TIG Welding

By Cactusthewelder (*****)

Date 03-17-2008 00:39

Shad,
Where are you located ?

By 52lincoln (***)

Date 03-17-2008 03:38

S.antone

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 03-17-2008 05:57 Edited 03-17-2008 06:17

Shad I do not remember but I assume you have a dc only machine right???.....circles, weaves, zigzags etc. just forget all that brother

Grab you some sheetmetal stock and try to run some corner to corner joints, a lap or two, a few butts, fillets are what you will have to work on most I bet. TIg is a different mindset....think more oxy/acetylene welding then anything else your torch being the flame....you heat it up and let the filler suck in to the hot spot.....it won't take you long to get the gist of it...just spend an afternoon burning up some sheet stock. Try to adjust your heat and your gas to where you are getting shiny welds on steel...almost going grey but not quite. that will put you right close to the right temp range...sometimes your steel welds will be grey and sometimes your ss will be grey but not usually. Remember that you will need backing gas on anything for a clean joint...you have no flux to do it for you. 98%Argon will cover all your SS and steels and aluminum....tri mixes come with exotics. Now running tig roots on any kind of pipe....best to get a hold of someone who can walk the cup welll and watch them burn in a few......walking the cup is kinda like running a 7018 vert....its a technique you just got to get your head around...once you do , you can do it in your sleep. A lot of people assume tig is difficult...I guess because of a lack of familiarity....but in my book its one of the easiest to master skill sets...being able to run smaw anywhere on anything is way way harder in my book. If you need any specific pointers there are tons of killer tig hands on this forum....and I of course will be proud to put in my two cents.

Tommy

By chris2698 (****)

Date 03-17-2008 06:24

hard to explain.. what I can say is get on youtube and you can find some videos of guys walking the cup on pipe but there are no cicles now you can weave it but you would free hand it to make a weave. You gotta learn to walk the cup it isn't to hard but is very werid learning but once you get it you don't forget it. trust me check out youtube there are alot of idiots on there but have found a few guys walking the cup on pipe and it should give you an idea. Really you need to find someone to teach ya one on one hell if I were around ya I show ya everything it's all I do everyday is tig stainless pipe.

want to add Tommy is right stick is way harder then Tig I mean I tig everyday and for me I'm still trying to be a better stick welder I think stick is way the hell harder then tig

By rlitman (***)

Date 03-17-2008 07:04

Very much agreed. If you've got the steady hand control to work with a stick's tip, WAY far away from your hand, then you'll have no trouble at all with a TIG torch electrode right at your fingertips, and you'll have plenty of hand support. Just get used to being VERY up close and personal with your work. There's no spatter, and its quite pleasant.

Just one thing. TIG is really fun and easy, -IF- you've got your machine and setup dialed in right. And there's the catch. With SMAW DC, you've got very few machine parameters (electrode selection, current, DIG, etc.), with the rest of the results coming from how you handle the stick.
With GTAW, you've got a whole bundle of parameters (shielding gas selection and flowrate, tungsten size, tungsten grind angle, cup size, gas lens or not, pre/postflow, current, filler size or no filler at all), which can really effect how the arc works for you.

Anyway, you've got the right group here, and you should have no troubles with this.

BTW, while I've never scratch started TIG myself, you'll have to without HF, and I've heard that it is much easier and neater, if you clamp on a small scrap of copper, to scratch start your arc off of, before hitting the workpiece.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 03-18-2008 03:43

Tommy, You mentioned 98% argon, what is the other 2%? I have only used plain old argon for TIG.

By Tommyjoking (****)

Date 03-21-2008 07:33

BRAIN FAILURE - Dave ....I was for some reason thinking about spray arc again. referring to 98% with 2% oxygen available with a 2% co2 as well. Nope a straight bottle of argon is all thats needed here. thanks for pointing that out.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 03-22-2008 03:06

Tommy, I wondered if that was a mistake, I was thinking maybee helium, but I doubt 2% is enough to make a difference.

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 03-20-2008 02:59

yes tommy dc only 200 machine it's jus new to me and no 1 to show me the basics so i came here for some hints and wow you guys came thru once again i aint trying to learn all the tricks and bad habits just want to get my hand set for it and go from there i always see so much tig work available i figured it was time to get with the times

By RioCampo (***)

Date 03-20-2008 03:14

hey shad,

Hows that tig work coming. Feel like you have an old acetylene torch with brazing rod?

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 03-18-2008 03:08

35 miles south of san antone where the grass is dead and the catcus are eating each other for water

By tim105

Date 03-17-2008 08:09

Also when you are prepping the butt joints, get some tigerpaw discs and grind the bevel down to a knife edge it will be easier to break down the walls when you are putting the root in. If you are going to be using 1/8th tig wire, give yourself a 5/32 gap and learn how to backfeed the wire (feed the wire from the inside of the pipe). It will save you a lot of headache in the future. When you are welding and the puddle looks like it is starting to get really hot and wants to drop out, just feed it some wire and that should cool it off enough to keep going.

