Tools & Fabrication - Started to learn tig welding today.

Still need work but I am pretty happy with the results. Scored a 90% on it in class. Hopefully I'll start fabricating up my own custom parts in the near future.

Weld bead (sideways)
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/hnguyenlv/tig5.jpg

Graded by the instructor
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/hnguyenlv/tig4.jpg

Vertical
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/hnguyenlv/tig3.jpg

Penetration (backside)
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/hnguyenlv/tig2.jpg

Up close (vertical view)
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/hnguyenlv/tig1.jpg


********UPDATE 2/27/11*******

T joint

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/hnguyenlv/IMAG0562.jpg

not too shabby :thumb:


practice practice practice!

Yeah looks good!

My dad had a metal fab shop when I was younger and have been welding since i was 10. Its all about practice, and some more practice.

So I'm curious what was the reason for the 10% off?

Looks pretty decent, heat control could be a little better (not that I'm saying I can do better myself, I seem to be able to do things with a MIG most can't but I'm slow to learn with my TIG, I keep thinking a formal class might help...)

-10% was where the penetration got a little thin. Lol. The teacher is actually a welding inspector for the state of nv. So he is pretty critical. But any criticism will be taken as constructive criticism. Thoughts, comments, and tips will be greatly appreciated.

On picture number 4 where the white mark is on the back side of the work piece. That is where I got points taken off for penetration not meeting his standards. It did get a little thin.

Much better than mine when i first started to learn.

-10% was where the penetration got a little thin. Lol. The teacher is actually a welding inspector for the state of nv. So he is pretty critical. But any criticism will be taken as constructive criticism. Thoughts, comments, and tips will be greatly appreciated.

It was still 100% penetration. I used to TIG weld vessels as a ASME section 5 welder for 9 years.. Made stuff for Cali (earthquake code) to hold 10,000psi of natural gas.....very strict standards, x-ray tests...etc..... 100% is 100%....lol. If he marked me down for that saying it was "thin" I would have told him to go to hell and called him an idiot. :D if you would have made it all thin like that it would have been 100... he probably just marked it because you varied from one spot to the other. It looks like the amount of weld surface excedes the material thickness by 200% .... its more than good.

It was still 100% penetration. I used to TIG weld vessels as a ASME section 5 welder for 9 years.. Made stuff for Cali (earthquake code) to hold 10,000psi of natural gas.....very strict standards, x-ray tests...etc..... 100% is 100%....lol. If he marked me down for that saying it was "thin" I would have told him to go to hell and called him an idiot. :D if you would have made it all thin like that it would have been 100... he probably just marked it because you varied from one spot to the other. It looks like the amount of weld surface excedes the material thickness by 200% .... its more than good.

exactly what i thought. good enough is good enough. that would pass in our shop for sure, at least as far as a visual inspection goes.

I mostly agree with pwrtrip75, except that I could see if you got marked off for varying your penetration, but that's still awfully fussy to call on someone just getting started.

My $.02 from what I'm seeing in the pictures is that in a perfect world all of your weld would look like the spot marked. You have full penetration there, but didn't put any more heat into the weld then you needed to get that full penetration. No big deal for mild steel but it could make a difference for some aluminum, stainless and some alloys that could get brittle and even damaged with excessive heat input.

In 2 weeks we are starting on stainless steel. After that I finally get to start on aluminum.

Silverback, what do you mean brittle? Aluminum and stainless would require less penetration or more?

penetration is penetration. period. it's either there or it isn't.

aluminum and SS don't require any different amounts necessarily, but you have to be more in control of your heat input. Keep in mind, heat input is a function of travel speed too, not just volts/amps. stainless is a little less forgiving than mild steel, and alumuinum is even less forgiving. for example, say you're welding 1/8" steel plate together, you might set your TIG to 160 amps (for example) and hit the pedal wide open and go. With aluminum, you'll be better off setting it upwards of 200 amps and you'll be feathering the pedal the whole way. you'll learn this in your class quite quickly i'm sure.

