How're those long TIG welds laying down for ya? Some thoughts on tig in general, torch angles and getting through those longer welds. Up your motor skills before worrying about filler! ------- Music: Baroque Coffee House - Doug Maxwell
I taught myself to tig weld, am I any good at it is something I’d like to know (like get a coded welder to check and look at what I’ve done) but either way once you find the Tig....Mig just seems dirty lol. Great video ToT
Ayy, nice to see Colin and some other youtubers in this comment section. Anyway, while I'm here, I've got to ask if you've ever thought about revisiting some of your motorized contraptions and improving them? There may be other options, but I know of a company/website called "Ecotrons" where you can pick up all the parts you need not only to add electronic fuel injection to small engine, but to turbocharge them as well... At any rate, keep up the good work!
Hold on pause work this old Tony uploaded... Boss... "What are you doing...?" Me... "Watching this old Tony ramble about welding..." Boss... *Sits down...
I began TIG welding a few months ago. I couldn’t have done it without Jody’s videos, for which I owe him a huge debt of gratitude. It’s essential in any field, though, to master the utter fundamentals. That makes this sort of tiny, beginning detail immeasurably valuable, and I thank you for delving into this, Tony. There are many people who do many things extremely well, but can’t teach those things at all. You’re quite good at it, limiting your scope and planning your sequence beautifully. Many virtuosi also fail to teach fundamentals well because they have been experts too long and have lost a feel for their presentation. “Not being a welder” opens a clearer path. Well done. Your recommendations here are spot on. I began the same way-control the torch, follow a line, then learn the pedal, save filler wire for later. Learn one skill at a time and learn it well.
Or, you just need to understand what the heck is going on. Weld puddle has nanobots stitching the metal together like sewing! Don't leave them food like oil or oxides, or they'll take a break ;)
I bought my first TIG welder last week and I think with your tips I can build a trailer now! Just kidding, I'm welding the propeller of my neighbors plane. But in all seriousness, good stuff! I've been watching a lot of "tig welding for noobs" videos but they're all pretty much the same. This one is different and better for it. Keep it coming :)
I picked up a TIG machine a few months ago to so I could -fix my neighbor's lawn mower blades- waste some of my free time, and have definitely realized the learning curve. I really appreciate your video on this. Thanks!
I think it would be better to actually see the arc... but maybe just seeing the green glow "fly by" is the way to go and we have to get used to it? hmhm...
Own a steel fabrication shop doing approximately 60,000 tons a year. We don't look at resumes. We give welding test that the applicant must set the machine and setup and produce the required weld in the required posistion in X amount of time on various alloys. Different jobs will require them to pass several destructive and non destructive test on the welds. Guys say a lot of stuff, I assume they would write a lot of stuff on a resume.
That's the best way to weed them out. We had a new hire who said, and I quote, "I'm a great tig welder". The boss ended up giving him a horizontal T for a "weld test", mind you we're a pressure vessel shop. This guy apparently came from one of the better cryo outfits in the area, the NB inspector who checks our stuff for insurance verified this, though he said he doesn't know him too well. We had about 50pcs of 2 1/2" 1000psi manifolds with 12pcs 1/2" thread-o-lets to tig weld on them. Simple enough for some one who talks a lot about his open root tig welds, right? Wrong... Every god damn one leaked. His starts and stops were piled up and not fused together. Guess who had to fix them? Me, the kid who had only been pipe welding for barely 4 years at that point. If the manifolds were code it never would've happened because I know he couldn't have possibly passed the 6g to get his cert.
Lot of guys are tackers not welders that apply. 95% of our steel is plate, such as precipitators, carbon catpture, duct, stacks, etc.. Everyone is a great welder until they are asked to perform a test on high nickel alloys like inconel and such. SOme of our year long bids require 100% testing of welds by x-ray and such. Weeds them out fast. Just off the top of my head I would say 1/4 or more of them are self taught, but this is a heavy industrialized area where large amounts of people will have a home shop and such and get it growing up and fine tune it along the way with on the job training. They also still teach welding in high school here.
