Welding Aluminum...Top 10 Mistakes Noobs make TIG welding Aluminum

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video page on aluminum welding training

"Hobart and Lincoln both offer 1-2 week Tig Welding Classes...just do it! "

"Hobart and Lincoln both offer 1-2 week Tig Welding Classes...just do it! "

1. Forgetting to set high frequency to continuous when tig welding aluminum ….. this will result in the machine stuttering at low amperage because the alternating current will loose some of its half cycles when the direction of the current changes. Its pretty obvious and hard to miss. If the machine sounds like a Volkswagen with one spark plug wire missing, this is probably what it is.

2. Wrong size electrode … the electrode gets really hot at 250 amps on a/c. Using the same size tungsten as you would on DCEN does not work! The tip of the electrode will ball up and quiver and will eventually explode into your weld. Trying to weld beer cans with a 1/8” electrode is just as bad. The arc will wander and you will cuss.

If tig welding aluminum is making you cuss, you are doing something wrong.

3. Wrong size filler rod …too small a filler rod will result in the rod melting before it ever gets to the puddle. Too big a rod can actually block the shielding gas and will suck the heat right out of the puddle.

4. Cleaning aluminum with a carbon steel brush instead of using a stainless steel wire brush … every text book tells you to brush aluminum with a stainless steel brush dedicated for aluminum. The books are right on this one.

5. Too much torch angle … too much angle of the dangle will melt the filler metal and make it blob into the puddle. When you use the right torch angle which usually means only about 10 degrees tilt, the wire will feed into the puddle instead of blobbing.

6. Too long an arc see number 5…you have got to find a sweet spot where your arc is close enough but not so close that you spend more time prepping electrodes than you do tig welding aluminum.

7. Too much argon on the torch ….this one is subtle because most resources for tig welding aluminum recommend too much torch gas. If the arc is really noisy…like rattling your brains out, you probably have too much argon flow. For a 7/16” tig cup, you only need about 13-15 cfh depending on how far you have to extend the electrode. More torch gas is not better.

8. Not enough electrode stickout …some manuals are just plain whack when it comes to electrode stickout. Hobart training manuals actually recommend only 1 to 1 ½ electrode diameters.! thats whack!!! If you can’t see the tip of the electrode, you can’t be sure your arc length is right. Right??

Use this rule of thumb: Extend the electrode far enough to see the tip without getting a pinched nerve in your neck. No more than that.

9. Using pure tungsten ….pure tungsten is is not that great. it balls up nicely but thats about all it has going for it. For years, textbooks have called for pure tungsten for tig welding aluminum. But pure tungsten often requires using a bigger electrode. And some inverter tig welders dont like pure tungsten at all.

If you want a good all purpose electrode , good for a/c and dcen. Get some 2% lanthanated.

10. Balling the electrode …never “ball” the electrode. Just round it.. the ball shouldn’t resemble a monkey fist or tootsie roll pop. That ball makes the arc wander all around at low amperage. Who needs that?

11. Not using a tig finger

When you are about to pee in your pants because your fingers are so hot, its hard to make a good weld.

Leave Welding Aluminum Newbie mistakes and visit HOME more on tig welding aluminum

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TIG welding High Strength Steel parts

This weekly video is about tig welding high strength steel parts and so about using a big tig cup to limit weld discoloration.

I had a comment on youtube last week about how I went way overboard with fabricating the Chinese up bars. He said I should have just laid some pipe and fittings on the floor, squared them up and arc welded them up.  He also said I should "get real"

I guess the guy didnt understand that all that overkill was intentional.

I am always looking for extra stuff to talk about during a video to try to make it more interesting or at least educational.

This weeks video is no exception. I thought it would be interesting to pretend these parts were stainless and go thru the steps needed to limit discoloration.

Even though these parts are high strength steel and not stainless steel, the principles apply for limiting same discoloration.

Today, I used a one inch diameter necessary cup along with a piece of copper to weld one of these parts just to show how it helps on weld discoloration.

I see a lot of questions on forums about how to tig weld stainless steel headers and exhaust collectors, turbo tubing, etc without it turning grey.

Using a bigger cup helps a lot on welding of stainless steels and steels of all types.  But its not always needed and since a bigger the cup uses more argon, its not something you want to do all the time...even though its tempting because it makes your welds come out looking better.

