I've been working strictly on tig now for the past couple weeks. I started out with 1g, figure I'll do that then 3g then on to the round and round with pipe. I can lay down the prettiest cap, can put the fill passes in there no problem(talking about 1g carbon steel). What I'm having trouble with is the most important part, the root. I've been holding the tig torch practically vertical, finally found the keyhole but having a hard time judging when I've filled enough so I have a nice bead on the back side of the plate at the root. I'm also finding while I'm trying to dip my filler it's wanting to stick to the side of the plate, all making it very frustrating. Then when your done you flip the plate over and it has suck back the whole length.
I'm running passes on 3/8" plate using 1/8" tungsten and filler rod. We've got a miller 350 with straight argon and I have it set around 155 but not using all of the 155. The torch has the thumb wheel but not wide open is what I'm getting at I guess. The book said for 1/8" tungsten to run up around 250 but one guy says that's to hot and seems it works where it's set.....but I really don't know. 100% new to this tig business.
My biggest problem is not knowing, on the root pass, when I've added enough fill or when the root weld is complete. Is there something I should be noticing? I see the keyhole and dip then move on. Oh, I've got about 3/16" stick out on my tungsten to get it down towards the gap, no landing, just a knife edge and with the 1/8" filler I'm running around a 3/32" gap maybe a tick bigger but less than 1/8th. One things for certain, need to burn more rod but running out of time. I'm done with school in December so trying to get all I can out of it. Thanks for any help, pointers and so on!
Shawn
Shawn,
Dont dip your filler, push it gently into the pool as you move along, or even better, add the filler from "the inside" this will require a gap slightly bigger than your rod.
Dont read books about it, experiment a few days and before you know it you will be moving on to 6G pipes :)
Point your torch a little ahead - IMO there is no need for a keyhole when tig welding.
It is important that you notice your amps, only then you will be able to adjust accordingly, <155 amps seem a little low IMO.
Good luck and keep us informed on your learning curve :)
3.2
Your keyholing your and having suck back on your root in the 1G position? 1/8" gap 1/8" filler in 1G you should be able to lay your wire in the root opening with out keyhole.
Watch your puddle, watch the edges of the plates breakdown, watch the puddle swirl, keep the rod at the edge of the puddle so you keep feeding the puddle. let the size of your puddle determine how fast you travel.
Hold your filler at an angle so the its up against one of the bevels rather than straight down the middle. You can also slowly twist the filler wire as you feed it.
Don't run your root pass too wide, just breakdown the edges of the bevel.
Don't put too much heat into it. If your running higher amps than travel faster, lower amps than go slower. Watch the molten puddle.
Keep practicing and you'll be the one to helping the next guy.
well man pretty much what you do is put a good 5/32 gap with a dime landing cut your wire in half so you wont be trying to balance it put on a stick rod glove or a heavy duty tig glove on the hand you are holding the gun with so you wont burn your hand well pretty much start out by fingering the root before walking the cup hold the gun by the head right above the cup dont hold it by the handle rest your palm on the plate so you can have more control well use a flex head rig its a big plus well stick your tungsten out where you can easly touch the edge of the bevel and start of cold better than too hot ones you start welding hold the rod right under the bottom edge not a quarter or 1/8 just right below the edge gravity is going to do its job well holding the rod under the edge you are sure you are burning the wall you can see it all melt well to know how much rod to add pretty much my rule of thumb is i try to keep my rod conected to the puddle if you are running cold you dont have to add that much rod if you are running to hot you are going to have to add more rod cause the puddle and the rod are going to be breaking away from each other and alot of times you get rod bites cause you are adding to much rod in to much of a hurry also you risk excessive penetration especially up top thats why i say start of cold just unuff to melt the rod i mean not to cold where your rod is sticking in the puddle when you are doing it right the rod is always soft in the puddle as to feed the rod start out holding it like a pencil and rest your palm on the plate also feed it whit a hand movement ones your hand reach as far as it will move your tungsten away from the puddle the side or back or even slightly up just unuff to cool the poodle when that happens the rod wheel freeze in the puddle also so for that 1 second move your rod hand back a bit so you can have more room to feed the rod bring the tungsten back to the puddle and make sure every thing is good and melted and proceed also when you know you need to feed more rod is when the puddle kind of slightly shakes before the rod and the puddle get disconected pretty much the less the puddle and the rod break a way from each other the slicker the root will be make sure your tungsten is nice and sharp and close to the puddle as possible with out touching and just go to the edges of the bevel dont climb to high up on the bevel all of this is ones you get this down you will do things diffrently like feeding with your thumb this and that but this should get you started to where you can put in a decent root well hope it helps if you
You're liable to get 50 different methods of welding here.
