Tig welding help

[marc3909]

Hopefully Sunday I can start welding together my tablesaw mobile base. I am going to tig weld it together since I am new at it and it would be good practice. I picked up 1x3 1/8 stock for the project. I could really use some help picking up the correct rod and tungsten. I have ER70-2 3/32 rod and 3/32 2% Thoriated tungsten. I think it might not be the best choice. Any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Jackfre]

I would suggest you go to millerwelds.com and download their app. It will line out your process. Tig is great once you get your hand. Keep your sense of humor. It will be frustrating at first.

 

[marc3909]

I will do that. I have been practicing and my tig welds are pretty funny.

 

[welder4956]

Sounds like you have the right wire and tungsten for 1 x 3 x 1/8 tube stock. Set your machine around 85-90 amps and have fun.

 

[helterskelter]

Watch hours of welding tricks and tips on youtube. Jody does a great job of explaining some of the basics. Then it's just a LOT of practice. It probably took me ~100 hours of practice until I was reasonably competent. There's a lot going on when TIG welding. Also don't start on anything that needs to look good or function. You need a lot of arc time on scrap first.

 

[txvwnut]

What welder said above and run your gas flow at or around 11cfh if you have a flow meter or 20psi if it's a two gauge regulator.

Here's a little trick I started doing when I started using TIG as my all time welding process. Before I start I put the torch in my and setup like I'm going to strike an arc and run a bead, but I take the filler rod and use it as a gauge to get the feel of the distance of the tungsten from the metal. This really helped me in starting my arc and running a bead.

 

[marc3909]

Jody does a great job and I have watched hours of his videos. It is taking all my willpower to not break out the mig and just weld it up.

 

[marc3909]

Good idea tx

 

[RobSmith]

Yep weldingtipsandtricks.com is the way to go

 

[n20junkie]

Your good too go with what you have.

Start by just using the torch, first power off, then start just starting and arc, slowley genersting a molten pool and moving that pool.


Then do the same, but add rod to the POOL edge, not the arc.

Then do this for a few years and get good. But if you put a week of practice in, after a week of evenings you should be able to start doing small projects.

 

[brownbagg]

tig is really easiler than mig or arc, if you have any practice with gas welding, its super easy. I started on projects the first day.