The parts I am the welding in the video are just plain gravy work.  This is why I like doing work for machine shops.

Parts are typically shiny and clean like this, and are often machined with a groove so they fit together like a glove.

Settings for this job are as follows:

90 amps dcen
1/16 "(1.6 mm) 2% lanthanated tungsten combined
1/16 "(1.6 mm) er70s-3 filler rod
1 "id cup using 25-30 cfh argon
or #7 cup using 15 cfh argon

Another use for a big tig cup like this is for welding stainless headers and exhaust systems, there are move in collectors where the angle is so tight that even the smallest tig cup will not allow access.
In situations like this, being able to extend the combined out really far like 1 1/2 "usually allows a welder to reach the weld while maintaining good argon coverage.

Yes it uses more argon, but when you need a big cup, you need a big cup.

Here are some basic tips for preventing discoloration on steels and stainless steels and titanium:

use a big cup, limit heat input, increase cooling rate, and establish a puddle quickly and get moving to prevent heat buildup.

And one more thing, I am finally getting around to having some of these cups made for sale on my site. I think I am the going to call it the "big white necessary cup" TM

If you would like to be notified by email when they are ready for sale, just fill in the info below.

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flux core welding tip

by Ryan P.
(Meridian, MS)

When flux core welding especially for newbies like myself, do yourself a favor and buy a flux core nozzle so you can actually see the puddle or you can just take the nozzle off completely, but the flux core nozzle actually keeps your tips a little more free from later than without a nozzle. And dip in nozzle gel so, even though it's made from different materials than gas nozzle usually it works fine.

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TIG welding tips and tricks worth copying

Click here for Tig welding tips # 1

Click here for TIG tips # 8--11

Click here for TIG tips # 12-17

Click here for TIG tips # 18-23

Click here for basic Tig welding info

Do you enjoy getting shocked? Me neither. necessary welding aluminum with your high-frequency switched to continuous means that the high freq is always looking for a path to follow. So even resting your forearm on the metal table can let that high frequency current bite you just when you least want it, like right when you are near and edge and you are being extra careful not to melt the edge away and then ZAP!. Who needs that?

Put a glove, block of wood, folded up heat resistant cloth or something non-conductive on the welding table to rest your arms or elbows on and to protect your arms from shock hazard.

So do whatever it takes to rest your torch hand on a steady object. Again, a block of wood, a balled up tape ball etc can all be used to give you something to rest your torch hand on.

You can thus make a "hot fingers" out of an old stick welding glove and use it to rest against the part to be welded. The "hot fingers" is pretty common Switzerland pipe welders and boilermaker welders.

keep scrolling down for more tig welding tips

When welding oil soaked aluminum castings like engine blocks, or transmission cases, clean the surface with acetone, alcohol or similar cleaner.

Route out any cracks with a really coarse carbide burr. (if you done have one try a drill bit)

Carefully heat the area with a oxy-acetylene torch or propane torch to cook out the oil.

Use a 300f temperature stick so you have some gauge to how hot the metal gets. (Its easy to overheat aluminum because it does not change color before it melts.) try to cook out the oil in the weld area without overheating the metal.

Then...Go over the crack with the TIG torch with low amperage, barely puddle every now and then to see what it looks like. If it is shiny, that's good. If it looks fuzzy, its still crapped up. Use as small a tungsten combined as you can and still the puddle aluminum.

These are called cleaning pass. Do not add welding rod. Every time you go over the area it should get cleaner. You will see black discolored or fuzzy looking aluminum in the beginning.

Weld; grind; weld; grind, wire brush, lather rinse repeat.

Eventually the aluminum will be shiny silver color, then you can weld with filler rod and larger tungsten.

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You know how when you use a sanding disc on aluminum, it loads up and doesn't cut after just a few seconds? To keep sanding discs and carbide burrs from loading up with aluminum, use bees wax on the disc. You will be blown away at the difference.

If you don't have beeswax, use mineral spirits or WD40.

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This sounds like a no brainer but I see it backwards all the time...

The reason this is important is that the chamfer on one end of the hebel is designed to seat in the same chamfer angle that is up inside the hebel body.

