Beginners Guide to TIG Welding

A

Anonymous

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Thank's Supe I'm gonna copy and past this to a file save it for future reference. I've done some TIG with a friends machine and hope to buy one over the summer.
 

Supe

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racintom said:
Thank's Supe I'm gonna copy and past this to a file save it for future reference. I've done some TIG with a friends machine and hope to buy one over the summer.

Sounds good, if it ever goes down on the forum, I've got the original file/photos backed up.

And thanks again to all for the kind words. Hope you can get some use out of it.
 

Sickness

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Dec 21, 2005
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Thanks a lot Supe, I plan on buying a TIG soon. I hate the fact that I can't weld...I cut, bend, notch, and make everything fit on my car and when people ask me who welded it I feel like an idiot when I tell them someone else. I mean I have a MIG, but it just isn't as versatile as the TIG. Now is the time for me to learn to TIG, because I am an aspiring chassis builder, and I'm still young(16). This will help A LOT. Thanks


Joe
 

Supe

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Sickness said:
Thanks a lot Supe, I plan on buying a TIG soon. I hate the fact that I can't weld...I cut, bend, notch, and make everything fit on my car and when people ask me who welded it I feel like an idiot when I tell them someone else. I mean I have a MIG, but it just isn't as versatile as the TIG. Now is the time for me to learn to TIG, because I am an aspiring chassis builder, and I'm still young(16). This will help A LOT. Thanks


Joe

I'm in the same boat, looking to do chassis work/engineering once I finish up my degree. As long as you have good fitup, a good TIG unit can be invaluable. Takes a lot of arc hours to do right consistently, but once you really drill it in, it's like riding a bike.
 

CutlassRacer

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Man that was a loooong post, lol.

Lots of good information there. I learned quickly that the best thing you can do to help your TIGing is to CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN, and then clean again!! Also have separate stainless steel wire brushes, one to use with each different type of metal that you are welding.
 

Supe

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CutlassRacer said:
Man that was a loooong post, lol.

Lots of good information there. I learned quickly that the best thing you can do to help your TIGing is to CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN, and then clean again!! Also have separate stainless steel wire brushes, one to use with each different type of metal that you are welding.

Yep. I think I may have mentioned that in there once or twice, heh heh.

Every time I teach someone new to TIG, they always want to half-*ss things and just weld over mill scale/grime. I say, "fine, go ahead," and two seconds later, they've got a bead full of porosity, a contaminated tungsten, but at least they got a little fireworks show from all the junk sparking off the plate.
 

1QwikBu

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ok supe pick my tig welder.. i need somethng for cage work cm and mild stainless tubing for headers and flanges ... some flanges are 1/2" thick and alum up to 1/4 " or better for cold side stuff and intercoolers i know how to tig .. ive used friends machines but im pretty sure there's are overkill for what i need i was looking at the syncrowave 200 whats your input?
 

Supe

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1QwikBu said:
ok supe pick my tig welder.. i need somethng for cage work cm and mild stainless tubing for headers and flanges ... some flanges are 1/2" thick and alum up to 1/4 " or better for cold side stuff and intercoolers i know how to tig .. ive used friends machines but im pretty sure there's are overkill for what i need i was looking at the syncrowave 200 whats your input?

The only thing that machine would possibly struggle with for what you've mentioned is very heavy aluminum over 1/4" thick, on which you require full penetration (and I'm willing to bet that 99.9% of the guys out there welding aluminum for turbo/blower apps do NOT have full penetration on any of these welds). To do so typically requires beveling the end of the pieces being joined, and often using a solar flux with a slight open root.

If you're staying Miller, at least for me, I would consider upgrading to the 250DX. Still comparably priced (couple hundred bucks more), has 300+ amp output if you ever needed it, water cooling capabilities if you're welding over 150 amps, but it also has lift arc, which I REALLY prefer over the other scratch start methods for doing the cages and stuff. No contamination of the base metal, and the tungstens will hold up longer. It also has the line voltage compensation. This is nice to have, especially when you have other equipment running in the shop, as it will help somewhat to keep the output consistent. Won't be as consistant as an inverter machine, but will still help with making nice beads on thin stainless and aluminum.
 

1QwikBu

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im not stuck on miller i don't have a brand preference my mig is a hobart and my plasma is a nu-tecsys they were the best deal i could find when i was looking and do everything ive needed them to do so brand's don't matter to me
price and performance does
 

Supe

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As far as the transformer machines go, I think the Synchrowaves slightly outperform the Lincoln units at lower amperage, so Miller is probably the way to go. You wouldn't be disappointed with either. I won't even bother telling you to look into the Thermal Arc units anymore, because their prices have skyrocketed.
 

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