Ever wish you could find some simple instructions for tig welding? Like without all the Techno chatter boiling down Tig welding basics?
It's as simple as no photos...
Machine Settings - For steel, stainless steel, nickel alloys, and almost any material except aluminum and magnesium, your tig welder will be set to DCEN (direct current electrode negative), aka straight polarity.
High frequency is set to start (on newer inverters, this setting is built-in). Backflow is set to at least 10 seconds, and AC Balance (if equipped) is set to the DCEN default setting. Contactor and amperage switch are both set to remote. (Also on newer inverters, this is the default when setting the TIG mode).
For tig welding aluminum, set polarity to AC, AC balance to about 7, and HF to continuous. All other machine settings above are the same as for TIG welding steel.
Shielding Gas - Set to about 15 cfh. Argon is the universal shielding gas for TIG welding. Once you have some seat time, you may need some 50/50 argon/helium for argon welding aluminum.
TIG Torches - There are air cooled TIG torches and water cooled. Each comes in large and small sizes.
Generally speaking, the smaller the better. A water-cooled 250 amp TIG torch is smaller than an air-cooled torch of about 100 amps. Larger torches are possible, but are just more difficult to maneuver in tight places. A #7 TIG cup is a good place to start.
Tungsten Electrodes - For welding steel, the electrodes need to be sharp and clean. A belt sander or 4 /12 inch sander will do the trick. For aluminum tig welding, just use a sander around the tip.
A 2% thorium tungsten electrode will weld everything. Thorium is radioactive, so if that scares you, get some 2% lanthanum and it will work for everything. Use the smallest electrode you can to get the job done within reason.
1/16 tungsten electrodes up to about 90 amps, much higher than 90 amps you need 3/32. over 200 amps you need 1/8 tungsten.
TIG Rods - 90% of all TIG welding can be done with 3 different TIG rods. 308 for welding stainless steel, E70S2 - for welding mild steel and 4130, and 4043 for welding aluminum. There are a variety of rods for specific applications, but these 3 rods will handle the majority of the TIG welding work you will be doing.
TIG Welding Technique - Hold the TIG torch as if it were a first grade pencil with the ball of your hand on a table or something else. Tilt the torch back about 10 degrees, lift the tip of the tungsten about 1/4 inch away from the metal, nod down and depress the foot pedal. Once the arc is established, add heat by depressing the foot pedal until the weld puddle is approximately 4 times the thickness of the metal to be welded, up to a maximum of approximately 3/8 inch. Try to keep the arc length (the distance between the tip of the electrode and the puddle) to about the size of the electrode you are using.
Now here comes the technique... To obtain a uniformly rippled dime weld channel, add filler rod, pause, move the puddle about 1/8 inch and pause, add filler metal, pause, etc., and so on.
If you perform this step and pause the TIG technique correctly, you will get a stack of uniform dime beads.
Easy, right? But it takes a lot of practice and seat time.
5 Argon Arc Welding Technique -
Try to keep the distance from the tip to the puddle no further than the electrode diameter.
Keep the torch angle at a maximum of 10 degrees.
If the filler rod is balled up and trying to get into the puddle, see tips 1 and 2 above.
For steel, keep plenty of sharp electrodes handy and change electrodes when dipping wicks.
Get some E70S2, ER308 and 4043 aluminum rods. These 3 will do most of the TIG work.
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