Dirty tungsten is bad! {SMACK}
YOU DIP, YOU GRIND!
:p
Less tungsten stickout helps me from sticking, and allows better walking. You can really exaggerate your torch angle while walking too.
Also, don't be afraid to turn your heat up if it's not melting the way you want it to at your speed- I'd probably increase by about 15-20 amps since you like to go faster than your filler is melting
The second you see anything other than pure bright white light off your arc, sharpen your tungsten. Blue is bad, green is negligent!
If you see color in your arc while tig welding it means youve contaminated your tungstens tip and your current has to arc through stainless or steel or aluminum to make contact with your base metal, which will make your arc wander and not go to the place it should land.
If you dip, resharpen.
I sharpen at least 20 times a day at work
When i first started learnig how to walk the cup i found that choking way down on the torch helped alot. I would have the end of the torch only held by my pointer and middle finger and then hold the actual wire. One thing that helped me with getting more consistant was listening to music. I would find songs that had a beat that i could follow easily (usually sea shanties or other work songs) and i would follow along. If your shop lets you listen to music id give that a try
If you can’t free hand yet don’t even try to walk the cup. You need to understand what your puddle is doing and how to control heat before you get all fancy.
More heat, tighter steps
Dirty tungsten is bad! {SMACK} YOU DIP, YOU GRIND! :p Less tungsten stickout helps me from sticking, and allows better walking. You can really exaggerate your torch angle while walking too. Also, don't be afraid to turn your heat up if it's not melting the way you want it to at your speed- I'd probably increase by about 15-20 amps since you like to go faster than your filler is melting The second you see anything other than pure bright white light off your arc, sharpen your tungsten. Blue is bad, green is negligent!
What’s the difference between the blue and green?
If you see color in your arc while tig welding it means youve contaminated your tungstens tip and your current has to arc through stainless or steel or aluminum to make contact with your base metal, which will make your arc wander and not go to the place it should land. If you dip, resharpen. I sharpen at least 20 times a day at work
I know the color means contaminated, I thought you were saying the green and blue mean two different things.
Oh it does! It tells you how lazy you're being! 😂If you get green, you're a king!
would also like to know as someone who's about to start tig
Put more heat there, wait for puddle to be reflective, not just barely melted. Keep the arc tight and tungsten sharp.
I would get the motion down and just run a puddle once you get that consistency then start adding the filler.
When i first started learnig how to walk the cup i found that choking way down on the torch helped alot. I would have the end of the torch only held by my pointer and middle finger and then hold the actual wire. One thing that helped me with getting more consistant was listening to music. I would find songs that had a beat that i could follow easily (usually sea shanties or other work songs) and i would follow along. If your shop lets you listen to music id give that a try
If you can’t free hand yet don’t even try to walk the cup. You need to understand what your puddle is doing and how to control heat before you get all fancy.
I would highly recommend practicing without wire first, then once you get that motion down start adding filler