If the seat is not good then the shielding gas can stream out around the electrode instead of out of the diffuser screen or side diffuser ports.

This can make for a really turbulent flow of gas and can really make you pull your hair out trying to figure out the problem.

You waste time adjusting your flow rate can, checking for leaks, getting on the phone with your welding supply accusing them of selling you bad gas…. when all the while the problem what so simple…your collet in bassackwards.

You can sometimes get away with it. The tungsten wants to tighten, it might weld fine. All I am saying is that I have seen it a chance happen more than once so why take. Just put the stupid thing in the right way and be done with it.

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See page on tungsten sharpeners here...

...more tig welding tips

When TIG welding steel, nickel alloys, titanium, stainless steel, and all other corrosion and heat heat resistant alloys, you will be using DCEN aka straight polarity.

Whenever you are on DCEN, use a sharp combined. Whether you use a hand held the weldcraft tungsten sharpener like triad, a "stilo tig" tungsten sharpener, belt sander, 4 inch electric grinder with sanding disc or grinding disc…. the main thing is to use a combined sharp and clean.

That means when you dip your wick, sputtering the tip in the puddle when you and you are tempted to keep welding, stop and put sharp tungsten in.

That means keeping a big supply of pre sharpened electrodes mobile.

A lot of welders make a tungsten holder out of copper tubing with a cap soldered on one end and another removable cap on the other end. It's a pretty good way to carry around a good supply of sharp tungsten.

If you are constantly swapping tungsten size for the work you do, you may want to make separate copper tubing tungsten holders, one for each size tungsten you frequently use. and if you are using different color electrodes, you might want to only sharpen one end and leave the color code on the other.
necessary welding tips 1-7
Tips 8-11
Tips 12-17
Tips 18-23
necessary welding 4130

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TIG welding tips and tricks worth trying

READ ABOUT THIS NEW TIP FOR PRACTICING TIG WELDING ALUMINUM
Click here for Tig welding tips # 1

Click here for TIG tips # 8--11

Click here for TIG tips # 18-23

Click here for TIG tips # 24-28

Click here for basic Tig welding tips

certain alloys like inconel, hastelloy X, haynes 188 and others will crater crack if you let off the amperage too quickly. do want this too 4130 chromoly. Its a good habit to taper off the amperage while you keep the torch moving.

Set the machine so that you are at welding amperage with the foot pedal depressed about 3/4 of the way.

The 1/4 pedal that you have left is for just-in-case reserve, just like driving a car...

Having the amperage set this way gives a lot more control than just setting the machine to 200 amps and controlling everything with the foot pedal.

I don't know about you but sometimes I loose focus when welding long periods.

I don't want any chance of welding with 200 amps if all I need is 50 10000amps.

My ankles pop sometimes too, one ankle pop, and you might jump or drop 30 amps if your machine amperage is too high.

keep scrolling for more tig welding tips...

Too short of a tungsten stickout from the cup will not let you hold a close enough arc length and will not let you see the tip of your electrode.

You need to be able to see the tip of the electrode without getting a kink in your neck in order to keep your arc length right.

Some textbooks are just plain wack when they only recommend extending your electrode one tungsten diameter past the end of the TIG cup.

Holding too long an arc will not pinpoint the heat well enough and will let your rod ball up and blob into the weld... but we already covered that didn't we?

I remember a consulting gig once where the welder at the aluminum body truck repair shop could not get the aluminum socket weld to puddle. The only thing wrong what that the electrode which recessed back in the cup. Once I extended it out about 3/8 ", everything what fine. (I also talked them into getting some helium argon mix.)

keep scrolling for more tig welding tips...

Use gas lens style bodies and cups hebel to weld stainless steel. The screen in the gas lens allows far better gas coverage of your welds. You can use lenses gas to weld all material is you want; They therefore allow you to stick your tungsten up to 1 "out of the cup by increasing gas flow. Sometimes you need to extend it just to reach a tight spot. The screen diffuse gas at higher gas flow Council eliminating turbulence which is what you would get if you tried this without the gas lens. Too much gas is as bad as too little gas. (Especially for TIG welding aluminum) Typical gas flow Council are around 15 to 20 cfh. BU it really depends on the nozzle/cup diameter.

