Tig welding appearance ??

95lightiningguy wrote:Wow, I never knew welding was so scientific. It makes the little 110 wire welder here at the house sound archaic. I have decided to take the welding classes at the local tech school so I can weld my own stuff and understand what you guys are talkin about, and the skill may help with job hunting in the future.

It is a good trade to be able to do alittle of your own stuff. Interesting too.

SORRY COUG LMAO

the Coug wrote:......all Caps are hard to read.......

Ain't that the truth.

For me it almost seems like the sentences all run together when all-caps are used, even though there is punctuation.

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:

the Coug wrote:......all Caps are hard to read.......

Ain't that the truth.

For me it almost seems like the sentences all run together when all-caps are used, even though there is punctuation.

I feel like I'm reading what the guy at the used car lot that yells all the time has typed up.

Dave, that is some class A work in those photos ! Damn I wish I was a little closer to Texas.

Thunderstruck wrote:Dave, that is some class A work in those photos ! Damn I wish I was a little closer to Texas.

I completely agree. I only hope to accomplish this look with some more practice. I respect Daves advice and tech here on this site probably more than anybody here. Not only is he a hands on guy, he is well accomplished in my book too. Kudo's to Dave.

TravisRice wrote:

Thunderstruck wrote:Dave, that is some class A work in those photos ! Damn I wish I was a little closer to Texas.

I completely agree. I only hope to accomplish this look with some more practice. I respect Daves advice and tech here on this site probably more than anybody here. Not only is he a hands on guy, he is well accomplished in my book too. Kudo's to Dave.

x2 Great welding and chassi voo doo are extremley enviable talents.

TravisRice wrote:

Thunderstruck wrote:Dave, that is some class A work in those photos ! Damn I wish I was a little closer to Texas.

I completely agree. I only hope to accomplish this look with some more practice. I respect Daves advice and tech here on this site probably more than anybody here. Not only is he a hands on guy, he is well accomplished in my book too. Kudo's to Dave.

Thanks guys.

My welds are OK, but not as nice looking as the killer stuff I have see David Wolfe do in the past. There is the usual "stack of dimes" puddle, and then there's David's stack of dimes puddle that also has the perfectly exacting size & placement of each "dime", every dime, everytime........it was simply amazing.

When I first started Tig welding I tried forever to make my welds look like Wolfe's, but it just wasn't possible for me . Then I finally realized it was probably going to be more important for me to weld the way I was most comfortable with. So I stopped trying to copy his exacting puddle shape & just concentrated more on producing a weld puddle that fused the material correctly, regardless of what the puddle looked like. Then later on is when I worked on what the puddle looked like as I continued to practice & practice.

But then practice, practice, & more practice is probably the best advice that can be given for Tig welding anyway. You practice everything, every...damn....thing you can think of. Different sizes of Tungsten/gas cups/filler rods, different weld joint designs/joint air gaps, different material thickness, different strength glasses to see better during welding, different lens darkness,.....anything you can think of. Sure the best welder in the world could sit down & show how they personally might lay down a weld pass, but it's through tons of practice that you take all that you have seen/read/watched & make it your own welding style and become comfortable with it.

DILLIGASDAVE wrote:

TravisRice wrote:

Thunderstruck wrote:Dave, that is some class A work in those photos ! Damn I wish I was a little closer to Texas.

I completely agree. I only hope to accomplish this look with some more practice. I respect Daves advice and tech here on this site probably more than anybody here. Not only is he a hands on guy, he is well accomplished in my book too. Kudo's to Dave.

Thanks guys.

My welds are OK, but not as nice looking as the killer stuff I have see David Wolfe do in the past. There is the usual "stack of dimes" puddle, and then there's David's stack of dimes puddle that also has the perfectly exacting size & placement of each "dime", every dime, everytime........it was simply amazing.

When I first started Tig welding I tried forever to make my welds look like Wolfe's, but it just wasn't possible for me . Then I finally realized it was probably going to be more important for me to weld the way I was most comfortable with. So I stopped trying to copy his exacting puddle shape & just concentrated more on producing a weld puddle that fused the material correctly, regardless of what the puddle looked like. Then later on is when I worked on what the puddle looked like as I continued to practice & practice.

But then practice, practice, & more practice is probably the best advice that can be given for Tig welding anyway. You practice everything, every...damn....thing you can think of. Different sizes of Tungsten/gas cups/filler rods, different weld joint designs/joint air gaps, different material thickness, different strength glasses to see better during welding, different lens darkness,.....anything you can think of. Sure the best welder in the world could sit down & show how they personally might lay down a weld pass, but it's through tons of practice that you take all that you have seen/read/watched & make it your own welding style and become comfortable with it.

Right again .....

Well I stopped at the local welding shop and purchased a new collet and 1/16 sleeve as well as a #5 and #6 cup. Some 1/16 tungsten and I am ready to go. Got a little Nova here that I have some moly stuff to weld up and a set of headers, so I'm gonna give it a try and let you know how it works out.

Eventually I am going to get the gas shield for some aluminum work on the 62 when I get back to it, but for now I seen no need in having to many things to try. Some great information in this thread for sure.

Thanks
Travis

But then practice, practice, & more practice is probably the best advice that can be given for Tig welding anyway. You practice everything, every...damn....thing you can think of. Different sizes of Tungsten/gas cups/filler rods, different weld joint designs/joint air gaps, different material thickness, different strength glasses to see better during welding, different lens darkness,.....anything you can think of. Sure the best welder in the world could sit down & show how they personally might lay down a weld pass, but it's through tons of practice that you take all that you have seen/read/watched & make it your own welding style and become comfortable with it.


Dave that is some of the best info you can give for sure.

I have trained many of guys at work through the years.Most of them that cares how there welds come out wants to watch me weld.Then they try to copy my welding style to get the look and weld some get it and some don't.Some I have watched to try and learn some new tricks from for my own self.What I have learned about welding through the years is everybody has there own style of welding that works best for them and and not for others.By no means am I a expert on welding I just old country boy that just learned from playing around with my Dads welder and him teaching me how to stick weld when I was 12 years old.Welding has suck with me over the years and I am still learning different things about welding.

Well I went to a #5 gas up and 1/16" tungsten, what a difference. I was welding some header tubes and man does it control a lot better. I ordered a #4 cup. Should be here Monday. I'll try some tubing then.

Thanks for the help,
Travis

TravisRice wrote:....Well I went to a #5 gas up and 1/16" tungsten, what a difference. I was welding some header tubes and man does it control a lot better.....

That's good news.

The smaller stuff really is the way to go on the thinner materials in my opinion. About the only time I ever switch back to the bigger Tungsten/gas cup/filler rod sizes (when welding cm/ms) is with 3/16 to 1/4" & thicker material. But even then there are times where I still go with the smaller sized consumables on the thicker materials, it just depends.

Saw this rough calculator for heat range vs gas cup/Tungsten/filler rod sizes vs material type + thickness vs joint design vs etc, etc. on Miller site.
http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/calculators/tig_amperage_calculator.php


Something else I have tried that seems to work good. On real tight inside corners (where the Tungsten has to be out a long way) I have clamped scrap sheet aluminum (and also tried cardboard) to the backside of the tubing's joint to in effect trap much more of the flowing argon in that general area during the weld.


Gerry, what's the smallest gas lens they make? Are they as small/smaller than a standard #4 gas cup?