On Sun, 08 Jan 2006 22:51:22 GMT, "Rick" wrote:

Ok, so I fired up my Christmas present today, a thermalarc 185TSW tig/stick
welder.

First I tried a stick, on DC...wow! So much easier to start and maintain
the arc than my AC buzzbox. Very happy.

Next I ground a 1.5% lanthinated 3/32" tungsten electrode to a pencil point,
then ground the tip flat to about 1/4 the diameter of the rod, put in a #5
pink cone thingy and tried running a bead on a piece of 1/4 mild steel,
sanded clean, using a 3/32 filler rod, 115 amps, basic square wave foot
pedal operation, and 20CFH flow rate on my argon. A few seconds later I
reground a 1.5% 3/32" tungsten....well you get the idea.

How in the world do you keep the tungsten tip from touching the work or the
filler rod??? Nobody's hand can be *that* steady!

Practice! Cheating also works. I cheat.

Try to set things up so you're not welding "freehand" using large
muscles. Find a way to get comfortable, with places to rest elbow
or wrist or whatever you can so control is mostly from small muscles
in hand and wrist. It's a bit like shooting a rifle; try to
establish contact betweeen skeleton and available stationary objects.
I prop my butt on a tall lab stool whenever I can. Not sitting
exactly, because I need to work the footpedal. More like using a
bunseat in a bassboat while running the trolling motor with one foot.

I thought I was probably a wimpy welder until I brought in a boat prop
for repair and noted that the really good welder at the shop also
works that way. He was repairing some kind of tool or mold with very
precise small welds.

Can you rest the pink ceramic cup on the workpiece?

That doesn't work for me.

How do you hold the torch (angle from vertical) and where do you feed in the
rod to the puddle? In front of the torch? to the side? behind it?

I run the torch almost vertical to the work, feed filler at a low
angle from the not-yet-welded direction. I alternate between
puddling and feeding to avoid sticking the filler rod into the
tungsten. Get a puddle, back up a smidge, melt off a bit of rod in
the puddle, move the puddle a bit foward with the torch, and so on.

On inside corner fillet welds, I run the torch at about a 45° angle to
the planes. If the materials are of different thicknesses, I focus
more heat on the thicker part.

I don't know if these are proper techniques, but they work for me.

I accidentally welded a pretty smooth bead, but the next few attempts
produced more of the filler rod or tungsten getting stuck to the workpiece.

I need a class...Ernie, when is the next welding course in Seattle?


Rick