Yea we still have a good tech school around here where I'm from. Lehigh Valley has always been pretty industrial with the old Bethlehem mill that used to run non stop. I pretty much learned everything that I use now while on the job, I still use some of the stuff I learned in tech school
worked for Martin Marietta years ago, aside from usual welding tests; the running joke/weld test was to have someone tig two soda pop cans together with 1/16'' rod. If you have the steady hand and patience for that, you can learn to weld just about anything...
borzak101 Me that’s how I just got a job, I’ve been out of the trade for 24 years, did a welding test and was given a go. Loving working with steel again. Found muscles I haven’t used for a long time, but the old skills are coming back. I’ve lasted two weeks so far so can’t be to bad. I am only doing easy stuff at the moment but again loving it.
Learning OxyAcetylene at the moment and it's remarkable how translatable your form is to other processes and just how important it is to practice correctly. Thank you for sharing this video and giving us some wise words!
yep I learned oa before buying my own Tig set it really helped me get started in Tig alot transfers between the two. if you want a laugh, try welding aluminium with oa and a suitable flux.. that's a skill.
As a guy who retired as a pipe welder,you know,bought the house and paid for the kids education,I'm a bit impressed at such worthwhile advice,especially from a "home taught" guy...good on ya!
I’m a fairly miserable MIG welder, but I have been fighting trying to become at least a miserable TIG welder. Unfortunately, I cannot blame my foibles with “bad” equipment. Starting from the plug in the wall and the argon tank, to the end of my tungsten, I’ve got quite good equipment. I’ve never had the most stable hands and advancing age has certainly not made that any better. Just watching this video gives me some ideas to try to get relatively straight beads. Because at this point my beads wonder all over the place. Thanks for the tips.
When I was learning to tig weld, we were started off on a steel plate just making beads without filler until it was done straight and with consistent width (think 12"x12" plate) then once that was mastered, we moved onto adding filler, and then repeated the same thing. A tip from my instructors that really stuck : for awkward positions, start out in an uncomfortable position and weld so that it gets more comfortable . ( like start out in the more difficult position you have to get in so that as you get tired , it gets easier) . Absolutely practice is key, we would have whole 6 hr days at "school" just sitting there welding bead after bead on a plate , until they were perfect before being allowed to progress.
Tony, I have to say I shouted 'yay' when I saw you had released a vid. Please keep them coming and shout for patreons if that's what you need to keep on keeping on. Love you (in a platonic way of course) fella :D
Your videos, are a great compliment to all the great Welding videos out there, especially those of us that are just starting out! Thank you for your content and experience!
The only reason I started watching RU-vid 3-4 years ago was to learn welding basics when I bought a Hobart mig. In that time no one has explained the basics as well as you have and I’ve been researching tig welders and I am pretty close to buying a tig machine. This video explained a lot that I didn’t already discover with my 3+ years with mig. Well done TOT, looking forward to the rest of this series.
Thank you Tony. When someone tells me how to do something e.g. "Hold the torch at this angle" I want to know "Why". Thanks to you I know now. You explain things so well and with the humour as well. Cheers Rob.
You joke, but my mum used to work in retail and she would "fix" plastic coat hangers by putting a small price sticker over the crack. If it was really badly damaged she'd put a price sticker on opposite sides of the split.
Perfect vid. You discuss a lot more that a lot of people rush over to get to the arc shots and the "look at this bead" bragging. Best advice ever is being comfortable. If you can't move from A to B steady without the welder on, the bead isn't going to hide it. Thanks, love your vids.
This has one of the best "Don't try (too much of) this at home" cautionary disclaimers I've seen. The examples (wheels, mower blades, trailer hitches) were exemplary examples. ;)
Honestly, it's fine, as long as you have a means of testing your product before returning it as "Welded". Can't think of a way I'd test a welded wheel though LOL not easy to spin it and put 2-3 tons of pressure on it (and some speed bumps) to see if it gives.
Thanks a million Tony. Bought the welder hired the gas had a go and cursed tig welding. After gathering dust for several months you got me back to trying tig. And finally the penny has dropped I can now tig weld due to the simple focus u gave on the puddle. Tig welding is everything I'd hoped it would be.
On the one hand, your insights are straight, and to the point. On the other hand, you can get a bit chatty. But, on the final hand, you take us to where we need to go. Thanks!