While I am on the subject, what do the numbers on TIG cups mean?

I am glad you asked… A #4 means 4/16 "or 1/4" A #7 means 7/16 "

In other words the number cup means how large the inside diameter in 1 / 16's

When you use a #4 cup remember to adjust the argon flow to around 10cfh. And the bigger the cup inside diameter, the more gas flow...to in extent.

more tig welding tips below...

For example: 7075 and 2024 are not considered readily weldable using TIG welding.

You can usually TIG weld them and they might be fine for a tool tote or some little way project...but do not be fooled.

You can't depend on the welds in critical applications.

Take a tree stand for instance.

Lets say Joe gets a good deal on some aluminum angle iron at his friends scrap yard and he decides to make was a tree.

Joe has no way of knowing what alloy of aluminum he got from the scrap yard. He makes the tree stood, it holds together and looks just fine.

The welds are real pretty…like a stack of dimes.

One day he is sitting in his tree stand about 20 feet up a tree. The stress corrosion that has been happening on a microstrucutural level since he finished welding the tree was finally comes home to roost and CRACK!

Down goes Joe.

Now Joe is being fed thru a tube and slurs his words.

Did you know that Alcoa will not even sell you aluminum if they even think you are going to build a tree stand. They won't even sell you the weldable grade like 6061 for tree stands. The moral of the story is…For any aluminum weld that is critical, know what alloy you are welding and use Alcotecs filler metal chart found here.

This is a really good resource…. you're welcome.

keep scrolling for more tig welding tips...

Tungsten size should be selected mainly according to amperage AND polarity and not always dependent upon metal thickness.

When TIG welding aluminum to ball if your tungsten begins up and quiver, this means your tungsten is getting near its capacity. This can be minimized by using the A/C balance dial and setting it for more penetration and less cleaning…or if you are using a TIG inverter like a miller dynasty, the a/c balance should probably be set to 65-70% EN.

For transformer machines like the syncrowave, the a/c balance set to the cleaning side means more dcep of the side of the a/c wave which means more heat is on the tungsten tip = wiggling more.

The more to the penetration side, the more the arc is on the negative side and the less heat on tungsten tip and less cleaning action but the square wave usually provides enough cleaning anyway even in max penetration mode.

A/C balance explanation again… the higher the number, less cleaning and more penetration and less heat on the tungsten.

This applies to square wave machines. So if you are using one of the older sine wave machines that have no adjustments for this, you might need to preheat material and use hotter gas like 50/50 argon/helium so that less amperage is required to do the same work.

If you weld a lot of thick aluminum...like 1/8 "and thicker...get some 50/50 helium/argon.

necessary welding tips 1-7

necessary welding tips 8-11

Click here for TIG tips # 18-22

Click here for TIG tips # 23--28
Basic Tig welding
necessary welding 4130

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6011 Welding rods - tips for vertical uphill

6011 welding rods are very much like 6010 rod.

The 6011 rod was designed with some stabilizers in the flux to allow welding on AC without the arc snuffing out.

6011 rods will run on AC, DC straight, or DC reverse (so called DC positive and neg DC)
Whereas 6010 rods typically only run ok on DC.

Trouble watching this video on 6011 rods?  Try watching on my other site welding-tv.com

6011 rods and 6010 rods burn almost the same welding schools often use 6011 rods because doing that provides a good opportunity to teach polarity and therefore allows the student to learn the difference between AC and DC.
And some schools still use 6011 rods simply because when the school curriculum was written, there were pilot of AC welding machines.

Personally, I like 6011 rods way better than 6013's.

For general purpose stick welding like if I am the building or fixing something outside where there is a bit of wind, some rust or paint on the metal, or when all I have available is an AC buzz box, you cant beat 6011 welding rods.

For thin sheet metal like exhaust pipe and mufflers, I like the tiny little 1/16 "diameter 6011 rods. They weld sheet metal downhill about as well a small 115 volt flux core welder.

This weeks video is about vertical uphill welding using 6011 rods on a tee joint.

This tea joint is a very common skill exercise used by welding schools and some students hit a plateau and can maybe use a little nudge to help them over the hump.

So here are tips for vertical uphill welding using 6011's.

