Do we have some TIG welders on this site?

I have dedicated myself to learn TIG welding and need help with the basic machine settings.

I will be welding mild steel & chrome-moly, the common gauges that race car building requires.

If we have some welders here that know the basic settings please help.

For steel you will be in DC output/remote using a foot pedal or hand control.....

Filler wire should be somewhat close to the wall size of the tubing.....and also the tungsten size.

Thinner tubing.....smaller diameter wire and tungsten....

Straight Argon gas is most commonly used

Thin Molly tubing welds like butter and amperage is relatively low......depending on wall thickness you'd be under 100 amps set at the machine....

The machines amp setting at 100 means when your foot pedal is maxed out the machine would be limited to 100 amps welding current...


Tig welding is basically very similar to gas torch welding or brazing...…

Your using a tig torch and your foot to regulate the weld puddle....

It takes a lot of practice and I highly recommend either taking a little course or lots of practice on various pieces of steel.

Biggest problem with race car work is the awkward positions you are forced to be in welding in tight places or underneath something.....

Using your knees to operate the foot pedal.....or a hand control but they are somewhat awkward....

Another problem is seeing well and for me that's tough....they do make cheater lenses for older eyes that use readers like me.....You contaminate the Tungsten often if you dip it in the weld puddle...and it's annoying to have to keep freshening up that tungsten....

The Dynasty Dx is a very advanced machine and has a lot of features that takes time to learn and be familiar with....You need to read the operators manual....

A good Tig welder is an artist and took years usually to become that good....


I repair machines and have for over 20 years. I can weld pretty much anything but am far from a skilled Tig Welder....Don't do it often enough...

Tig welding needs tight joints and clean material.....and the right settings or pretty close BEFORE you make the weld to get good results.....

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SCDIV1,

If you can find someone who knows how to use one have them give you some pointers with demonstration it will cut learning curve a ton.If nothing else you tube has cpl hundred videos of everything now days.

Just keep working with it and you pick it up.

I'm no expert but years ago took on the task of learning myself. Took some courses and from what a buddy of mine said, that actually owns a Fab shop, told me is I can have a job the second in say I want one from his observations of my work.

the advise above is spot on. In car welding is tough due to position. I just recently got a finger operated setup which I'll be testing here on my half back project.

The other two things are eye sight.. Don't even try to weld unless you can see very fine print up close clear as a bell. Look at a newspaper from one foot away and you best be able to see it very clear. If not don't kid yourself you will be all over the place. My eyesight is very good and it's tough sometimes in a car or if position.

Secondly eye hand coordination. You need to be coordinated as you will be doing several things at once. I never found this part hard at all and was able to keep a very good rythem while working at different angles etc.

The best thing to do is just sit down and play on a bench for hours trying different things. You will see things like cut edges melt much quicker than non cut material.. So when joining you will naturally start on the non cut and then direct the heat to the cut edges, factoring the non cut areas. This is a fine process and that is why seeing is so crucial. Also get a good auto darkening helmet.

Have fun. Tig is far superior to mig when you have it mastered in the sense of knowing it's welded, and end results.

If you want some examples look up Kane kid on YouTube

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ski_dwn_it,

There are a lot of real good Tig Welding vids on YouTube....

One guy in particular but I forget his name.

Just go to You tube and type Tig Welding in the search box...

I think his name is Terry and he sells some items also

There is also an older guy ….Dr Tig…

You will see some very specialized techniques and equipment used to make some great looking welds on difficult parts..

I've done various welding over the years on 2 dragsters and got myself in some real difficult positions....

I drag a shop machine home anytime I need to weld something on my car and it's a pain.....A Lincoln Tig 185 and big argon bottle....

I need to buy a small machine for home.....Lots of good small cheaper import machines out there fine for minor work.....

Jody from http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tig-welding.html
Has some great vids

Yea that's him …!

I do like my TigFinger. The clear gas cup and screen set ups are nice when you are in odd locations. The monster cups and screens also allow you to extend your tungsten further out without getting out of your gas.

I am self taught but have been tig welding for 28 years now. Had to learn for my job, then started making fuel cells, valve covers and other items. Mostly did aluminum but have done lots of moly, ss, and plain steel also.

They eyesight thing is true but I have a pair of glasses for computer work that has my bifocals moved way up and no distance vision that are great for welding. Until I got them I thought I might not be able to weld much anymore. DC is the worst because it arc isn't as bright usually so it is harder to see the weld puddle. They also make cheater lenses for people that need vision corrrection.

Curtis

Came across a deal i can't pass up. A miller 180
Diversion for 1200.00. A lot of extras too. Alcohol team sell off. No need for it. Be a fool to pass it up.Any of you guys with a stick box ever use Excelloy products. I do a lot on the road
where rust/dirt is an issue. Not with this Excelloy 52 rod, Burns right though it. Almost no spatter. Like to learn Tig. Eye problems. I guess being stupid in my younger years with too many flashes was the culprit Anybody do it with progressive lenses? Maybe my issue.

quote:

Originally posted by TD3550:
Anybody do it with progressive lenses? Maybe my issue.

Yes. See my post above.

I'm really kind of relieved to hear the talk about eyesight. Two years ago I gave up on trying to get distance and near vision with my contacts. Told the doc to give me my distance and I will wear cheaters for reading. Never thought about it, but my welding has sucked ever since. Even mig welding I can surprise myself at how bad of a job I can do. Maybe I will try the cheaters and bury my hood close in there and see if that helps.

You have a very good welder there.