This is just about the most useful video I have watched recently as I learn TIG. Two months ago I enrolled in an evening welding course at a local college. (The instructor also teaches in their full-time day program.) This was largely a waste of money. I spent several evenings laying down beads without filler material, and it was a total mess. I finally decided that it wasn't me, but the welding machine - and I was correct. Something wrong with the argon flow, so I just kept burning through the coupon. But even when using a machine that worked properly, my beads wandered all over the place. The instructor's brilliant insight was to frown and say "try to go in a straight line". Ok, so it turns out this actually not very easy at first - as Tony shows. I stopped attending the course, and bought myself a TIG outfit (Everast 160 STH). Another thing - unlike at the welding course, I SIT DOWN at my welding table, which helps. So Tony's with insights on body position, fatigue, TIG finger (I just ordered one online) I should at last make some progress. Before coming to understand that welding straight lines isn't immediately easy, I just thought I was a hopeless idiot. Which maybe I am, but, you know....
NO,NO YOU ARE NOT! WELDING IS NOT AS EASY AS SPECTATORS MIGHT ASSUME. WELDING IS A MULTITUDE OF VARIABLES COMING TOGETHER (YOU'RE ALSO A VARIABLE) TO CREATE,REPAIR SOMETHING. IT'S EASY ENOUGH WHEN EVERYTHING IS GOING WELL,BUT THEN THINGS START GOING HAYWIRE, YOU AS THE WELDER,MUST BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE ISSUE AND OVERCOME. LIKE WHAT IS CAUSING ERRATIC ARC? HOW DO I CORRECT IT? WHY ARE MY RODS HUMMING? LOL? DONT THINK,JUST BECAUSE YOU WOULDN'T MESS WITH SOMEONE ELSE'S MACHINE, THAT YOUR MACHINE IS SAFE. IT SEEMS YOU HAVE THE INITIATIVE AND DRIVE TO GET THERE,KEEP ON,YOU WILL. I MEAN YOU WENT AND BOUGHT A WELDER! ANOTHER THING,PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.IS TO PRODUCE QUALITY WELDS,YOU WILL HAVE TO BE(NO MATTER THE SITUATION OR CIRCUMSTANCES) COMFORTABLE. IF YOU'RE NOT,FORGET IT. BEST WISHES!
I think you might be the only youtuber I know of, who doesn't end every video with some form of "hit that subscribe button". I love you for that!! ... and your videos of course.!
Aha, it’s like where’s Wally? TOT has the messages subliminally hidden, I have hours of fun looking again through the videos to find them. Mmm less recently....
I have watched a ton of “basics of tig welding” videos and none of the pros or “experts” have explained the basics any where near as you or as understandable. Really great video, thanks for posting. BTW I for one would very much appreciate a part 2 and maybe 3&4....
This Old Tony I’m still amazed when someone like you replies to someone like me. You are known and respected throughout RU-vid and you’re often mentioned or referred to by other major RU-vid channels, AvE for example. I am just a drop in your ocean of subscribers. So thanks for taking the time to reply, as you can probably tell, I really do appreciate it.
I used to TIG weld on very thin gauge stainless & thicker aluminum battery cans that our military uses in missile guidance systems where I used to work. Personally I prefer my MIG welder at home. I've thought about buying a TIG welder but after watching TOT for a long time, I think he's convinced me to buy a metal lathe. Though I enjoy his welding videos a lot. His humor keeps bringing me back.
This was probably one of the most helpful videos on TIG basics I’ve watched. Your explanations are to the point and the humor really helps it sink in. I’m really glad I’ve found your channel. Thank you
A great video and well worth posting. Yes I would like to see a follow up introducing the filler rod, plus thoughts on welding aluminium. I keep resisting the urge to buy a TIG welder and these videos are not making it any easier. Maybe I should give in and buy one and the problem will be solved !
You can make your own tig welder very cheaply for barely 100$. 20$ buzzbox, 5$ regulator, 5$ some hose, 5$ rectifier.. 5$ for a solenoid, relay, and other misc stuff to bundle it all together. Tig welding isn't super complex, it's about shoving argon to protect the little puddle while it does all the work.
routercnc, sometimes it's better to just dive into it and do it. The reason most DIYers are out of time is because they think too much and do too little. Looking for that perfect professional DIY with perfect modularity and allignment and such is somewhat of a dumb idea to chase after. Just do it so it's good enough. ;)
+Alucard Paepad: Speaking of argon, tell your supplier what you are planning to weld, different metals like a different mix of gasses, Aluminum likes straight argon, while steel prefers a little C02 thrown in.
