found 3M roloc discs with a scotchbrite type surface are the best thing for getting ally properly clean before I try and weld it.
As others have said, as soon as you dip, stop and grind up the electrode. I find it easier to have 2 or 3 electrodes on the go so you can just swap on the hoof and then stop and grind 3 back up together. The other thing I'd say is don't be too afraid of current, I find that if you are a bit shy with the heat you struggle for ages and get a shite result, a few more amps and it all goes lovely.
Also I find a larger diameter tungsten seems to work well for me on ally, I use a 3.2mm.

Similar thing, I used wire wool on the ally surface first. Another thing I found, when grinding the tungsten up...don't grind across it. Try and grind along its length, seems to last longer.

these are worth a read.

http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/TIGhandbook/

The other one I heard, but I personally couldn't see any difference was arching up on steel with a white tip tungsten until you have a little ball develop on the tip prior to welding ally.

Had another go tonight...turned out shite!
Must be the cold ambient temperature!

and humidity.

Joe...you are starting to ruin my perfectly good excuses for crap welding!

So what type of tig welder is best to use on alloy guys? Im wanting to buy a tig welder as i am going to want to do some tig welding this next year but dont no what type to buy.

Do it right the first time and make it mint!!!!!!

I got sent this link by a friend - I know nothing of TIG welding, but i know good welds when i see em... 8-)

http://www.honda-tech.com/showthread.php?t=2503416

wowzer

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

Thats a piece of piss. Having had a look at that link some of the work is of a low standard. I can see loads of faults in them. Undercut, Cold deposits, To much heat with too little filler, These just being a few. I would get my arse reemered at work if I did work like some of them samples. The only way you'll get really good is loads of practice and someone on your shoulder who is fantasic at welding. This happened to me 6 years ago.

Edited by madcatminis on 27th Dec, 2009.

So why all the different colours in the weld in the pic above??