Thanks MMW and ryanjones2150. The story with the cup sizes is long, but basically i have a decent selection for 1/16" and 3/32" but not 1/8". Right now all i have to use with 1/8" tungsten is the standard style (or what i think of as the long style) cup. I was convinced that the right type of tungsten would be found eventually, but that when it was , it would be best in 3/32". Turns out i do think for my air cooled torch & aluminum situation, larger tungsten will be the answer.
The reason i have been experimenting with lower amperages was sort of a take off from what Jody said in one of his videos, which was essentially "take your time" in regards to starting up a weld. Get the material hot, get good cleaning action, and then proceed. So i started slowing down the initial puddling and everything was coming out much better. The welds looked cleaner and shiny-er, and i had absolutely no contamination issues. What also happens at these low amperages is that the tungsten holds its shape much better, and so you have more control. The other thing about low amperages is that there is a lot less ambient heat coming off the weld area, which means (for me anyhow) a much easier time feeding filler rod. I have off-and-on battled with contamination from not properly shielding the working end of the filler rod when welding AL, resulting in big problems. If the amps are low, its quite easy to keep the filler close in, and therefore keeping it in the shielded zone of the gas.
Of course all this lower amperage stuff is only possible with the added helium. That said, even WITH the helium, I'm not going to be able to do the work i need to do on larger sections by this method. Ill need to go up to at least 130-150 amps. So. I loaded up the #17 with a 1/8" 1.5% lanth (which is the biggest i have at the moment as i said before), and set the machine to 140. See the attached photos of the tungsten prep before and after balling, the material (1/4" X 2" 6061... though i mistakenly wrote 1-1/4" for the width) before and after welding, and the final shot of the tungsten after the weld. Not too bad. Still a bit strangely shaped, but not out of control. I think i wrote it in one of the images, but to answer here, the post flow is 8 seconds. Is that too short?
I think the next step would be at minimum, get better alumina cup and gas lens combo for 1/8" and maybe even 5/32" as MMW said. After that, either a bigger air cooled torch as MMW said as well, or just go water cooled and see if that clears things up. I know all of the above will only improve things.
The good news is, the job i was waiting on came in yesterday. So yes, I've got to get things sorted, but at least there's now a little green to go towards the effort.
The reason i have been experimenting with lower amperages was sort of a take off from what Jody said in one of his videos, which was essentially "take your time" in regards to starting up a weld. Get the material hot, get good cleaning action, and then proceed. So i started slowing down the initial puddling and everything was coming out much better. The welds looked cleaner and shiny-er, and i had absolutely no contamination issues. What also happens at these low amperages is that the tungsten holds its shape much better, and so you have more control. The other thing about low amperages is that there is a lot less ambient heat coming off the weld area, which means (for me anyhow) a much easier time feeding filler rod. I have off-and-on battled with contamination from not properly shielding the working end of the filler rod when welding AL, resulting in big problems. If the amps are low, its quite easy to keep the filler close in, and therefore keeping it in the shielded zone of the gas.
Of course all this lower amperage stuff is only possible with the added helium. That said, even WITH the helium, I'm not going to be able to do the work i need to do on larger sections by this method. Ill need to go up to at least 130-150 amps. So. I loaded up the #17 with a 1/8" 1.5% lanth (which is the biggest i have at the moment as i said before), and set the machine to 140. See the attached photos of the tungsten prep before and after balling, the material (1/4" X 2" 6061... though i mistakenly wrote 1-1/4" for the width) before and after welding, and the final shot of the tungsten after the weld. Not too bad. Still a bit strangely shaped, but not out of control. I think i wrote it in one of the images, but to answer here, the post flow is 8 seconds. Is that too short?
I think the next step would be at minimum, get better alumina cup and gas lens combo for 1/8" and maybe even 5/32" as MMW said. After that, either a bigger air cooled torch as MMW said as well, or just go water cooled and see if that clears things up. I know all of the above will only improve things.
The good news is, the job i was waiting on came in yesterday. So yes, I've got to get things sorted, but at least there's now a little green to go towards the effort.
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