I was told to watch the puddle and let it get to about 1/4" then feed it some filler.

that's basically all there is to it. but the way aluminum dissipates heat is much different that ferrous metals. i'm not trying to scare you, it isn't that hard, it's just different. i love welding aluminum, but i don't get to do it that often any more :(

Damn good work!

that's basically all there is to it. but the way aluminum dissipates heat is much different that ferrous metals. i'm not trying to scare you, it isn't that hard, it's just different. i love welding aluminum, but i don't get to do it that often any more :(

I recommend finding any kind of excuse. :D

That looks pretty good for starting, tig is awesome because you can get damn near perfect welds everytime. Once you get better at it the bead will be perfect all the way down and penetration will be better on that backside. I hate taking my car into an exhaust shop or stuff where i see other peoples welds cause honestly most will suffice but look like shit.

Lookin good man. Keep it up. Im pretty much just starting out myself, graduating last semester. All I do is practice every chance I get. Keep us updated on your progress.

Those look good! Im I-CAR certified in MIG but TIG is another ball game. I work with a guy who was a fabricator for a porsche club racing team and can only dream to TIG as well as he can one day.

Tig is another ball game. I do have my I-CAR in MIG also.

Copper-Nickel is probably the hardest to Tig weld. Cast Iron as well. I know stick, mig, and gas welding, but I've never gotten around to Tig.

updates on the first post.

Copper-Nickel is probably the hardest to Tig weld. Cast Iron as well. I know stick, mig, and gas welding, but I've never gotten around to Tig.

Who says CuNi has to be hard? :D


http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g50/freeman_nasty/187834581_photobucket_36678_.jpg
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g50/freeman_nasty/187834581_photobucket_36675_.jpg

Here's a Inconel "butter pass" on a CuNi tubesheet, before a stainless panel got welded to it:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g50/freeman_nasty/187834581_photobucket_36676_.jpg


Sorry OP, not trying to hijhack :chug:

Now that is how I want to weld. That's amazing work.

Ive found the hardest material to TIG weld is the stuff that requires you to hang upside down squeeze the pedal between your knees...have a buddy hold a mirrior while you attempt to weld something that wont fall off or leak or in worse case situation have your buddy run the pedal while you give instructions....

yes...that DOES suck....now imagine doing it in a nuclear powerplant with some lazy-ass boilermaker you've never met before and it's his first day on the job....

this sound crazy but sometimes I count wile i Tig to try to get a tight pattern, I also practice feeding wire wile i sit in front of the TV

I count too,

i wish i could weld like that, picked up a tig welder about a year ago and still haven't gotten even proficient at it. thinking i need to take a class, but there's none available here.

I'm learning how to tig next month, any tips, tricks, etc. Especially when it comes to aluminum?

Looks good...

put a song with a steady, drving beat on the radio. set your amps where you can travel fast enough to dip your rod to the beat of the music. I find Godsmack works really well for this (although i can't stand Godsmack).

I don't use this method, but i did when i was learning. Now it comes naturally from years of practice/experience. you just need to get to the point where you know what a puddle should look like, how to tell when you're getting good penetration or when you're burning through, and then you'll be able to work on making pretty welds.

i didn't go to school for welding. i guess i was what you would call a natural, but even so, it took me a considerable amount of time to get really good. i learned on aluminum and thin guage stainless. I worked backwards to tig welding thicker mild steel. Finally, i picked up MIG welding after years of TIG experience and that was a breeze by that point. i can stick weld too, but i'm by no means a master of that process.

Buy a machine with a pulser.....

First try at stainless

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i105/hnguyenlv/IMAG0578.jpg

lookin good. just keep practicing :thumb:

Man you guys make it look easy I ve tried tig a few times and its not easy at all. I mig down in a few days but tig is sooo much harder to do. I hang out at my buddys speed shop all the time and see him doin it on custon exhausts and old harleys making parts for them. Tig is by far the cleanest welding out there and im determinded to learn it. After seeing this thread im gonna try learning it for sure. Thanks for the inspiration guys.

