Basic Tig

[afwalker]

Ok point taken. My main point was go name brand if you go used. Second point was all used will still be somewhat pricey so think new.
I did note using Carl's Syncrowave 350 vs my Dynasty 200DX is that my invertor runs hotter, so that took some getting used to.
11505646893_10a58df4f3_m.jpg
Happy tigging:)
cheers
andy walker

[Alistair]

As others have said, great thread.

I'm wondering what the electrode material of choice is these days? I'm using 2% Thoriated. Seems to work fine but then, it's all I've ever used. I'm due to buy more Tungsten's here shortly and I'm wondering if I should try something else, or just stick with the Thoriated ones.

Thanks,

Alistair.

[Rosko]

2% lanthanated is the new black.
you can ask for a free sample from these fine folks, they make some good stuff:
2% Lanthanated Blue | Diamond Ground Products

As others have said, great thread.

I'm wondering what the electrode material of choice is these days? I'm using 2% Thoriated. Seems to work fine but then, it's all I've ever used. I'm due to buy more Tungsten's here shortly and I'm wondering if I should try something else, or just stick with the Thoriated ones.

Thanks,

Alistair.

[zank]

Does your machine have AC? If so, get a sheet of 1/8" 6061 and run stringers and stringers and more stringers. This exercise helped me a ton. With aluminum, everything is exaggerated. Speed, reading the puddle, feeding rod, everything. I started with a few 16" square sheets of 1/16" and 1/8" and went through a lot of 1/16" and 3/32" rod.

I realize this is a different approach, but it rocked for me. I still do it a lot.

[yortmai]

I have a Miller Maxstar 200DX welder. I took a class from a TIG guy (not a frame builder) who encouraged me to use an on/off button and a programed cycle (initial amps, initial slope time, pulse, final slope time etc.) instead of a foot pedal to build frames. Is anyone on here using this function?

His thought was that it would remove one more variable and so long as the amperage etc. was programmed correctly, you would end up with good welds.

[Rody]

Following this recommendation assumes that:

- You know enough about the process and materials involved to KNOW what your settings need to be to create a safe and reliable joint.
- Variables for the anticipated program never change...unless you are a fine tuned robot, your travel speed, torch angle, filler rate will always vary
- A program is developed for every material combination you desire. A group of settings for welding a .09 top tube to a like sized seat tube is much different than welding the same top tube to a machined 44 head tube with triple the wall thickness.

There is no short cut to putting time in under the helmet and developing an understanding of the process...experience will always be more reliable than any number on a display panel.

rody

[Mike Mcdermid]

Andy I am sorry to be constantly dis-agreeing with you but I think just the opposite. An inverter machine is something you only want to buy new. A transformer machine can be fixed by ANY TECHNICIAN and they are bullet proof. I had to warranty my inverter (which took 1.5 years to get back because it could only be fixed by Miller) and I just bought a transformer Syncrowave in the mean time. Now I use the transformer for steel and projects and the inverter is dedicated to titanium. The settings are very similar but they are different torches so it is easier to leave them all set up.

Little motivation (all 175 amps of it):

Amen.......

[Peter E]

I also bet that is a collet and not a gas lens (very common). Get a gas lens and a slightly larger cup.

I don’t even know the difference. How do I tell a collet from a gas lens?

[Rody]

Here's a pic to illustrate the difference: Gas lens set up on left, regular collet body on right.

gaslens.jpg

gaslens2.JPG

A gas lens allows for diffusion of the shielding gas over a broader area, "showering" the weld puddle in inert gas.