Jody who does the weldingtipsand tricks is just a great place to start.

Along with all the other excellent advice you have been given, I will add to be careful around cars with electronics with high frequency start. Use scratch or lift start around electronics.

A good rule of thumb to start with for steel is 1 amp of current for each .001 inch of material thickness.

I know it sounds boring but some of the best advice my instructor gave me was to just grab some scrap metal and practice running straight lines.

You will spend more time sharpening tungsten than welding while you get the hang of it. I recommend cutting a piece of tungsten into 3 pieces and sharpen all three on one end. That cuts the trips to the grinder down some.

I wear my 2.0 readers all the time....

Just hang them on my nose far enough out so I can see distance over the top....

Been using cheap readers for 20 years...

I weld with them on under an auto darkening Miller helmet...adjustable type.

Mig welding is no problem at all....

Tig is a lot more of a problem but it's usually just need to get comfortable and pre plan what your gonna do....

2 hands, 1 foot....Being seated is the easiest on a nice work table...

Rolling around on the floor trying to weld and work a foot pedal under a dragster is not fun....You get real creative.....lol

That there just might work on having the bifocal moved to the top. Never thought of that. I have good and bad days with the mig in the shop. A lot of times eye coordination with puddle movement is my enemy.The guy next to me, 72 years old actually has the tig pedal mounted vertically on a platform where as he had to lay under their car to do an inside diagonal. I have seen him actually use his arm and elbow with pedal operation.Impressed was an understatement. I asked him, hey what about a finger control? His comeback was that would be for blind BA** like you. I laughed.

I have put the pedal sideways against a cabinet or wall and worked it with my foot laying down on the floor....

I have also used my knees but that one is very awkward..

Never liked the hand controls....

quote:

Originally posted by SCDIV1:
I have put the pedal sideways against a cabinet or wall and worked it with my foot laying down on the floor....

I have also used my knees but that one is very awkward..

Never liked the hand controls....

X2

Nobody mentioned ER312 rods yet.

Settings for MS and chromoly are fairly straightforward. The settings for aluminum get more technical.

You will really enjoy the Dynasty!

I use a Miller Dynasty 350 at work but we are restricted by weld procedures on setting of the machine. We are not allowed to use pulse and limited on frequency for aluminum.

I have done some. No pro by any means! Jody Collier is a big help, but his videos and instructionals can also be frustrating, much the same as TIG welding itself.

Eyesight is a big deal here, because TIG is all about control, and the more control you have over the puddle, filler, and tungsten, the better the quality of weld-and it's considerably more challenging if your eyes aren't great like mine. My left eye? No good-and when welding, I'd sure like to have a better left eye. Right eye is excellent. I have to use a cheater lens and that helps.

You'll run through a bunch of material quickly, also a bunch of argon, tungsten, and filler rod just getting some practice.

My suggestion-if you ain't done much TIG welding, grab the torch and make practice runs with no filler rod. In other words, grab some nice clean flat stock, maybe a few inches in width, 1/8 thick, and maybe 6-24" in length, and make a puddle. Do that a bunch of times. Then start running the puddle across the material and do that a bunch of times. Then start using filler rod. Once you get decent, or in my case just acceptable, shear off some scraps and start making butt, lap, corner joints. It takes lots and lots of practice just like bracket racing, it ain't happening overnight. If you have any oxy-acetylene torch brazing/welding experience that will be a tremendous help. That's what I did as a kid, making little tubular frames for people's projects using wire hangers for filler rods.

The main things I suggest to get started are in addition to the biggies: CLEAN work (filler rods and the work pieces), and the correct arc distance. Most people get too much or too little arc distance, myself, I tend to err on the high side and the weld quality shows it. But in my own defense, my hands aren't as steady as they used to be and there's nothing that can fix that. If you get too close and dip the tungsten, you'll have to stop and re-grind the tungsten, and I highly suggest picking up a cheap bench grinder to use specifically for grinding tungstens, or at the least use one specific wheel for them. Keep spare tungsten as well because as a beginner, you will go through it.

Gas lens is not needed at first. #6 or #7 cup and 3/32" tungstens will get you in the ballpark for 99% of what most people do on race car stuff. Pick your filler rod based on the thickness and alloy of the material you're welding. I prefer ER70S-6 for most mild and CM steel alloys but most use ER70S-2. Some say there's a difference and some say there ain't, I find that -6 flows out a tiny bit better, but that's nitpicking and it just works with my style of welding. The other reason is because when I was "learning" (refreshing) TIG skills, I had run out of -2 and grabbed some .030" -6 Mig wire and twisted a pair of them together to make a .060 -6 filler rod, and I liked the way it flowed, and stuck with it. Most Aluminum, I use ER4043. It's cheap and works fine for 99% of what I need it for. SS I don't do much of, and the filler for it depends on the alloy you're welding. I have a couple pounds of 309L, as it works well for joining SS to mild, as well as joining different alloys of SS.

Not going to repeat everything said above as it's all good.
One thing I will add to the above is to get a water cooled set up. An air cooled torch gets pretty dang hot after using it for a while..
Clean the tubing on the inside as well as the outside as a lot of tubing has preservative to prevent rust, also clean the burrs after cutting.
Tig is a lot like welding with oxy/acet I was always told if you can gas weld then Tig is easy, and I picked it up pretty quick.

I have just about quit welding as I am like a lot of the above with my eyesight going away. Pisses me off when I finish a weld and I have completely missed the joint. If I can't put it on a bench then I wont weld it.

Dave