Jon Elson wrote:

John P. wrote:

On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 02:33:11 -0600, Don Foreman
wrote:



On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 00:52:28 -0600, Jon Elson
wrote:



One of the tricks is to use the torch as a light shield. You want to be
able to see as much of the weld puddle as you can, but you DON'T want to
see the electrode.


That sounds like a good trick. I don't think I don't do that
when I'm welding, but I'm gonna try it. Do you have any trouble
maintaining your electrode distance from the work when you can't see
the electrode?



I'm not sure what the purpose of this trick is. If you are wearing
the proper welding hood the electrode shouldn't be any brighter to
look at than the molten puddle which by this time should be glowing a
bright radiating color.

No, the electrode is running around 4000 - 5000 K, probably hotter than a
light bulb filament. It lights up the whole room! With steel, the melt
puddle
only gets to red-yellow heat in most cases. (Actually, it has to be
hotter than
that, I guess the red-yellow is what the welding glass does to it.) With
aluminum, the metal NEVER gets hot enough to glow. If you get your aluminum
glowing, it will all be a big puddle on the floor the next second.

Also, keeping an eye on the electrode tip
allows you to keep an eye on it's condition. If the arc coming from
the tip is small and pin-point you should keep doing what you're
doing. But if the arc is getting fat and bulbous you've probably
dipped your rod and need to re-grind it to a 20 degree point.


It depends on the electrode, the workpiece material, the shielding gas,
and a bunch
of other factors. But, at least with my welder and other setup
particulars, the
electrode is just blindingly white and hot, and totally washes out all
the other
things I need to see. I CAN look at the arc, itself, and that gives me
a lot of
info on the arc length, the condition of the electrode, etc. But, being
able to see
the workpiece, the joint, and the weld puddle is the most important thing.

I think you may be right that when doing steel, the glowing puddle is a LOT
easier to see than the NON-glowing aluminum puddle. That is the toughest,
and I am still learning the knack of aluminum.

Jon

It kind of sounds like you're overheating the tungsten and perhaps
should be using a larger size. I don't recall ever having problems with
the tungsten being too bright when I've been welding. I use a Jackson
EQC Executive HTLS helmet and a water cooled TIG torch (ESAB HW-18) BTW.

Pete C.