I usually like to have the wire a little bit loose in the gap. You probably won't have suckback if you try it like that.
I run a knife edge with 5/32 to 3/16 gap. 1/8 inch filler wire and leave it loose in your gap. You need to get used to a bigger gap cause you will need it on pipe so you can feed from the back side. Forget the keyhole crap and never let that wire come out of the puddle. This will prevent suck back and create good technique when you move on to stainless. On your fill passes keep the wire in the puddle as well but dont try to push it inor it will cause a cavity to form from cold lap underneath. Let your rod hover in the puddle on your fill and cap as well. I hardly ever use a hand amp cause it makes to much junk to get in the way. Sometimes Ill use a foot pedal though. You should be able to set your amps around 95 to 130 amps and just run it. The hand amp makes too much clutter and exsessive movement on your torch especially if youre just starting out.
I've been messing with the stainless too and understand what you mean about not bringing the filler out of the puddle. That's what I've been doing on the filler passes, just a tiny zig zag from side to side keeping the filler flowing and the torch moving making sure it's tied in to everything. Actually that's how I've been running my cap to I think, dipping it and I seem to stick it but if I just have the torch tipped back ever so slightly I can get the filler in there and just move on. I'll try the bigger gap monday night.
Feed through the backside, is that sticking it through so the rod comes out pointing at the tig torch?? If I can get this darn root I believe I'll be on my way. I've done a few vertical up fill and caps and not so bad for the first couple times. I would do the root flat, cause I suck and move it up the vertical cause I know I can do fill and cap flat but wanted the practice on vertical...where I needed it.
Not a big fan of the thumb wheel torch myself, it's what I'm stuck with, foot pedal, frees up my hand so I can grip it differently. Like my dry rig though, scratch and go....wait a minute, turn on gas knob, then scratch and go!
Really appreciate all the info and pointers, gonna get it.
yah keep practicing that method and you should be on your way. The reason I run such a large gap is so you are 100% sure your tying in the root. When I say feeding from the back side you want the tip of the rod flowing in from just under the ID of the pipe. Its easier to get tied in from the bottom up that it is trying to push rod down cause you are chilling the puddle as you push more rod. As some others have said as well start at a lower amperage and work up as your travel speed increases so will your amperage. This will become crutial when you go to stainless because you cannot hang around too long or your base metal turns to fuzz. I run an on/off button sometimes too especially if im in my positioner cause you have to have your foot free to operate the positioner pedal most of the time though its touch start unless highfreq is required. The foot pedal comes in handy on aluminum cause of the need to drastically change your amps on smaller parts. Everyone has their preferences and none is any better than the other. You need to be comfortable and that is the first step.
yah I'm partial to cmays method.
in order of preference: foot pedal, on/off, thumb knob.
I was taught that if you're using a thumb knob on steel, in general set the machine at the desired amperage then open the knob up all the way. Or else it's too hard to gauge the amperage and either run to hot or too cold.
personally I put a small landing on my pipe and then gap it the exact width of the filler. Then I lay in the filler rod, and wash out the pipe side to side. seems to work for me.
sounds like your having no problem with blowing out the root. If that is the problem I would gap it smaller, use one size smaller filler and stack to in my hand at once. worked for me but I have some unorthodox technique
practice is really all it is.
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