[schollen]

I read through this thread a while back and the one comment from Drew about controlling the heat with the rod over the pedal helped me immensely. Before when things would get just a little too hot i would back off on the pedal and next thing i know im not putting enough amps in and my puddle is too small and cold. I still use the pedal to do more major adjustments, but for the smaller adjustments i simply just adjust my feed rate.

welds went from this:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-E...o/P1010820.JPG
to this:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...409_190658.jpg

Although my welds have gotten a lot more consistent i am still having some trouble, specifically i have a lot of trouble at time seeing the puddle and i burn a hole and end up going through a lengthy and ugly process fixing the hole. First i want to just post my current setup in case that raises any red flags, i think it aligns with what i have been riding and i doubt it is why i am having trouble with seeing the puddle.

- using a thermal arc 200 gts welder
- running pulse on the welder somewhere around 30 pulse per second, 50% on time, 50% background and change max amp between 50 and 70 depending on if im welding bottom bracket/head tube or tt-st.
- i use a number 9 gold plated lens
- i use 1/16th tungsten

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z...013_175643.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M...013_175705.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z...013_175617.jpg

When i cant see the puddle i have found that there is often one of two things at play
1. i have to be far from the welding spot or at a weird angle. sometimes this is because i hood is too bulky. i am not sure if there is much i can do about this...
2. the arc seems to blur around where the puddle is and makes it difficult to see. could this have something to do with how i am grinding my tungsten? is my welding lens too dark or too light? do not have enough background lighting? my garage is a little bit dark. am i angling the tungsten wrong? is my head positioned wrong? am i not putting enough heat in or enough filler in? or maybe some combination of all of these?
3. Welding helmet gets fogged up. is there some anti fog solution i can put on it, sometimes i find myself holding my breathe simply so the helmet doesnt fog

Im not sure if there is a fix to any of these problems over just practice, but hopefully there are some guidelines that i can follow that will help point me in the right direction. I have only been welding for a year and a half, i have no formal training and it is a very part time hobby.....basically i dont really know what im doing beyond reading through these threads, watching online videos and practicing in the garage on occasion. I am currently welding my third frame, some pictures below.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Y...009_211416.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-O...013_175442.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...013_175433.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l...013_175502.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4...013_175454.jpg

This is where i burned a hole...i was at a great angle here and could get really close but for some reason just was not seeing the puddle very well due to some blurryness.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p...013_175420.jpg


Thanks for any comments you can offer,

Scott

[Jake Rosenfeld]

In no way is this meant to be a complete reply to your questions nor am I going to break down each of your welds step by step but here's some food for thought;

what I'm seeing in the picture is short moments of brilliance liberally interspersed with lots of sections that you wish weren't there.

So do this, next time you have a short section of the weld just running perfect instead of trying to keep it going just stop everything. Let off on the pedal and let the fire go out but don't move a muscle. Look at everything you see and memorize it. Angle of the torch, angle of the rod, distance of both from the weld etc.

The reason everyone is always talking about the variables like speed, feed, torch angle etc is because they all need each other to work.

Simply put, the angle of the torch to the material dictates the direction that the excess heat bounces off of it, where your rod is in relation to this has a lot to do with how the metal is deposited. If it is inline with the discharge it will heat up too fast and melt before it get where you want it to go. the key is to slip it in under the angle of the heat discharge and into the puddle where it belongs.

You will see areas where the weld is running good but will then start to thin, this is because you are 'reaching' with the torch head. This means your travel speed is good but your angle is not changing to match your position over the tube.

Anyway, You can continue to teach yourself as you go but narrow in on the parts you like and try to recreate it.

keep it up!

[schollen]

Thanks for the reply Jake,

I welded the rest of the front triangle keeping your suggestions in mind with no further holes...which was good. I am still finding that despite the my angle relative to the puddle that the puddle still looks blurry. Sometimes my lens is visibly foggy, but most of the time it looks fine, maybe there is just a really thin layer i cant see....? any thoughts on what else could be causing the puddle to look blurry. this is my biggest frustration because a lot of the time i can see it perfectly clear and then ill start welding again and its hard to see anything and im not sure what is going on. thoughts?

Scott

[Jonathan]

I wear reading gasses, but many if not most helmets have the ability to hold optical inserts