My first management job ever was as a maintenance manager in a factory that made tank containers (the shipping container frame with a 27000 liter tank suspended inside) and I repaired many tig welding machines and tig torches, including water cooled torches. The one thing I always wanted to learn to tig weld but unfortunately the factory closed down and I lost my job with a 7month pregnant wife at home. When the factory closed down the GM gave me a water cooled tig torch head which I had literally a month ago decided to pull out of my tool cupboard, build a water cooler and hook up to the inverter DC welder I have to practice TIG welding with scratch start. So, as you can see, this video is perfectly timed. :-)
I reckon it is in the planning and setting up. I cannot weld at all - but anything (engineering) requires thought before action. Yet again I like TOT style of presentation. Thanks Tony.
More videos like this, please! I picked up an AHP welder for Christmas and I've been disheartened about the whole thing. My welds look really matte and mil-scaley afterwards. I've since dropped the torch and returned to MIG. This video's gotten my spark reignited. Keep'r goin!
No one ever discusses liability with welding, so many people buy a harbor freight flux core welder and start trying to make trailer hitches and risky stuff for people without thinking about the possible consequences that could happen, very happy to hear that was the first piece of advice you gave
Welding is all about learning the language of the puddle. Once you do that you can set up and weld with any process. Idk if you're a welder as a job but you could pass for it. You have a great understanding of all the basics and knowledge that goes with it.
At our makerspace (The MakerBarn) I'm usually the guy who gets to checkout folks who would like to start welding. The problem is they walk in with a project like a jet turbine engine they want to build. It is sometimes a bit hard to get them to understand that welding is much like playing a piano. You can read about piano playing , you can even watch hours of TOT playing a piano, but in the end, you have to play the piano, hit a few bad notes, and just get as much piano playing in as you can before you head to Carnegie Hall. Practice Practice Practice
Diameter correction is welded onto the tip of the blade an then re machined. You cant just chuck the blades out because they have gotten 3mm to short from abrasion.
As I sit watching this video, my 3D printer is humming away, making a knobby knob extension for the cleverly hidden, hard to access from the front, power switch on the Inverting 221. (I bought one after taking a class at their facility years ago.) Great peeps. Excellent advice, controlled torch movement. I know I have to be disciplined to practice those dry runs. (My welds resemble the hilly terrains of the Rocky Mountains.). Thanks, as always, for the fun vids!
Very good videos! I took a stick welding class a couple of yeas ago and and have just started to get into TIG for my artistic expressive needs. Buying a basic machine knowing that I will be upgrading soon did not make any sense to me so I went with the Everlast Power Pro 256Si complete with cooler so I can weld anything when the time comes. There are lots of crappy "how to weld" videos but your channel is now in my top 10 on welding, thanks.
It's exactly the same with soldering. I recommend trying soldering some pieces of lead/tin wire together to figure out how "puddle" welding works. Also get some supply of liquid flux so you can SEE the difference oxidation makes to a weld. No flux soldering makes the solder gunk up and no longer turn into neat shiny bubbles and is incredibly hard to heat up and re-melt. Add flux and the thing turns into water instantly.
A new TOT video . Between this vid and the last one I discovered this channel, watched every video (some like 10x) And now can cut metal just by staring at it using jedi mind tricks. Do I have a problem?
Tony, thank you. I know this video is old but I’m just getting into welding. I’m a little old for going to school to learn especially since welding is just a hobby for my 48 year old self. Anyway, I find your methodology in terms of relating a complicated process very helpful and I’ll be watching more of the content you have on this topic. Whether or not you know, the work you put into making this material is helpful and appreciated!
TOT, I've always thought you were cooler than me cause you do the machinist thing and I'm just a dumb welder. Thanks for showing my trade some love. You're vids are the best. Keep it up
My old landlady kept her dead cat in the freezer for 5 years. We finally convinced her to get a separate freezer for the cat. A few days after she got it, a massive storm hit NYC, and we were out of power for over a week. The cat thawed, then started to stink. We finally convinced her to bury it in the backyard, then (being within the return period), she promptly returned the freezer. If you bought an open box freezer from PC Richards in NYC about 18 years ago, it might've had a dead, rotting cat stored in it. Great video!
