You're Doing it Wrong | 8 Ways to Mess Up Adding Filler to a Weld Pool 

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I used to get so mad at your advice when I started! Took me almost a year to catch up with all your no-nonsense approach. I got so frustrated that at one point I unsub'd and stayed "Justin-free" for a couple of months. Hundreds of hours of hood time later, I thank you and appreciate you for not giving us BS. And for theaching us to look for what works for each one of us and not be spoon fed settings, techniques and such. It takes a real teacher to encourage the student to seek her/his own path. Now I can weld decently, I'm much less worried about "settings" and such, I pretty much adjust balance according to fitting/cleanliness of parts and amperage so I don't load up the pedal, and I can do whatever I do on standard consumables because I followed your advice. So for anybody going thru the "I hate Justin" frustration stage, do as this guy says. Throw it all away (internet advice nonsense), keep practicing and learn to discern what you'r doing wrong by doing things wrong and adjusting things accordingly.

Thanks for the "This is wrong" and what it looks like. I took Mig at the local votech at night one time. The instructor took over for his father that had been doing it for 30 years.. and this guy was clueless on teaching. He couldnt tell us what things were supposed to look like, or what we were striving for. When I asked him What does a PROPER weld look like. What does it sound like? where should the Mig Torch be? What should I be looking for amperage wise on this thickness we are using? He said Figure it out and walked away. Thankfully he had a volunteer old crusty navy welder about 80 years old. I asked him. He laughed. He said Cmere. He laid a bead. Said this is how you hold it.. this is what you want amps wise with this wire and this metal. This is what it sounds like.. This is how you can do different patterns.. what they were and why.. In 10 minutes (sound familiar) he was able to give the.. This is what you are looking for.. This is what you arent. And Voila.. I spent a couple months a couple nights a week coming in and practicing. The Navy guy would always come by and check on me and give suggestions. After a couple weeks he was teaching me more advanced welds for different applications etc. VERY helpful. YOUR video.. is fantastic. I have a new TIG.. spent a hour or two "playing" with test things.. and have done ALL of the things you mentioned in the video. The important part.. I DIDNT KNOW WHAT THEY MEANT. Now I do. Thank you for that SIMPLE 10 minute explanation as to WHY I was getting the results I was. Vs me making the same mistakes forever and never understanding why. Great video (again)!

Thanks Justin ! Your a natural born teacher . I've always learned something from your videos.

Thanks for the new term "dippy dab." It's better than the term "ah sh_t" that I was using.

Thank you, Justin!!! Great explanation, that helps a lot!

Justin, I've been watching your videos for a very long time and really appreciate the candor and honesty you bring to the welding community. Your advice has helped me immensely. One thing I've noticed is that if I am kinda tired or in a hurry, I do more dippy dabs - uuurgh! I hate that. Sometimes we just need to sit and rest a minute before moving forward!

Thanks Justin. Your detailed explanation is second to none. Always love watching your channel.

Powerful information. You have all the information you need to start welding in an 11 minutes clip. Just brilliant.

Thanks Justin keep up the good work! I love how every video is better then the last! This is definitely a good one for everyone just learning to tig. Love all the detail and explanation you put into it!

Thanks Justin

I've been at it for 52 years and still screw it up. Thank you for this video, was very informative now and would have been a lifesaver @ 1970. Appreciate your time, anyone with the desire to do better could learn something from this.

Best Aluminium welding video EVER! Thank you!

Great information as always. Thanks.

Here's to how to do what not to do. Well done. That helped a lot. Thanks for the video.

This is a VERY good guide, and these are all with the machine in the correct settings, and with clean material, and filler rods. No wonder it's difficult in the "real world", where it's possible to screw up several other things as well.

Outstanding video! Thanks!

After watching hundreds of videos trying to figure out problems that I was having. Finally you have addressed a couple of them, and what was causing them. Like so many others, I was getting so frustrated.

Love your videos Justin, amazing tips!

Very on point and direct. I watched a few of your videos when I first learned TIG 7 years ago, 100,000 welds ago and I can confirm that you are a master of your trade. You do a great job of explaining things that are difficult to explain to new welders. 10/10 I will recommend your intro videos to the next person I train who's having difficulties with TIG

Justin, another GREAT video! I love the examples of what is NOT a weld pool and what IS a weld pool. Extremely helpful.

The first welding "guy" I watched and learned from Havnt watched for years and that was very very informative... Well said Will be sure to stay tuned

Brilliant advice 👍🏽

I too have been welding for many years, thanks for being honest about dabbing the rod into the tungsten, I call them Christmas ornaments, these videos are like refresher courses!

Welcome back! 🎉🎉🎉

This is Gold! Thanks Justin for helping us and clearing out your inbox a bit.

From Scotland and like your channel very informative new to tig and watch your videos has helped me ok I am not the best but I can glue stuff together lol

this is helpful thank you justin,

Thanks for the tips and Q-tips Justin

Im glad to see you back.