By trlblzr302 (**)

Date 03-17-2008 11:39

Shad,

Take your time, be patient and get comfortable ..it is not going to come over night ... Start with 3/32" or 1/8" tungsten 2% thoriated ..
Commercial-Grade Argon; 20#-Torch Shielding..(and 1/16" filler) If you are running a D.C Gas machine, clamp your stinger to your pigtale and set your machine on straight-polarity (DC-)ELECTRODE Negative.. Start with some simple scrap carbon and stainless.. Use a scratch-start technique
like you are striking a match, only keep it a short , easy scratch to start your arc... Be sure to prep your tungsten right and try to keep it clean. Hold it parallel to your grinding wheel and taper to 1-1-1/2 times dia. of your tungsten.. Grind to A Point and then blunt end the point about 1/16" DO some laps, edges, fillets and then try some butts.. Let the Pipe wait for now.. If you can pick it up pretty quickly.. In TIME you will learn all about the pipe and the needed back-
purges.. Focus on control, consistancy and try to keep your work area as clean as possible.. Adjust machine as needed.... keep your tungsten stuck out about 1/8" past your cup... Free- Hand and Walking the Cup are both good, and both have their place..

Brian

By NWPAwelder (**)

Date 03-18-2008 00:06

When scratch starting, I've found that by setting my cup directly on the joint with a very relaxed hand (almost to the point that if someone came up behind you, they could knock it right out of your hand) with the tungsten close to the work but not touching and (with your gas flowing of course) then strike your filler wire into the tungsten/work. This will start your arc with great ease just as though you did indeed strike a wooden match. By holding your torch with a light relaxed hand you will find a greater level of comfort and also better overall control when "walking the cup." Like the others have said, if you have ever oxy/fuel welded then you will catch on quickly. I learned on stainless pipe and it really was not that hard at all. Definitely a lot of fun and relaxing as well. I remember looking at the beautiful work that some of the boilermakers did on a job I was on back in the early 90's and knew that I just had to learn how they did that.
IMHO- When done right, it is ARTWORK.
Good luck and Have fun with your new toy!!!

By chris2698 (****)

Date 03-18-2008 01:51

you don't even have to scratch start it just start it off the filler that is what I'd do if I had to do a xray test so you don't break a piece of tungsten off into your puddle

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 03-18-2008 02:53

holy cow all this info and codes what size cup do i want to use i got some todat cant say where as it may incriminate me lol and now i need argon jus wasnt sure which gas to use so i gotta wait to get to supplier

By chris2698 (****)

Date 03-18-2008 03:06

I like to use a number 10 cup sometimes a 12 but most time a 10. I'll use a 10 from 1 inch pipe to whatever. It's all what you like I guess

What kinda Tig torch you get I mean name brand? is it a flex head torch?

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 03-18-2008 23:56

The hardest thing for me was learning to feed the filler rods and getting everything in time and it will take time to get the fill of this. The main thing is not to give up. I haven't used a dry rig before so it might be a little different than a wet rig. The welding gas that I've always used on steel is argon.
M.G.

By chris2698 (****)

Date 03-19-2008 03:11

Milton all I use at work is the dry rig well with the HF start and useing a foot pedal for heat but really I prefer the dry rig simply because it is less weight in carrying those extra lines for the water but I do have to say when you are running like 2oo-or more amps none stop then yes water is nice.

I seen that Weldcraft makes a 300 amp air cooled torch and sure would like to know how well it keeps cool have any of you tried it out??

By trlblzr302 (**)

Date 03-19-2008 11:37

Chris,

I have been using a remote-button on my Tig-Torch, instead of the foot-petal..(for dry and wet) Find it gives me greater versatility, and my back is in a lot better shape... I have made out well with X-ray.. Carbon and Stainless Open- Butt... What do ya think...?

Brian

By Milton Gravitt (***)

Date 03-19-2008 14:51

Yes that was what I learned to tig weld with we had to stand up all day and weld fittings on aluminum tanks,but it was also a wet rig.

By chris2698 (****)

Date 03-21-2008 03:21

I tried the remote button on the torch once it sure was different I'm so use to the foot pedal but i'm sure if I had some time with it I'd get use to it. I was just thinking today if I could get use to a finger control on the torch and do away with the pedal it might be beter on my feet instead of standing on one leg through out the day

By raftergwelding (*****)

Date 03-20-2008 02:53

thats a good question i didnt even look at it yet all i need is some green hose to hook to a bottle oh yeah i need a bottle too lol will get it when i can get to supplier

By JescoPressure (**)

Date 03-23-2008 04:10

http://www.pipewelding.com/pipewelding.html

I think thats a real smart move getting into tig shad , i was reading up on this video and it looks like it would help you with all your questions and give you a visual on butt welding pipe with tig . Money well spent , pay for itself on the first day of your first job