TIG welding

I just bought a Miller SD 180 TIG welder. I never welded before so I hope to learn how to TIG weld this winter. I have a four car garge that I an running 100 amp service too. When I get that done I plan to play around with the welder. I may stop and see if there are any classes offered at night at our community colleges and/or tech schools in the area.

Dane

Great gas welders make great TIG welders, the hand action is very similar. Once you learn the tricks and how to recognize a problem with torch/welder setup you will be a whiz.

FourbyFours advice is spot on for stainless.

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Outlawed tunes from outlawed pipes

I took a combination welding class at a occupational center here socal and started off learning to cut with a torch. That was fun but I wanted to become certified but my work hours were from like 7am till midnight so I had to drop out of that class. I never did get to weld with a torch but I did work with Gene Winfield for a few months and watched him weld bumpers together with a torch. It's neat watching a master at work.

Water cooled vs. air cooled has a little more involved than just how hot your hand gets. Water cooled torches also keep the tungsten cooler. That makes it last longer and less of it boils off into the weld to contaminate it.
To do water cooled on the cheap, you don't really need a cooler. A small fresh water line in and tube out to put the used water somewhere convient and safe will work nicely for the occasional TIG user. That method met our needs in a truck shop for many years. You can run a lot of water down the drain for the price of a new cooler.

All processes have their advantages in certain situations as everyone has mentioned. I like knowing them all as you never know what you might end up doing and what you have to work with. I had someone asking me to fix an intercooler blowout at the track last week with Oxy Acetylene since that was all that was there. It wouldn't have been a problem if the right filler and flux would have been there as well. Personally, I found that gas welding made me a way better TIG welder for a few reasons. The coordination factor as well as just learning to watch the puddle and how adding filler can manipulate it in various ways. It also helps you learn what lead angles and work angles are beneficial although not always the same as in TIG.

Also, while it may not be the best answer, you can get an add on box that has the gas and water solenoids as well as post flow and pre flow timers and high frequency to make your stick machine a fairly decent TIG setup. I have owned a few that had add on boxes and worked fine, although I still prefer a dedicated TIG machine.

The last watercooler I bought was from a regular Ebay vendor that was really decent. The coolers are new Bernards which are excellent. I think I paid about $280 shipped, well worth it.

The vendors name is StinkyWilly. I just checked and he is still selling them, there was one listed for $31 on there at the moment.

I have found that if a person can handle from 22 gauge to 1/4 inch about every thing we need to weld on a car can be done..

I did some extensive checking into what to get and settled on one of the kits from Miller as it comes with all the pieces I needed to have in order to run tig..Of course there are the production setups but then I am not doing production..

I have found knowing tig to be very useful as I can now weld that odd piece of aluminum or stainless and can do 4130 if I need to to..

Now if I were to do production work then it may be a very different machine with all the bells and whistles..

Just my thoughts on the welding..BTW I do have a 110 mig wire feeder and it has served me quite well for a lot of things..I am not ready to give that one up quite yet..

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I have tried most all of it and now do what is known to work..

I wanted to post some more references I have used for welding stainless steel. Some I took from my previous list to keep the list complete and added information for automated welding.

Tube O.D. x 3.141= Circumference

Inches Per Minute(4 to 7) divided by Circumference=RPM

Total Time: (60sec. divided by RPM) + Rotaion Delay + Overlap

Level 1 Amps: 1 amp/.001" wall thickness (316L)

Last Level Amps: 80% of Level 1 Amps

Back Low Amps 30% of Level 1 Amps

Rotation Delay: 1 to 3 seconds

Wall Thickness Travel Speed Overlap Primary-Pulse-Back
------------------- ----------------- ---------- ---------- -------
.250" Tube ----- 6.28 IPM ---- +1Sec. -- 0.1Sec. / 0.1Sec.
.035 - .083 ----- 5.00 IPM ---- +2Sec. -- 0.2Sec. / 0.2Sec.
.085 - .095 ----- 4.00 IPM ---- +3Sec. -- 0.3Sec. / 0.3Sec.

Tungsten Length And Geometry

Wall Thickness Arc Gap Tip Diameter Tungsten Diameter
------------------- ---------- ---------------- -----------------------
.020" - .035"____.030"_____.020"__________.040"
.049" - .083"____.050"_____.030"__________.062"
.091" - .154"____.070"_____.040"__________.093"

Primary Current Reference

Wall - Level 1 316L - Level 1 304*
------ ----------------- -----------------
.035 ___ 35 Amps ____ 42 Amps
.049 ___ 49 Amps ____ 59 Amps
.065 ___ 65 Amps ____ 78 Amps
.083 ___ 83 Amps ____ 99 Amps

* With 304 Add 20% More HEAT: Formula (X) X 1.2=20% More

Amps Reduced Per Level: Amps x 93%=
Example 65amps divided by 93%=60amps

Tube O.D. Wall Thickness DownSlopeTime
------------ ------------------ ---------------------
0.250 _______ .035 ______ 3.0
0.375 _______ .035 ______ 4.0
0.500 _______ .049 ______ 5.0
0.750 _______ .065 ______ 6.0
1.000 _______ .065 ______ 7.0
1.500 _______ .065 ______ 8.0
2.000 _______ .065 ______ 9.0
2.500 _______ .083 ______ 10.0
3.000 _______ .083 ______ 11.0
3.500 _______ .083 ______ 12.0
4.000 _______ .083 ______ 13.0
4.500 _______ .083 ______ 14.0

A site for people that want to learn more should check these sites out.

http://www.weldingengineer.com/1tig.htm

http://www.alu-info.dk/Html/alulib/modul/A00537.htm

http://prl.stanford.edu/documents/pdf/TIGweld.pdf

You guys have gone WAY past me with the detail on welding as though I made my living for a few years with oxy/acetlylne, I'm zero thereafter! So, I do appreciate the info but back to the basics for a guy in his back garage trying to do a car all by himself:
When I weld with oxy the root pass is a key hole drawn toward the welder (person doing) with rod supplying the fill needed & then the cap is larger directing a puddle & filling as needed away from the welder. Does this technique work for TIG also???

With Tig welding you hold the torch at a 70 degree angle and create a puddle by increasing the amps. You push the weld puddle in the direction you want to weld. Add filler wire to the front of the puddle if needed every 1-2 seconds.

thank you this is the first time i have posted and im very impressed with the knowledge that has been past along to others whom need the help learning the finesse of tig welding i take my hat off to all of the real welders that have given the true answers to them that are not so experienced in welding

I was a cert. MIG welder for years and for me the biggest adjustment to TIG was learning to slow down and controling the heat of the TIG. At first I tended to just blast away, but soon found slow and uniform is the way to go. Sure does make a nice bead when you get the hang of it.


BTW: Is anybody still here on this thread??????

i dont know what you are welding but i know as far as versatility for just about anything a flux core mig spool and a mig welder is the way to go there is a bit more splatter which requires a bit more wire brushing but if ease and versatiility is what you r looking for this combo has done me alot of good as far as tig welding i am a welder myself if you are not going to be doing it rather regularly theres no point in wasting youre time or money if the weld is prepped most weld shops are fairly kind to the pocket book

Are talking about true flux core MIG (duel sheild) using gas or a gas-less wire welder. ALL MIGs use gas and a gas-less set up is not a MIG.

wire feed sorry but no gas it was easier to move about in and out of the trailer it went to the track with us and did most of the home stuff with it as well by far the most versatile welding setup ive ever seen