I've tried to explain TIG welding , First 20 seconds you might there attention , Then you realize you have lost them. IT is not easy to explain whats going on under the hood .But you my man have it covered .Great job , Alot of your videos are basic , But a large amount of info you put out there is very much needed in learning TIG.
I already bought a cheap 20$ stick welder buzzbox, a 5$ power rectifier, a 5$ torch+hose, a 10$ regulator, and some other little bits and bobs (total $70-ish?) and I have a working tig welder. I'm trying to add arc start to it though. It even has a little button (12v) to activate a relay (at the ac input side) to turn the thing on and off AND turn on/off gas flow! (solenoid)
Appears to be some less than pleased in the rank and file about this being a "boring" video. Of course basics are boring if you already know them. Last time I tried stick welding was almost 50 yrs ago in high school and I did crap welds. I doubt at this point I'll ever buy any type of welder, but I'm sure not against learning what the basics are. Great video and it filled in a lot I hadn't considered about what good welding technique takes. I learned a lot I didn't know and any day you can say that isn't wasted.
Watching your videos make me want to get a new tig rig. I did industrial pipe fitting and welding for years. 90% of everything was food grade stainless with the occasional structural brackets and waste lines. We didn't have the fancy machines you have though. Our argon was hooked straight to the bottle and you controlled it with a knob on the torch with 2 regulators for a purge. I like the somewhat automatic gas feed your machine has. I own a paving company so a tig torch isn't at all necessary for the repairs I do but I would like to have a reason to wear my monical and hold my pinky finger up high.
I got a stick welder as a wedding gift, and that is what I have been using for the last 20 years. These videos are soooo entertaining! I never thought I would LOL while having breakfast watching a welding tutorial.
It was just a thought, I have more than I can handle here in Australia, looks like two lucky guys who made at least one great decision in their lives, well played sir.
I'm not a certified welder and I've been welding all kind of appliances for the past 10 years, including more than one or two hundred stainless steel gasoline tanks for motorboats and yachts. What I'm trying to say is... Don't buy a motorboat down here in Argentina, lol.
You could not be more wrong. I will absolutely become a better TIG welder by watching your video. Practice I have had plenty of. Now I have precious knowledge. Thanks.
Tony - I've had a casual interest in learning tig for a half-dozen years and have watched probably a hundred videos without really paying much attention. This is the best video I've seen on the subject. It's the perfect content scope of "Don't tell me what shield gas is and a billion settings and technical stuff I have no context for and I'll retain nothing of" and "Tell me the things that are obvious once you say them, but I'd have screwed up if you didn't." Framing and scope of content is so critical to making a good video and, you bullseye every time. You've got a gift. Thanks for the lesson.
Buy one. A decent welder will cost you. Dont buy a cheapo just to get one. You want a welder good enough to encourage you to weld more. Some of the cheaper welders can have issues that can discourage you from wanting to weld. Since the advent of small inverter based units the used market has some very nice older larger units for relatively short change$
A stick welder setup from china complete with gear and everything is about 100$. And it welds good. TIG and MIG are about 250$ ore more. Stick welding is in my opinion the hardest to learn though, but it can weld so many different things with the different rods.
Thanks again for posting GREAT video's that inspire (and bring the occasional smile too!) Going out to my shop to spend time with my new TIG welder (gift from my VERY special wife) with now maybe a bit more hope that I'll get somewhere!
actually, I've found it to be a bit like bowling. three or four beers, and it loosens you up and you weld/bowl better... but at six plus, it all goes downhill/horribly wrong....
How did you know I was trying to tig weld and old rusty bumber on a trailer with 3 mm of rust and only 2mm of metal? And how the hell did you figure out the weld didnt look good?!
I once had a lengthy argument with a relative about doing that very thing. They were going to weld a hitch carrying bumper back on to a truck. They had welded once or twice in their life. It didn't seem like it was a big deal to them. Makes you wonder who's done the same thing when you're going down an interstate highway.
All your videos are outstanding. This one, especially with your ability to show the puddles with such clarity, is even better. I've been to welding classes and seen welding videos, but nothing of the quality of what you produce. Thank you for providing these; it's a really great service.