1. find a way to prop yourself and be comfortable.  A steady hand welds better.  Sure its possible to prop with one hand and weld with the other. Welders do it all the time. But if you are a student, you progress wants faster and getting a paycheck quicker if you get past this joint start. So figure a way to prop and things will go better.

2. use a slight whip and pause technique.  About one per second.  I even had someone tell me they like to hum the song "Black and Yellow" while stick welding with 6011 in order good rhythm to get into a.

3. about 85 amps is a good place to start. Much colder and your puddle will not flatten out.  Much hotter and you might struggle with arc blow toward the end of each rod.
machines differ and some folks like to weld hotter, but 85 amps will get you in the ball park.

4. What is dig?  If your machine has a dig setting and more and more welders have the dig function thesis days...set the dig to 50-60 for 6011 rods.

5. when welding with 7018 rods, the dig setting should be on around 30.  7018 rods are designed differently and for different applications than 6010 or 6011 and run better using a different dig setting.

Another thing I really like about 6011 welding rods is their ability to weld downhill.   That makes them very versatile.

see more 6011 welding videos

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What i think of Tungsten Sharpeners?

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by Rob
(Bromsgrove, England)

I'd love to have one, but my company wouldn't spend the money.
So, i carry on using my £2.50 pin drill holder on the belt sander instead.
I initially got it to stop me from burning my fingers when sharpening my short tungstens. Yes, my company rations tungstens as well...

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TIG welding videos

welding a bike frame using er70s-2 and weldmold 880 rod welding the bike frame. M.t.p on the strong hand tools build pro precision welding table.
TIG welding tubing...thin stuff tig welding thin wall tubing used for custom bike frames using high speed pulse settings...the rule of 33, and a tungsten grinder. so comparison between er70s-2 and weldmold 880 tig welding filler rods.
TIG welding high strength steel parts using the "big white necessary cup" TM to weld high strength steel parts
Socket welds fit up and weld video socket welds used for making a Chinese up cash. 1 inch schedule 40 pipe and socket weld fittings tig welded. necessary welding aluminum 3F tee vertical uphill tips for welding a 3F position TEE joint using 11 ga 6061 t6
necessary welding a tubing bender kit from SWAG off road SWAG off road makes a kit that adapts certain JMR, JD2, and pro tools tubing benders to a air/hydraulic ram from Harbor freight.
necessary welding repair and tips for identifying metals tig welding repair on a C clamp. Some would'nt think this C-clamp what cast iron. Here is a down & dirty test to tell if its cast iron
TIG welding a seat for a shop stool using pulse outside corner and lap joints using pulse tig and the rule of 33
TIG welder comparison tips for using lift arc tig welders. A scrap piece of copper helps a lot
TIG welding 9 random tasks welding build up on aluminum, razor blades, stainless handles to carbon steel nuts, boat prop repair and more
stainless steel weld repair job weld repair on a mis machined stainless shaft
TIG welding on aluminum boat prop oct 2, 2012 weld repair on a blade of at aluminum boat prop using a tig inverter

necessary welding quick job short video shows necessary welding carbon steel to stainless using 309 tig wire. so shows tack welding technique
multi pass tig weld on thick stainless steel video shows multiple pass of walking the cup as well as using a tig finger

DIY bronze hammer welding project
a cheap and useful welding project that makes for a bronze face heavy hammer for tapping on finished surfaces you dont want to ding up.

TIG welding lap joints this one shows lap joints on 11 ga cold rolled steel, 4140 multi pass, and so welding a bearing sleeve
necessary fingers in action on pipe etc.
pipe welding test
Part 3... this link will take you to part 3 of a 3 part series on tips for taking a pipe welding test on a 2 "schedule 80 6 g test.

a review of root and hot pass and then...stick pass cover

6 g 2 inch schedule 80 welding certification hot pass

This video shows tips for the hot pass in 2 inch schedule 80 pipe done in 6 g position.

so, a review of amperage used for the root pass...and a review of reasons to buy a tig finger
6 g 2 inch schedule 80 welding certification root pass tips for the root pass in 2 inch schedule 80 pipe. lay wire welding technique as well as dip and keyhole technique.

A 6 g pipe test is pretty hard. You could use some tips.
Remove a broken bolt from exhaust manifold a tig welder with a foot pedal and you are in business to remove a broken stud, some 309 stainless tig wire

All purpose water cooled TIG torch video watch all the Tig welding videos you can stand right here.

