Jeff, what helped me as much as anything is creating controlled test. Simple well know stuff that had no variables. Metal - Gauge - Tungsten - Filler - Gas Flow - Amperage. Fit up, prep, and clean meticulously so there's no doubt.

Then I use the baseline's Miller provides as reference.

Run a 1" bead at your baseline, then one inch beads at high and low extremes to the baseline and observe my habits during the tests and the results. Knowing the extremes has helped me understand right vs wrong and get the feel for normal or an acceptable average.

Any recommendations on tungsten and filler size for sheet metal, 20 gauge specifically?

1/16" and 1/16" should work.

Miller app only goes down to 1/16" material

For butt joints they say 50-80 amps for stainless +10% for mild steel.

Argon at 11 cfh or 20 psi.

Speed 12" per minute.

Prep and fit-up!!!

Download the miller welder app --- it has all that info at your fingertips.

Watch this on tight fit ups!!!










and watch this video too…..

I actually got rid of my smart phone and went back to a "dumb" phone! I use the Miller calculator on their website, but, like Sieg said, it only goes down to 1/16 so I wasn't sure. I had watched that first video before, I watched a ton of Jody's videos when I first bought the TIG. That's where I learned of the online tubing coper, awesome "tool".

I'll give it some more practice when I get a chance to work on my own pickup again. Until then I'll stick to the larger steel or a MIG.

In general the filler should match the material thickness, so for 20 Ga I would use .045 , or even .035 if you have a tight fit that doesn't require much filler.

Created a project to get some heavy gauge practice on. The heavy stuff was good for me and my aging eyes as it's like looking at the puddle under a microscope. :D

Basically I welded a piece of seamless tube with a 12mm wall and 34mm ID to a 13.5MM base plate. The tube was beveled at 45* giving it an approx. 7mm face.

Tube fuse tacked to base.
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-M...MRJ9WHs-XL.jpg

I alternated fusing opposed 20mm sections.
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-C...CjWGc4d-XL.jpg

Fused 360*
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-p...p9kCCdp-XL.jpg

Then I started experimenting laying cover passed by dabbing 1/16 70S rod and 3/32 70S, then lay-wire method with 3/32. I lost control of the heat due to puddle chasing mainly related to poor positioning/posture techniques.
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-f...fhNjDdq-XL.jpg

Final pass using 3/32 lay-wire and weave pattern with the torch.
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-h...hZ4RGW3-XL.jpg

End result
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-H...HJ2K99q-XL.jpg

I plan on stress testing it in the near future.

The larger material was good practice for me as most of my practice has been at a much smaller scale. The visual scale made connecting the dots much easier. A water-cooled torch would have been nice to protect from the material heat, surprisingly the torch never got uncomfortable with my non-insulated TIG gloves. A TIG Finger for heat protection would have been nice when propping on the tube though. Ended up laying my insulated MIG glove over it. :thumbsup:

So first things first --- it looks real good -- and projects like this teach a guy A LOT --- such as you mentioned -- positioning and clamping and heat and on and on…



#2 -- when we say CLEAN is the paramount thing to TIG welding (MIG you can get away with a lot) ---- I would have cleaned the mill scale off down to clean bare shiny metal…


Did I mention it looks real good?

Thank you!

It was clean metal in the weld circle. Didn't have any contamination flares at all which really surprised me.........other than sticking the tungsten in the puddle 3 times.....which is a win for me. :D

That's why they sell so many tungstens --- and sharpeners!


HAHAHAHAHA

nice work sieg.

do you have a magnifier on your tig helmet?

I agree on the cleaning. Go beyond your weld border. As you weld you'll see the junk get puled into the puddle edge. The way I see it your gonna end up cleaning the whole thing at some point. Its easier to do without something welded to it.

Very nice Sieg! After seeing what you guys are doing, I'm not posting any more of my welds. :wacko:

From your picture it looks like your tungsten could be sharper. Plus that will concentrate you heat more. Your probably finding the thicker material easier to see because your using more amperage and lighting up your welding shield better. On thinner material you might go to a lighter lense. The problem with the thicker material is it welded totally different. You can run a lot more heat and not work on the the most important part of welding. Controlling your heat. I hire industrial welders that are certified for thick metal projects but cannot control there heat to save their life or their job.

When you do a welding cert job you might do the tubing test we did for a big Stainless job we do monthly for a local company. We welded .25 wall material tubing. The cut the small joint maybe 4 inch long and cut it it to 6-8 strips length wise so you can see the penetration from the middle. There can be penetration on both sides that has a huge void in the middle. We learned that on some Xray-ed parts we did for the same company.

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...126_071624.jpg

These are some parts we are welding up today. They are huge and require multiple passes for proper penetration.

Thanks for the input Rodger. Greg pointed out the company you're welding those for when we were cruising through Bakertuckey. :D

That tungsten was violated just as I was finishing the weld. Typically I take it to a point with a little longer bevel than it appears in the photo. I did experiment with putting a slight flat on the point during the session, prefer pointed.

I completely agree with the heat control and it's much more involved than just setting your amperage. I'm going to start practicing/experimenting with pulsed mode/settings on thinner materials. I think that will compliment my lack of talent nicely.

Looks nice!