Thanks Justin, you do a great job of teaching and keeping it light 😊

This is what I need right now. I was put on a job while my buddy is get well. My alum. welding sucks. @6:54 trust your eyeballs 👍🏽

Very informative thank you Sir!

god i needed this video about 3 months ago when i started my gtaw class

Thanks man!

Thank you!

Awesome video as always! 👍🏼👍🏼

Justin…. Thank you for this incredibly clear and concise set of tips. It really helps drive it all home. 👍👍😎👍👍

Hi Justin thank you so much for all the welding advice you provide. I have just gone & purchased my first TIG machine. AHP Alpha-TIG 225Xi. I will be keeping your channel open while I figure out how to TIG weld.

Great video! I definitely feel I'm rushing and getting contamination when the puddle isn't formed.

Really really helpful for a complete beginner just like myself. Thank you very much for the lesson

This was a great video! You addressed and explained everything I have been doing, and help me understand how to correct it.

Thank you for maken these videos I actually like learning new things from you your great teacher

Love your enthusiasm. Keep up the good instruction.

well done !

I usually work with thin aluminum, and I struggle with getting it hot enough to make a weld pool and getting so hot it burns through the metal. Then the struggle of going fast enough not to burn through, and slow enough to get a good dab of rod in.

This is great, I learna lot more from these 'mistakes' than I do watching the nice welds. At 1:51 it was great to see the arc walking. This is a challenge for me as one of my biggest hurdle right now is the arc walking all over the place when I start.

thank you

A great series of welding vids. They have taught me so much

Thank you for this. I'm just getting started and have made every single mistake you have listed here. Rehabbing my intake manifold after a local machine shop wrecked it is my first project, and it's dirty cast... so the learning curve has been challenging to say the least.

I was literally going to ask about the "Q tip" thing.... So thats how it happens.... thank you for the advice

Thanks 👍👍👍

Great video, definitely reinforces the old saying "Practice, practice, practice, and when you think you got it, practice some more". I love watching your videos to help me brush up on old lessons as well as learning new tips and tricks, although I don't use a foot pedal for the most part it's still valuable information that still applies. Keep it up sir and thank you.

One thing to keep in mind if it is really difficult to avoid mistakes: eyesight. Some people go happily through their lives with bad eyesight - my friend got his drivers license and pilot license without being able to read subtitles on a TV (subtitles are a thing in here, a great way to learn language you are hearing from a program or a movie). He just thought that the TVs are like that and everybody has the same experience. Dry eyes, age, etc - try those cheap market glasses (usually from +1 to +3) if they make it easier to see small things close up, they might help a lot on how you handle your tungsten.

اتابعك من مصر وتعلمت منك الكثير انت رائع واسلوبك ممتاز اتمنى لك الخير

New welder here, great video, my tip is patience patience patience and buy a tungsten grinder

I learned how to add filler on carbon steel (mild), went to stainless then aluminum, it's similar to carbon but it just looks a bit different without the color

I can say for myself I would have a piece of filler rod and just practice feeding while chilling around the house and just dabbed until I got comfortable with my feeding hand. I still dab sometimes when out of position. But practicing with your feeding hand does help.

Great tutorial

Nice explanation

Yeah, I've been Tig Welding for over 24 Years on and off, and I'm welding 3/4" Aluminium tubes 1/16" thick, into 3/16" plates and I still have troubles, especially the "Dippy dabs". Being that I am going around the tubes, I can only do about 3 to 4 dabs at a time then turn the plate and carry on. The Drawing calls for a 3mm weld but it ends up being about 4mm, it is what it is, engineers have Never welded Aluminium. A 1/16th Electrode, and a 1/16" 5356 filler rod, I've now done about 70 of these.

Cheers for the vid mate.

Excellent vid

Thanks for the video,much appreciated!

Thanks for this! Just got my Primewelder Tig welder and the rest of my gear. Just need to install a circuit for the welder to put this into practice.

Some days the dip is real bad some days it’s a few times. The good days are not at all or once or twice. I will know right away if I should be welding that day or I should just put everything away and try again tomorrow.😅

That was a great video......I saved it.

Good video.

Now do one for inside corner joints!

Thanks for 5he help

Thanks for sharing this. !!

Although I don't do it as often now as I used to, when I dip or q-tip my tungsten, I just stop and regrind it. I look on the bright side, I just gained an opportunity to do a stop-start.

Only guy on the internet still rocking the under cut😅

Just found youre channel and got to say " i like it a lot"

Love your videos they are so easy to watch. Do you ever get burns on your arms from the arc? I’m new to welding I’ve only had my welder now for 6 months and still trying to get better. One mistake I did make in the beginning was not wearing long sleeves and I burned my arms and even my chest as the light must have penetrated my shirt. Since I have bought a welder jacket which a wear every time. Just wondering as you always have your arms out 👍

Another awesome video. Thanks for the education.

Fun fact: Aluminum is a GREAT choice of filler metal if you want to weld tungsten to say... the ceramic they use in TIG cups.

Excellent content - as always. Thank you, sir!