TIG video showing technique on root pass with a tig finger

TIG video showing settings comparison using 3 tig inverter a necessary welding video with arc shots

aluminum tig welding and ac balance settings

TIG welding 4130 chromoly tips
How to necessary weld steel corner joints

welding aluminum laps and teas with tig
TIG welding aluminum parts

Aluminum butt weld

TIG welding techniques for stainless
cast aluminum welding tips

necessary welding carbon steel with 309 tig rod

TIG welding stainless steel parts

TIG welding steel parts on a stronghand welding table

Aluminum Welding Practice A great way to get plenty of aluminum welding practice

Do the aluminum drill

TIG welder demo Miller diversion vs Everlast 185 micro necessary welder comparison video

welding 4140 is a lot like welding 4130 , which is a lot like... welding carbon steel content is the main difference...
How to necessary weld overhead video

necessary welding overhead is mostly a matter of figuring out how to be comfortable and how to hold the torch.

TIG welding techniques and welding magnesium

magnesium castings can be repaired using tig welding... the same techniques used for aluminum work with some tweaks...

Walking the cup vs not... necessary welding video

Walking the cup for Tig-welding works good sometimes. Especially on pipe larger than 2 inches slide... other techniques can be just as good...
Aluminum properties and how to weld There are a few things you need to know about all aluminum welding... aluminum is hot short...cracks means that it easily at certain temperature ranges. That is why tack welds done with no filler dont work.

Welding stainless to carbon using hastelloy W tig rod

Hastelloy W works for all kinds of different steels. But it is very expensive. ...312 stainless is almost as good for when you are not sure of the steel you are welding.

metals and how to weld nickel

nickel alloys like inonel, hastelloy, nichrome V and waspalloy do not need as much heat and have a moving sluggish puddle.

properties of stainless and how to purge ...one of the properties of stainless is that it wants sugar if not purged on the back side and like Fido's ass that looks. This short video on the oxidation properties of stainless shows how to purge and weld.
properties of stainless and how to weld it tig welding video on the properties of stainless steels...best practices for welding stainless to keep it from rusting

metals and how to weld them properties of metals

welding certification test practice practicing for a welding certification test...part 2

necessary welding test tips for tig welding practice

TIG welding techniques tips for tig welding lap joints and butt joints

TIG welding razor blades tips for welding razor blades and why you should'nt sharpen your tungsten like a freaking needle

TIG welding techniques for pipe welding root pass and fill pass without walking the cup.

weldtec tig torch...a small water cooled torch rated at 320 10000amps... thats what i said...320 amps
exit necessary welding videos and go to main video archive page

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TIG welding tubing...Thin wall steel tubing

This weekly video is on tig welding tubing... thin wall steel tubing.

What kind of steel is this tubing made from?  I dont really know except that it seems to weld a lot like a plain carbon steel and that it is used for custom bicycle frames.

According to Mike Zanconato of Zanconato Cutom cycles (thanks for all the help Mike!)    "Compared to 4130 steel, this alloy has about half the carbon and chromium content that 4130 does, but it has about 3 times more manganese and vanadium so added. This allows the wall thickness to be reduced to 0.016 "in some cases. "

having trouble watching this video on tig welding thin tubing?  try watching it on my other site welding-tv.com

The manufacturer of this thinwall steel tubing recommends using weldmold 880 tig rod because it provides excellent strength and elongation properties.

Elongation is basically how much a weld will give or stretch before breaking.  You want welds on bicycles to have a bit of stretch to them.

So using the rule of 33 (thats my rule and its not really a pulse rule...just on easy way to remember settings that work) I set the pule set rate to 33 pulses per second, and I the background current to 33% and the % on time also known as pulse width to 33.

Why?

Because thin wall tubing can be hard to weld if it has any gap in the fitup and pulsing at 33pps allows a bit of time before a hole is blown.  It gives me an extra second to get the rod in there when I see that I am the about to melt a corner off, blow a hole, etc.

There are plenty of bike builders who never use pulse tig because pulse is not absolutely needed.  But I just like it on thin stuff.  I think it helps.

