need help welding tubing

[scook1940]

Hello my name is steven I have been welding for 4 months. I currently use a synchro wave 210 number 9 torch with gas lens am d 2% lanthanated tungsten. I was praising on some 1 1/2 .120 mild steel tubing with about 60 to 85 amps and 13 to 15 cfh pure argon. To me the weld does not look right It looks off a little below I posted a couple pictures of them

[ryanjones2150]

need help welding tubing

Torch angle and travel speed is inconsistent. Practice is the cure for that. For me, TIG welding on tubing was much harder to learn to do well than flat metal, for obvious reasons. Keep that piece, move on in your practice and when you come back to it in a couple of months, you will be pleased at how much better you got.

[spence648]

Always pay attention to torch angle and arc length, you may like the results better by turning it up to 100 -120 amps, I would use .045 filler for that too,

[Portable Welder]

Spence, I have to disagree on the .045 recommendation, he will be spending so much time trying to jab the wire in the weld that he will loose track of the torch angle and length.

I personally would go with 1/16" filler.

[OscarJr]

on 0.120" wall mild steel, I too would use 1/16" filler rod.

[ryanjones2150]

need help welding tubing

I might use a 1/16" tungsten, but I think I'd use 3/32" filler metal. And I probably wouldn't change the tungsten to a 1/16" if I had a 3/32" in the torch already. And for me, welding around that small pipe, it's gonna get real hot, real quick and anything I can do to get that bead in faster makes my hands happy. And if I had a whole bunch of these to do, I'd move up to a #17 torch or a water cooled something or other, which I don't have. You can get a stubby kit to make that 17 as small as a 9. But here's another question...if that tubing is mild steel, why not just mig it?

[Portable Welder]

Ryan Jones, That is on the border line, I also might use a 3/32 filler wire, However I have inverter so 3/32 would be my tungsten.

[spence648]

I knew that wouldn't go over well, everyone is different and has different prefrences, I like the thin filler to control puddle, making a sweet looking weld is all about consistency, for me I'd rather push in to add more rather than getting to much fill, from those pics it looks to me he used too much filler in spots and ran to cold, common problem in people learning, they turn it down to not overheat but end up spending so much time in one spot the haz is shot anyhow,

[zank]

I prefer thinner wire too. I probably would have reached for 0.045" wire.

[ryanjones2150]

need help welding tubing

I absolutely agree that it looks like there's an excess of filler metal in there. Back to experience again...so much we can learn by doing.

[iliyahamovic]

The problem I see is that guy is still pretty new with tig and he "hangs on" too long without traveling and gets the carbon out of steel even with lower amperage than recommended (there's no shine in weld, it's all dark grey), the cure as already stated above would be 120 amps (1amp per thousand of an inch unless is chromoly) and move faster, 1/16 filler and 3/32 would do job just fine since I've been doing lots of chasis and it works for me thru the years.

[ryanjones2150]

need help welding tubing

Excellent point. Travel speed on the small diameter round stuff is always harder than flat practice for sure. I bet we all had that issue at one time.

[iliyahamovic]

yes, practice, practice and more practice, its always good to position hand and try moving it before actual welding around tube couple time to be sure that you are in comfortable position and that you can reach all points in the pass that you planning to do.
tubing is not easy task...
remember if you stop breathing while you doing it that meens you are too tense, and running out of oxygen wont get you far