So I purchased a tig welder the other day and I am looking for some good books or videos of how to info. I did a search on here and did not find much.I am hoping someone in Hamb Town has some info on good tutorials on Tig welding.There are allot of You Tube videos but you have to sift through some crap before you find a good one. Thanks for the help.
http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/ Has a ton of great info and videos on it, including a large section dedicated to Tig.
I bought a bundle of rod and every morning for a month first thing before I did anything else I ran the tig till i had used up one rod. Aftr about a week i started to figure it out. Now If I tig something even just to tack it it will hold hundreds of pounds it seems. Don
I too have had a hard time picking up the technique so I am going to check out some of sources you guys put up here. I also found to watch someone that knows how to do it really good, that seem to help as well.
Practice is the only way to get good at welding. get a few tips from those videos and dive in! 8hrs a day, every day for several months is how I learned tig welding.
Grinding wheel. Has to be a clean one with no aluminum stuck in the wheel (from grinding aluminum metal) Otherwise aluminum chips will cause the tungstun to gather molten metal. Tungstuns should be sharp for mild steel and stainless and rounded for aluminum welding. Using a tig is more hand eye coordination. That means two hands.. Always hold your elbows either at your side, on your knee or on a table or part. Never let your elbows swing loosely by your sides. This will give you stability. Practice feeding your wire with your fingers. You should be able to feed a whole length of wire with just your fingers non stop without re-gripping. As everyone says. Practice is the best classroom with this type of work.
I took a class at a community college... Nothing like someone standing over your shoulder and saying hey try this instead or you doing that all wrong.
I use a cordless drill and lay it against a disc. sander, both spinning with the disc spinning away. This gives the very fine sanding marks a spiral and helps keep the arc stable and concentrated. Although i sometimes don't practice keeping the disc clean, it is a good idea to have one set aside just for tungsten sharpening. Practice, practice, practice, and one day welding will become second nature, you don't even think about what you're doing, you just do it
I had a hard time learning so I took a class at Mesa Community College. For me it took a lot of practice to get my hands to move properly. The theory was easy to learn, but the muscle coordination took a while. By taking the class I practiced way more than I would have on my own.
Ron Covell has some excellent welding videos. Try SmartFlix.com if you don't want to buy a DVD before you have seen the content. Many that I rented I later went back and bought. These youtube vids are good but they assume a certain level of expertise, the Covell vids walk you through the metal prep and machine setup which for me was what I really needed when I first got started. As for tip prep (believe me, you will become a pro at prepping tips long before you master TIG welding) I use a cheap 1 inch belt sander...you really want a nice clean set of grinding marks that run parallel to the rod, this is hard to do with a circular wheel. Once again, the Covell vids go into more detail with electrode selection and prepping.
What community college did you attend? Palomar? San Diego CC only offers a 630 hour full welding curriculum and won't let you into the program unless you start at the beginning.
I sharpen mine free hand holding a grinder with a FRESH flap wheel with one hand (grinder's laying on the floor) and the tungsten with the other. It's a habit developed when you learned to weld in the field. Works for me, your milage may vary.
Buy the best machine you can afford and practice a lot. Use the correct gas and electrode for the metal you are welding. I bought a cheap bench grinder from HF and only use it to sparpen electrodes, any contamination will screw up the weld. TIG will not tolerate any dirt, metal must be squeaky clean before welding. Do not weld on anything that has been sprayed with Brake Cleaner, the fumes are deadly. You know you're getting the hang of it when you don't grind the welds.
I watched the advanced tig welding video and liked it (wasn't super advanced but did cover different metals like titanium). I think his intro would be a good start
I took one in the bay area from las positas community college no pre reqs were required. There were people in the class that never welded
I am pretty much self taught and at my best I think my welding would get me a B+. I don't feel qualified to weld some things, but on the other hand, I have made welds that didn't break where a certified welder's work did. Point being, it is possible to become proficient on your own. I read books, practiced and experimented, then re-read the books again. After some hands-on, some of the things in the books made more sense. Any guidance you can get from a good professional or good experienced welder is very helpful. If you have the opportunity, get a shield and watch a good welder weld. Most don't mind you looking over their shoulder. Good classes are worthwhile. That can help avoid bad habits and practices that you will likely learn on your own. When I learned to TIG weld I could already stick and gas weld. I am told that knowing how to gas weld makes it easier to learn TIG welding. Like a lot of things, practice and a desire to improve will gradually improve your welds. And like most things, no matter how good you get at doing it, there is always something that could have been better in some way.
Tig welding is the combining of two things, mind / body and mechanical. First, know how your machine works, what settings are to hot, to cold, get to know the welding unit( also called practice). Next , control your body, breathing is a big part of a good weld,do not hold your breath,practice welding a scrap piece and maintaining the puddle from one position to another while breathing smoothly......zen moment....then add the filler rod, dip and go, breath, relax, dip n go breath relaxdipngobreathrelaxdipgobreathrelax. Practice more and more. p.s. Deadicate a grinding stone for your tungstun, no contamination and the grinding marks go the right way as compared to using a flapper wheel.
What machine did you buy ?Much easier top give tips when the machine is known.What torch,what tungsten's,what filler rods,what material are you planning to practice on give us a hint,so we can get you going. That's my2¢. Tig
I signed up for this site and it looks to have great info so far.There has been allot of good advice.I purchased an Everlast I-Tig 200.I did allot of research and this unit has a 5 year warranty and got excellant reviews.I could not justify a high dollar unit for my home use.I am going to learn on regular steel first.I want to be able to do my own patch panels and frame building myself.I can already arc and mig weld fairly well.
this is really only true for chlorinated brake cleaner. when it gets exposed to an arc it creates chlorine gas which will really mess you up. non-chlorinated formulas are fine.
I am 36 and been welding for 25+ years. Tig since about 1996ish. Practice, reading, and any insight you can get by talking to other people that weld, and even better get someone to show you. In fact I would offer any help I could to people around Louisville Ky area.
Start by cutting some coupons about 1/8" steel run some puddles without any filler until you get control of arc and puddle with foot pedal or not keep this up until you have puddle figured out ask some questions and get to know your machine.Get rid of the mill scale as it will keep you from having the desired weld.Start with 3/32" tight arc 1/8" or less.Thoriated (red) tungsten sharpened to a point.Argon 12/15flow 80 amps and foot pedal it.Practice practice practice.Seat time,seat time,seat time.Can you oxy weld?Run some puddles like this and ask questions. Tig
becareful grinding on tungsten it put off radioactive fumes. as far as tig welding goes make sure you have good PPE's(personel protective equipment)if you have any exposed skin you will get burned.i always wear good welding jacket good gloves.what kind of welder you have and what metal you trying to weld
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