Another tig welding technique that helps is to back up the arc while you are adding filler rod.

On thin metal, if you move the arc ahead too far, wait too long, dont add filler quick enough...you can have a hole quickly.
Backing up the arc while you add filler puts the arc over a thicker area that is less likely to melt away.

So which rod is better?  ER70s-2 or Weldmold 880?

I think I would have to say the weldmold 880 rod was more fun to weld with.  It was prettier and flowed like honey.

But does that make it better?

But both rods passed the hammer test and ER70 necessary rod is very cheap and works just fine for tig welding chromoly tubing as well as other alloy steels like the tubing welded today.

I would feel safe riding a bike made from this tubing welded with either rod.

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Mug for cleaning mig welding wire

by Duane Campbell
(Calgary AB)

Whelp we all know that it's good to keep our wire clean, so I like to take a but from a cigarette and put it on wire just after the rolls before it goes through liner...This will help keep your wire clean for welding.
------------

Thanks for the post.

This is jody and i want to add my two cents...

There are actually pads for sale along with cleaning solution used to soak the pads that is supposed to clean and lubricate the wire to make the liner last longer.

Some folks swear by them. i have used them... but not for long enough to really tell a difference in life of liner.

they are called "Weld aid Lube-Matic wire Jake pads".

I like the cigarette butt idea better. It sounds like it would work and of course is much cheaper than buying pads.

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Cigar Ashtray...

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by Don
(Belleville, Michigan, USA)

I took a welding and fabrication course at my local community college. For the final project, we had to think of something to make for ourselves. I couldn't really think of what I wanted, so I thought I would make something for someone else. I would visit my brother in law in New York City, and he would always offer me a cigar after dinner. After we would enjoy our cigars, he just tossed the butts onto his metal awning outside his porch. So I decided I would make him something to put his cigar butts in.

For the project, I chose to make the box out of 14 ga mild steel. I use oxy-acetylene for all my welds except the plug weld I did for my cut tubes I used for cigar holders. The box warped slightly due to all the heat, but it seems that I am the only one who notices it. lol If someone else chooses to do this project, I would suggest tig welding it and reconfiguring the cigar holder layout. It was my first personal project with welding, so I hope you guys are not too harsh about my welds. LOL thanks I hope you like it.

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Tig Welding Tips and Tricks

"pay attention...tig welding tips given here are worth more than pay for them...oh snap what you!"

Click here for Tig welding tips # 1

Click here for TIG tips # 12-17

Click here for TIG tips # 18-23

Click here for TIG tips # 24-28

"stop reading and weld!.."

more tig welding tips...

TIG welding filler wire and MIG welding wire from a spool are essentially the same composition except that mig welding wire often contains more silicone and that can actually be a good thing for TIG welding steel. Don't hesitate to use steel or stainless steel mig wire if you run out of TIG welding filler metal. If small, double it its too up and twist it up into a cordless drill

Standard TIG wire for welding mild steel is E70S2 it seems like the standard mig welding wire off the shelf these days is almost always E70S6. The 2 and the 6 indicate the addition of silicon and deoxidizers in the wire.

Stainless tig and mig wire is most often E308L unless you ask for something else.

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Don't use too much torch gas when welding aluminum on A/C. aluminum takes a lot of amperage to weld. Even though the melting temperature of aluminum is less than half that for steel, it takes about twice as much amperage to weld.

Why? Because aluminum conducts heat away from the weld puddle faster than you can put it in. This brings me to important point.

Do not use more argon than necessary on your torch gas. If you do, it will be like blowing cool air on something you are trying to heat up with a torch. All that argon blowing on the part makes for a loud, erratic arc because the arc force is so great. Have you ever lit up on a thick aluminum casting and listened to how loud the arc is? I bet your torch gas what up around 20 like the books recommend. (Unless you are using on argon helium mix) that's too much for aluminum.

And another tip is use the old school type of collet body (not gas lens) and one size smaller cup than you would use for steel that still provides good shielding. A smaller old school (not gas lens) TIG cup confines the shielding gas envelope to the puddle so that arc energy is not wasted in the form of frosty-cleaning action outside the weld. A lot of old timers use the small cups, they just don't know why.