Great stuff man I've watched alot of your videos I'm 5th generation welder going for 22yrs now I always have trouble with aluminum I mostly weld stainless so when I move over to aluminum it takes a minute to get back to it always touching

You missed one of the most important common mistakes and it's a safety concern as well. Overheating the Weld pool and burning through, Which drops nice molten metal onto whatever is underneath, often your feet or your lap. So while it's important to make a good Weld pool be cognizant of overheating, Especially on sheet metal. I kind of disagree on trying to get as close to the metal as possible. There's a point at which you're not really making any improvement by getting any closer. Being consistent in your height over the metal is most important. If you can't add filler without touching your tungsten you're too close. 1/8-1/4" Has always worked for me. If you start getting closer than that you're going to dramatically increase your chance of fouling you're tungsten or making q-tips.

Good information.. Thanks, Justin!

Thnx for this video. I have to little time with the tig welder at work. I would like to see video about pulse welding thin stainless steel

Hi justin, nice video. Very informative at the real world and straigtht up to the point.i learned a lot thanks. Keep it up. 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

Thanks LARRYMOORE

You should do a tutorial on the scratch start tig welders since there's a million companies selling the multiprocess welders that only has that type of tig because that's probably most of what people asking questions have

If you put a stringer in before your yep then you lift D

The hardest thing for me to learn back in school was how to stop keyholing the shit out of my aluminum...after hundreds of hours later I got my aluminum certification and my piece was used as the cert example...right next to my keyholed garbage example of what not to do XD

Ah yes, the good old "Short Circuit TIG" technique.

The q-tipping or puddle dipping, when done in a very small degree, while not obvious to the eye, especially while welding under the hood, can be heard... My torch always make a slight kind of a hiss should it ever make contact with anything, breaking the arc for the split second... Its different from the normal flow of gas hissing, more of a ``pst`` that lasts a fraction of the second, but you cant miss it... Which is why i grind both ends of the tungsten, so i can swap it instantly, should i hear or become aware of any blunder... The best thing to do is get a plastic long eprouvette with a cap and store like 10 tungsten rods in there, giving you 22 fresh tips whenever you start the welding, as you have one rod in the torch and 10 in backup... Its a pleasure not having to even consider regrinding the rod for however long you are gonna be welding... I just had a decent brake from welding and when i went back to welding, the first thing i did was dip the bloody tungsten into the puddle, as it was a contortionists job of welding a large structure that you cant nicely orient, but have to find a way to reach the area to be welded, find a way to keep the hands properly steady and do it with bent back and twisted neck... And yeah, hot and heavy is the way brother... The slower you go the worse it is... There is no precision to be gained in slowing down... Only more heat and distortion... All the precision you need to weld masterfully is and can be had merely with hand coordination and buildup of skill over time... Welding isnt precision jewel making and clockwork, its like painting... If you need to try to precisely paint what you want, you wont be pleased, but if the brush and the hand move with ease and without effort or deliberate precision, the work comes out as its supposed to be...

Hi Justin. Thanks again for a great tutorial. Can you please do a similar video on mild steel with only scratch start setup. I'm saving up for a proper AC/DC machine, but in the meantime I work with my 220v inverter stick welder with a scratch start setup.

I know you’re kinda ranting but I appreciate it.

Hi, I recently found your channel, I'm glad I did. First off, I'M NOT A WELDER, but would like to know enough to get some small projects done using aluminum. I have had a Miller dynasty 200 for many years, recently it died on me and was not worth fixing. I just purchased a Miller mutimatic 220 AC/DC, now I want to learn how to use it properly. Your beginner vids have helped a lot, but I have some questions; no, not for settings. First, what do you recommend to use to grind tungsten? Second, when it comes to welding tables, I don't want to spend thousands on one for something that is going to be used maybe once a month. Does the top thickness help wick the heat out of the project? Any suggestions would be great. Great vids, I have been binge watching most of them. Thanks

Well, it does matter what machine you have. I made the mistake of buying a Everlast 210ext. I learned to tig on an old Miller 3 phase machine. And this Everlast can't hold a candle to the Miller. Way to complicated. I can't even strike an arc with the Everlast. It sets in the shop collecting dust. I don't have 3 phase here. So I just stay with my Snap-on Muscle mig. I would love to use the newer machines. That's why I watch these videos from time to time. But, I just don't have time to beg a welding machine to work. I can mig weld it in a few minutes while some else fights with a tig machine. I got things to do. I can't waste time on bullshit.

Fantastic, now could you do this exact same thing for SS please? ; )

Now that i am fuckin up all my welds i am digesting a ton of your information

Yay

Great, all my mistakes in one Video😂😂😂😂😂

I prefer to dip my tungsten and get a nice mess started and then continue to weld through it. If I can weld with a messed up setup I feel like a real pro

When can I lift my torch??? My arm is cramping up 🤕🤣

Could you help, recomend me how to adjust the hood for TIG welding, I am newbie. There are Shade, Sensitivity and Delay. Thanks Justin Regards Bank T.