TIG welding tips?

[MacStill]

I'm looking for advise from anyone with experience with TIG welding, I've had a bit of a FOAG on it and think I'll pick up the basics pretty quick.

But ant tips from experienced members would be great, and also wondering what filler rods to get for SS to copper joins.

Got a plasma cutter on the way too :dance:

[stubbydrainer]

FOAG ?? :think: :think: :think:

[MacStill]

Fuck Off And Google :laughing-rolling:

[stubbydrainer]

:laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: I had a talk to a mate of mine who's a fitter/turner/welder
and he knows I did special oxy welding for 2 yrs at Tech. He reckons it's a cross between oxy welding and mig !!!I was asking all sortsa questions I gettin' one as soon as I can justify it coz the curiousity bug is chewing away at me about 'em. but the oxy and mig serves me well atm
Did ya get one with a throttle pedal ?

[Swede]

McStill

Here's a few tips,

- get pure argon shielding gas
-if your machine didn't come with it, pick up some 2% thoriated tungsten electrodes, pure tungsten doesn't work as well on ss and copper
-grind a sharp point on you electrode, it keeps the arc tight and gives more precise control of where the heat goes. As soon as the point is gone or dirty, regrind it.
-set your heat as low as possible to prevent burn through, your not making structural welds here, they just need to seal vapor and water
-if it takes a second or two of heat to get a puddle started, you heat is about right
-copper will have a nice puddle one second, and drop out the next (burn through) so "stitch" your joint to keep from overheating it.
-for joining copper to ss, you can use ss or copper filler rods, I've successfully used ss rods
-fusion welding (no filler, just melting parts together) works very well for making condensers and other parts with overlapping faces, it's more difficult to do for butt joints though
-go as fast as you can while maintaining a puddle, the more you heat up ss, the more it "sugars" or gets black cristalline buildup on the back of the weld
-back purge if at all possible, it prevents "sugaring" of the backside of the weld

[MacStill]

Did ya get one with a throttle pedal ?

No just the trigger on the hand piece for now ;)

McStill

Here's a few tips,

Thanks Swede, just the sorta info I'm after....

Good news about the SS filler rods, I thought I would need some other type of rods but SS is easy to get :)

Cheers.