Pay attention next time you weld aluminum and use a small cup and then turn the shielding gas flow down to around 12-15 cfh with a #6 cup and see if things don't quiet down a bit.

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Shielding gasses for TIG welding Argon is not the only shielding gas used for TIG welding...just the most common and versatile. Argon will usually get the job done. But there are times when some helium mixed with argon makes a world of difference. Especially if you are using a small inverter TIG welder that is limited to around 200 amps.

100% Argon - is the most often used and coolest gas...the best all around gas. 75% Argon/25% even helium - 25% helium will make a big difference when welding aluminum that is thicker than. 063 ". Anything under. 063 "thick and helium is unnecessary.

50/50 argon/helium-awesome for thick aluminum and magnesium 75% Helium/25% argon - awesome for thick aluminum castings… Nailpolish really quick and welds cleaner than 100% argon. So good for bronze and pure copper on DCEN welding.

100% Helium-. Hot but hard to start the arc on A/C.

Did you know that you can use UHP helium (ultra high purity) and weld aluminum on DCEN? I have not been able to make this work on dirty castings but on something like on injection mold or aluminum fixture made from new fresh aluminum plate that is not heavily oxidized, it works great and does not heat the base metal nearly as much as welding on A/C.. takes a lot less amperage too.

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TIG welding is not nearly as forgiving as MiG or stick when it comes to dirty metal. For TIG welding, the metal needs to be clean; No rust, scale, paint, etc. that means hot rolled steel needs to be ground to shiny bright metal…not just polished over.

Welding hot rolled steel without grinding will make you look bad.

Don't do it if there is a chance someone might see it windy conditions or drafts in the welding area and you will loose shielding coverage and get pinholes/porosity in the weld. If you have to TIG weld in windy conditions, you are going to have to spend some time making wind breaks out of cardboard, plastic, or whatever you can get.

TIG welding will just not tolerate much much less a breeze of a gust of wind. And please don't try to TIG weld with a coat hanger or gas welding rod. They will bubble and hiss.

TIG welding rods like E70s2 have silicon and other deoxidizers designed to scavenge impurities out of the weld. GAS welding rods are pretty much copper colored coat hanger wire. Do not use them.

If you just cannot clean hot rolled steel, using ER309 stainless looks better and stops the porosity. But it's much more expensive and not to be used to replace engineering authority for coded or critical welds.

more tig welding tips below.

for tig welding tips # 1-7 click here

Click here for Tig welding tips # 8--11

Click here for TIG tips # 12-17

Click here for TIG tips # 18-23

Click here for TIG tips # 24-28

Basic Tig welding information
necessary welding 4130

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Virtually

AppId is over the quota

by Charles
(Mayfield, KY)

Like you I'm old school I believe you need to feel and hear the process as well as see it. You use more of your senses in welding than just your eyes

I would ask if virtual welder training might virtually lead to a person getting a virtual welding job? And if so would that person get paid with virtual dollars? :-)

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Ricrkp

by Ric
(Monessen, PA)

I recently bought a MITTLER BROS 36 "bead roller for doing embossed panels and car interiors. The machine is FABULOUS but the stand that they offered fell short of what what needed. The scooter rocked back and forth due to the one point mounting.

SOOOO I bought a harbor freight engine stand and added the following pieces to make it a solid mount and portable. I came off the engine mounting flange with a 2 x 2 square tubing forward and then down to the front of the stand. then came off the tubing with 4 pieces of 2 x 2 tubing to support the table. the uprights are 3/8 1 1/2 flat bar and the table support are the same flat bar. The tubing affords a place to mount the spare it. Now it is rock steady and portable.

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A steady hand welds better

by Rodiron
(Kelly, N.C..)

This is a tip my father gave me back when I first let him know I was taking up the pipe welding trade. He was a 34yr. Union boilermaker and owned his own shop, (that which when I was going to wear a suit and work in a office) this may not help anyone but then again over my 40yrs in the trade for stick it has come to mind many times and mainly and mig welding. He told me to always try to find something to rest my free arm on, ya know, the one that steadies the one holding the stinger. And if you can't find anything, tack somthing up. A steady hand makes for a better weld and better looking.When taking a 6 g review I'd always stick my file or wire brush handle in the cupon or somthing. I hope someone can use this tidbit. Burn em down!

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