Quote:
Originally Posted by Smiling Canadian
Krems...if you're new to this and thats the workmanship you're putting out, you don't really need any tips...you just need arc time.
On small diameter, light wall pipe like that, with a gappy fit I would tack the flange so the gap is even all the way around. With stainless I'd tack every inch to keep the flange from distorting. I'd run 1 pass to fill the gap then 2 stringer passes for the cap instead of a weaved cap. When weaving a fillet weld I try to not have a weave more than 6 times the diameter of my filler rod.
Heat control is a very personal thing. I weld very hot. Probably 10% more amps than pretty much anyone else I know. Stainless is a whole different story though. You really have to have your eyes in 4 different places at once. You have to watch the leading edge of the puddle to be sure you're getting proper penetration. You have to keep a eye on the puddle for size. You have to watch the deposited metal for signs that you are letting you material get too hot. You have to watch the puddle to be sure you're not getting the molten metal too hot.
Your deposited weld metal will look like it has semi melted sugar on it if its getting too hot. Your puddle will become unstable and your arc will start to wander if it's too hot.
But like I said...you have more than the basics down pat from what I see. I know 25 year welders who can't TIG like that.
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Well thanks! I do need to practice more though. I always tell myself I'll practice and make all these coupons, but I end up "practicing" on my actual projects because I don't have time. I got really lucky and have a friend that's an excellent TIG welder. He let me borrow his chinese Eastwood TIG 200 for a whole year and let me bother him with questions
I bought my first machine (Lincoln square wave 200) last month, and it's night and day. I struggled for the longest time with dipping the filler into tungsten, not adding enough filler/going too slow on aluminum, incorrect torch angle etc, and now I'd like to get down long passes on stainless. I'd like to work on learning AC settings as well. My machine has balance and frequency, but I do end up with this peppery black stuff in some of my aluminum welds sometimes. Not enough cleaning I guess?
I also want to learn how to start walking the cup like pipe welders do, but I only have a pyrex cup right now so I have to freehand things. What size alumina gas lens do you walk the cup with on stainless? Depends on the thickness? Are you guys in the oil patches up there? That's a ****ing man's work right there...like I said, I have the utmost respect for you guys busting your asses on stuff like that. If you have more pictures of welds, especially sockets and stuff, I'd love to see them.