Tig just takes a while. Pay really close attention and watch what the puddle is doing, keep at it for a long time and you'll get the hang of it. Mild steel is great to start on, stainless is a little more difficult to see whats going on, and aluminum is pretty strange and you do it more by "feel" than anything, while still paying attention. I've been tigging for around 2-3 years and I still screw up now and then. Keep at it and you'll get the hang of it. One thing I recommend is to practice welding in all kinds of strange positions. Sometimes you can't move the piece to where its at any sane angle. Tigging upside down is interesting lol.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_sSUkcQE1RbM/TB1crar6dVI/AAAAAAAABBU/2tsPetaCBIg/s800/2010-06-19%2015.40.43.jpg

One of my better stretches lol

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_sSUkcQE1RbM/TAZ0AJKI9sI/AAAAAAAAA_s/c_kZMZ0Esvg/s800/2010-06-01%2019.58.21.jpg
absurdly long frame run

Looks amazing man I was at my buddys shop sunday learning from him again on some old harley frames he was streching for his customer for a custom project. Turned out alright but I will need all the practice time I can get for sure

lookin good. just keep practicing :thumb:

What he said- and with welds like that good lord! You're damn good!

It's all time, practice, and patience. And surface preparation is very important too =) Dirty surface= dirty weld. usually anyway, you can pedal it to have the impurities come out more on the top but I digress. Keep practicing and weld whatever you can get your hands on, thin stainless, aluminum, pot metal, engine blocks, everything.

What he said- and with welds like that good lord! You're damn good!.

Thanks man

It's all time, practice, and patience. And surface preparation is very important too =) Dirty surface= dirty weld. usually anyway, you can pedal it to have the impurities come out more on the top but I digress. Keep practicing and weld whatever you can get your hands on, thin stainless, aluminum, pot metal, engine blocks, everything.

bingo...some metals can be welded "dirty" with little fuss, like mild steel. granted, you don't want grease and oil all over it when you weld, but it doesn't have to be SPOTLESS.

...BUT, a good habit to get into is to treat every joint you weld like its going on the space shuttle, no matter what the material or application is. Make the surface and up to an inch around it as close to virgin metal as possible. a good wire brush and some acetone or isopropyl alcohol go a long way, as well as clean sharp tungsten and filler rod.

try taking a brand new rod out of a box and wipe a white cloth with some acetone down the rod...there will be a nice black stripe left over on the rag. that little bit of contamination can/does make a difference in some instances. again, not so much on mild steel, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good habit to form.

Thanks man



bingo...some metals can be welded "dirty" with little fuss, like mild steel. granted, you don't want grease and oil all over it when you weld, but it doesn't have to be SPOTLESS.

...BUT, a good habit to get into is to treat every joint you weld like its going on the space shuttle, no matter what the material or application is. Make the surface and up to an inch around it as close to virgin metal as possible. a good wire brush and some acetone or isopropyl alcohol go a long way, as well as clean sharp tungsten and filler rod.

try taking a brand new rod out of a box and wipe a white cloth with some acetone down the rod...there will be a nice black stripe left over on the rag. that little bit of contamination can/does make a difference in some instances. again, not so much on mild steel, but that doesn't mean it isn't a good habit to form.

Good advice as any! My welding teacher was a navy guy who built ships for lord knows how many years. He always made sure to tell us to get the surface as clean as possible (not going overboard) because a clean weld is more likely to be a sound weld. I've been semi OCD about surface prep ever since, but the welds come out a lot easier.

The other thing to stress is keeping an open mind while welding, and watching the puddle and always be paying attention to what it does. You don't just press a button and it comes out perfect, always pay attention, always learn, always get better. Even after a few years of tig and mig welding I still notice myself getting a little better, steadier, etc. Especially with upside down tig welding. I like it so much better than upside down mig, complete with the scars =)