It's a pity that there are so few welding teachers like you Greg. Very specific and to the point. 👍 I completely agree with you about using the pedal at the beginning. In my country in Poland it is very rarely used (no mention of it during training), it comes in handy later but at the beginning you don't know what to do with it, especially for welding air conditioning radiators. 😅 I started with fixed parameters in 4T mode. The tip about grinding the plates is really good. Practicing the alphabet is also a good idea.
When I started to teach people in person to tig weld I realized it was a ton of work for most people to worry about the pedal, the arc gap, travel speed, and filler addition. By just having them go full pedal at a fixed amperage they were better able to focus on the other variables. It also works great to help with consistent welds. By not varying heat input by moving your foot the weld will tend to be far more consistent it width since the arc cone isn’t changing in size.
This is how I learned to actually do good MIG welds. TIG I learned the hard way. Never anything in position. Never anything coarse. Fine small all to visible 'precision' welds. And far too much scrap. On weekend days that the weather is under 100°, I go out in the garage and practice. One weekend SMAW. The next might be oxy-fuel. Then GTAW or SMAW. I'm not a good welder. It's a hobby for me now. But doing with purpose, even if that purpose is practice, makes you better. An expert is the guy who has done it 10,000 times.
You are right on the expert. I have a saying about that, an expert is someone who can achieve a high level of quality in the minimal amount of time. With thousands of hours of practice with tig it’s impossible not to make decent tig weld on a flat plate with ease. Even someone with 5 hours of practice can do the same, it might just take 2 days of welding something, grinding it out, and rewelding it to get to the same finished product as the expert achieved in 10 minutes lol. No substitution for practice. That’s what I think most people are confused about, they don’t realize that welding is simply doing something enough that it’s hard to screw up lol.
If you can get to a steel yard and bring it home yourself, that/s great and the cheapest way by far. I can’t however. I have to order everything. Metal is very expensive since those tariffs went into effect in 2018, it think.
One of the most disappointing things I have learned since talking with people all over the world is how common it is for people to not have access to cheap practice materials. I had no idea that was the case, many people only have access to stick and whatever scrap they can find. I am spoiled in the fact that cheap materials, welding gasses, and even welders are common where I am at. I wish that was the case for everyone.
This video has great arc shots and practice tips that are really going to help me with my TIG welding. My TIG welder is DC only and does not have High Frequency start. It does have a foot pedal, but I do practice with and without the pedal as I learn to “Walk and learn to Chew Bubble Gum at the same time” as the old joke used to be said LOL!😂 With regard to Lift Arc with no pedal, what is the best way to end the weld aka “snap out of it”? I’ve tried the quick Snap out of it, and it always leaves a weird shaped turd mound 💩 with a head to it lol😂, and snapping out prematurely cause inadequate post flow coverage and the puddle reacts with the oxygen and makes it even worse. I have tried various techniques and it always looks terrible. Any tips and tricks to ending welds when using Lift Arc w/o pedal would be awesome! Perhaps a short video dedicated to same would be very useful for starting and stopping welds. It also seems no matter how careful I am at a Lift Arc start, the tungsten eventually gets contaminated with a crusty little tip that makes more and more difficult to get good starts with out the tip wanting to stick a little. I can’t wait to start practicing my A-B-C’s again! Practice-practice-practice is fun along with testing my welds has been a game changer for me! Thanks for everything
Do you recommend doing the Alphabet when learning MIG before moving to joints? I don't think you mentioned this in the MIG course, but I could be wrong. Same question for large spot welds.
You can do spot welds with mig, as far as the alphabet you surely could do that. The only downside Is the mig welds tend to be much bigger/thicker so you need a bigger plate to even attempt it, or .023 wire.
I will 😀👍. Give the practice shot, it will make you a better welder. I have one more video out shortly dealing with simple butt welds and then the real fun will start. Aka tons of fillet weld, lap welds, super thin material, and roll cages 😀
How much to move comes down to a number of factors. The further you step forward the more likely you are to have underfill/under cut. Focus on moving forward about as much as the filler rod is wide. So 1.5mm (1/16th) forward after every dab.
No problem. I want to see people not be afraid to learn welding so they can build stuff too. It’s one of the few skills than makes a massive difference in what a person can do.