You should sand the tungsten before you take the pic. It makes you look like a pro. HAHAHA


Most of the time the pulse welding on thinner material is better done with the foot pedal. The pulse does not give you a real sense of heat control as more then likely you sheet metal fit on custom panels is not precise around the hole panel and since your margin of error is much tighter on sheetmetal. The pulse works great on thicker stuff that a robot can do as it is a machine fit constant gap. The foot pedal lets you control it much better for each individual weld bead.

For thinner stuff just cut some straight strips and weld them back together with out buckling the material from Heat. Then if you can weld it up and keep it flat and you turn it over and it is fully penetrated your golden.

I'll grind a stubby and keep it handy for photo ops in the future. :D

Ok, I have a confession. I'm a lurker in this thread!

So, here is some TIG love for my fellow welders. Cheers.

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...ps42b857fd.jpg

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...psb45f8409.jpg

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...ps942b1e8b.jpg

http://i1113.photobucket.com/albums/...ps86098ec6.jpg

Mild steel sanded and then cleaned with a 3M pad. Red electrode, Argon at 12 to 15, Tip ground down to a point with clean 100 grit sanding wheel, and some welding rod I found laying around the shop. 1/4" plate with Amp setting at 100, Foot controlled heat between beads.

And by the way.... Scott you are getting pretty good. Take note everyone, practice, practice, practice.

And there ya go!!



Nicely done buddy!

A couple of my latest practice projects.......

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-5...5fnXxVr-X2.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-t...tGSh9bL-X2.jpg

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-G...G9Jx2kq-XL.jpg

The good and the really ugly on the right due to contamination from trying to retain the rustic nature of the metal.....I ground another 1/8" clearance before doing the left bead.
http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-F...FFknN4B-XL.jpg


The fun one.......

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-c...cWgfPfv-X2.jpg

Insert 5" of cannon fuse, 1 tablespoon fg black powder, one piece of damp paper towel, then pack the remainder with damp beach sand and stand back. :D

I'd actually buy the photo frame if I saw it in an art gallery.


Just one question…. how do you get a photo and some glass in there??



DOH!

Thanks.

You're Soooo Old School! :D

I use small neodymium magnets for these frames or a 4x6 picture will simply rest in place. Frame is sloped at 15* and it weighs about 7-8 lbs.

Nice work Sieg.

Tig 102
 

Looks like it will take more than a 100 ft of welding to
even get close to welding like you guys.. I did a bunch of arc and gas
welding years back.. been thinking about getting a tig
and start to learn again.. just too many other projects
going on

Is that why they call him Greg "Weld":)

Panteracer Norcal Bob

Tig 102
 

Sieg,
The frames would be great for awards etc
Are you marketing them?? you can charge Greg
$850 each since he spends everyone elses money

I might be interested in a few

Panteracer Norcal Bob

Not marketing them, considering it on a very small scale. I'm going to be making a couple more designs this week. I agree, as specialized or personalized trophies they'd be pretty cool to receive.........IMO.

Let me know what you're thinking.

What tig machine are you guys using? Anybody with a Diversion 180?

I'm using an HTP Invertig 221H. 200 amp inverter, air cooled.

My friends have names for me - none of which actually use the name my Mother gave me…


Ever hear of WELD Racing? Good - 'cause that's not me!



:lol: :lol:

I run a Miller Dynasty 200DX


Remember that we're welding fairly thin materials usually -- UNTIL you get cranking on some aluminum - and that's when you need so power… so just something to think about when looking for these type machines.

Nearing micro........at least with my eyes!

http://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-R...RMMTTkV-XL.jpg

Ya know, I though you were THAT Greg Weld for a while. Then I remembered he passed away some years ago!

Nicely done Siegymundo!











That's a very common "ASSumption" --- particularly in automotive venues etc. While ordinarily one might sometimes wish they were said famous person but in this case… not so much. Given the fact that he was bankrupt and is dead -- and I'm neither of those. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Amazing precision there!

I know the monster I have available at work can TIG most anything but for a home shop how much power do you suggest for someone who would eventually need the power to weld aluminum??

1/4" aluminum takes 200 amps…


Remember too - that what you pay EXTRA for this power - the couple times a home builder may need something thicker (bracket etc) he could sure as hell take it somewhere and have it welded far cheaper.

Just always trying to give guys stuff to ponder before they commit is all. I know everyone has different pocketbooks etc. Or maybe their panel wouldn't take another 30amp 220V circuit or whatever.

I like to buy a bit more than the bottom - because as we all know - it's not just THIS project -- once you have "capability" -- there's other stuff you can do and your friends love to find out you have a 'welder' and so forth.

But you also gain duty cycle and when say boxing frame rails that is an important consideration.

Ordinarily I would agree - duty cycle is important…. but for a home welder that basically sucks - has to constantly reposition - has to check his work every other nanosecond (think SIEG here)… IDK if that duty cycle would be an issue but glad you mentioned it.

I have the Diversion 165 with a foot pedal that I really like. It however does not always like me... I used to run a Syncrowave 250 so I tend to push the 165 a "little" hard sometimes...

Most of the time I weld thinner stuff but I have worked it pretty hard it when repairing an aluminum bell housing and some other thicker aluminum work.

Some day I will step up to a Dynasty 200 or something like that. But not just yet. I have other things I need to get before stepping up to a larger welder. So far the 165 has done all I have asked.

Hope this helps,

Chris

First tig - syncrowave 180sd. Good machine. Stepped up to Dynasty 200. Nice unit with a lot more features that I will ever need.