PittsS1
Member
Hello All,
Totally self taught welder here. Have always wanted to get into TIG- when I was younger it was too expensive, and now that I'm older (well, late 30s) and can easily afford it, practice time is the main challenge with balancing work, kids activities, etc. I've been trying to do a couple practice sessions each week.
Attached are some pics- while the aluminum welding comes very naturally for me (that tank is the first aluminum I welded... but it's easy with 1/8" thickness, edge joints half overlapped, etc), 4130 has been more difficult! The tubing pics show samples of 5/8" .035 4130, ER70S-2 rod (need to order some ER80S-D2), and are some of the first joints I did. I think they turned out well for a beginner, but there are still many challenges before I master this. 2% lanth, 1/16" dia, 18CFM with #6 gas lens.
Issues:
1) It's really hard for me to weld around the circumference of a tube cluster. The combination of 17 size torch (Lincoln Squarewave 200), fairly stiff hose, and lack of clearance, it's all I can do to get barely 90 degrees around before my torch angle sucks. Sometimes my torch is almost tangent by mid-way through the weld. I just can't seem to rotate the torch tip with the small tubing to keep a 10-15 degree or whatever torch angle. Should I get a 9 sized torch? Running max 50A most of the time.
2) Tungsten dipping. Using a gas lens, so I can stick the tungsten out pretty far, but darn it's hard to keep so close and not dip it. I've been trying to maintain 1/16" or so clearance, but often times gets more like 1/8".
3) Fitup- even on these simple joints, it seems even a hair of a gap results in a hole almost instantly if heat is not controlled perfectly. If this were to happen on an airframe, do I just fill in the hole with filler? How do you recover from this? I assume people aren't cutting out tubing when they make a mistake and re-fitting?
4) Filler diameter- I have picked up some .045 and .035 and this seems to work really well. Is this what most people do? The 1/16" I tried, the tubes were vaporized before the filler even melted...
Anyway, just looking for some constructive criticism. I realize I need more practice, but without a hands-on mentor it's hard to figure out where I'm making mistakes, what adjustments to make, etc.
Thanks!
Totally self taught welder here. Have always wanted to get into TIG- when I was younger it was too expensive, and now that I'm older (well, late 30s) and can easily afford it, practice time is the main challenge with balancing work, kids activities, etc. I've been trying to do a couple practice sessions each week.
Attached are some pics- while the aluminum welding comes very naturally for me (that tank is the first aluminum I welded... but it's easy with 1/8" thickness, edge joints half overlapped, etc), 4130 has been more difficult! The tubing pics show samples of 5/8" .035 4130, ER70S-2 rod (need to order some ER80S-D2), and are some of the first joints I did. I think they turned out well for a beginner, but there are still many challenges before I master this. 2% lanth, 1/16" dia, 18CFM with #6 gas lens.
Issues:
1) It's really hard for me to weld around the circumference of a tube cluster. The combination of 17 size torch (Lincoln Squarewave 200), fairly stiff hose, and lack of clearance, it's all I can do to get barely 90 degrees around before my torch angle sucks. Sometimes my torch is almost tangent by mid-way through the weld. I just can't seem to rotate the torch tip with the small tubing to keep a 10-15 degree or whatever torch angle. Should I get a 9 sized torch? Running max 50A most of the time.
2) Tungsten dipping. Using a gas lens, so I can stick the tungsten out pretty far, but darn it's hard to keep so close and not dip it. I've been trying to maintain 1/16" or so clearance, but often times gets more like 1/8".
3) Fitup- even on these simple joints, it seems even a hair of a gap results in a hole almost instantly if heat is not controlled perfectly. If this were to happen on an airframe, do I just fill in the hole with filler? How do you recover from this? I assume people aren't cutting out tubing when they make a mistake and re-fitting?
4) Filler diameter- I have picked up some .045 and .035 and this seems to work really well. Is this what most people do? The 1/16" I tried, the tubes were vaporized before the filler even melted...
Anyway, just looking for some constructive criticism. I realize I need more practice, but without a hands-on mentor it's hard to figure out where I'm making mistakes, what adjustments to make, etc.
Thanks!
