Tig bead good or bad

[3faze]

I am working on my tig welding and have been trying different settings on my dynasty 200dx and have been changing my technique to see if i can produce a weld that looks something like some of the welds posted by experienced welders on this forum and my tig welds started getting lines in them. I wasn't able to take a picture of the welds but found some pictures on the we that look something like mine. If you could tell me what I am doing wrong that would help and how would I fix this problem

[tallwelder]

Those lines aka crowsfeet on the bottom bead are from excessive heat, either let up a lil on the pedal, speed up, add more filler or all of the three! Good luck. Carl

[3faze]

I find that when i am tig welding steel I either end uo with a weld that has those crowfeet or I end up with a weld that has a lot of ripples. I get the usual ripples from where I dipped the filler metal and then i get ripples from where I moved the puddle forward. thats for the help so far and I am wondering I anybody knows how to get rid of those little ripples from where i moved the puddle forward.

[3faze]

I managed to take a some pictures and hopefully you can see what I mean about those small ripples caused by moving the puddle also in one of the welds the crater is bronze and i don't know why. For all of these welds I ground the surface to shine and poished it with scotchbrite. The filler metal was er70-2 so I don't know what caused the problem. My shielding gas is set at about 12 cfh. Any comments about the welds and what you think would be great.

[millermania]

I managed to take a some pictures and hopefully you can see what I mean about those small ripples caused by moving the puddle also in one of the welds the crater is bronze and i don't know why. For all of these welds I ground the surface to shine and poished it with scotchbrite. The filler metal was er70-2 so I don't know what caused the problem. My shielding gas is set at about 12 cfh. Any comments about the welds and what you think would be great.

These look much better than the first. I don't know about the bronze dimple at the end, but I have noticed that when I keep the torch moving and dip quickly, I get the rippling effect which is perfectly fine. If I do more of a move and pause with the torch and make a bigger dip (but less frequently), I get the stack-of-dimes look.

[tigman250]

the bronze spot is contaminants (i think) they ride on top of the bead until you finish it then it has nowhere to go so it lays on top. you can have the surface very clean and still get it i believe it comes from the material itself. for the ripples try stopping when adding filler, then advance a bit stop and add filler, advance stop add, advance stop add...........you get the picture. before long you won't even think about it, it will just happen. your welds are definatly improving, keep up the good work! just a tip, while practicing try to run your beads as straight as possible, it's all part of a sweet tookong bead and better to practice it now than try to "correct" it later on.

Craig

[3faze]

Thanks once again for everyone's advice

[tallwelder]

3faze, thats some sound advice from tigman and Your welds look better! Keep it up. I thought of some additional pointers that might help. After running a bead on a piece of material set it aside and use a different (cooler) piece. Clean Your material with a wire brush until You are satisfied You would eat from it! Wipe Your filler rod with isopropyl alcohol using a scrap of old cotton fabric. When making Your last puddle on a bead,lift your pedal very slowly! Good Luck! Carl

[3faze]

I am still having some problems getting nice defined ripples because no matter how long I move between each dip or dow much I dip I either end up with lots of small ripples like the second set of pics that i posted or I end up with a weld that looks like the first picture. Does any body have any pictures of stringer beads on 16 gauge sheet metal? I am probibly doing one little thing wrong (I hope) and that is causing problem with me tig welds. When I clean my base metal I wire brush it, then use scotchbrite and then wipe it with a clean cotton cloth. For the filler metal I wipe it with a clean cotton cloth I plan to got and get some acetone some time soon. Any body have any ideas what might be causing the problems. Any help would be great

[tigman250]

3faze, 16 ga is tough because it overheats so easily, i assume you are welding hot roll sheet?? if so make darn sure you use a flap disk or equivelent to remove the scale down to the steel color, and make sure it's at least half an inch away from where you are welding. nothing and i mean nothing will make a weld look like crap quicker than scale. mabey you are already doing this if so please disregard what i just said i will try to weld some 16 ga tomarrow and post results....if i rember

[tigman250]

forgot are you running a pulse?

[3faze]

Ya its hot rolled because when I weld on one side of it you can flip it over and you can see where the scale has come off, no I am not using pulse. I think that I have some heavier steel around and I might try and lay a few beads on it. Thanks again for your help

[tigman250]

Ya its hot rolled because when I weld on one side of it you can flip it over and you can see where the scale has come off, no I am not using pulse. I think that I have some heavier steel around and I might try and lay a few beads on it. Thanks again for your help

are you removing the scale from where you are welding?

[3faze]

When I prep the metal i take a wire brush (manual) then I use some scotchbrite on it and then I wipe it down with a clean cloth so I don't think that this removes the scale? After a weld I only see where the scale has peeled off on he back of the weld not on the front so I am a bit confused.

[wb5jhy]

I don't think your removing the mill scale. Use a coarse grit sanding pad or flapper on a 4-1/2" grinder and get down to shiny metal. Then degrease the bead area. You'll find the puddle forms easier and the bead will wet in nicer with less trash in the bead.
I think the main problem is you either have too much heat (amps) or your dwelling too long over the puddle or taking too long to add filler. I'll bet most of the bead is glowing orange after you finish the bead run. Also ramp down the amperage as you approach the end of the workpiece to avoid burning back the base metal at the finish end of the bead.

Tom