While I understand that stainless is best welded with as little discoloration as possible and sugaring is always bad, do they mean the weld is beyond recovery? Can grinding them off to bright metal and polishing regain the stainless quality? Does sugaring mean the entire weld now suffer from a chrom...

Are the pieces tapered? From the photo both the shaft and the hole shinny and the shaft appears tapered. Is it possible the parts were designed to be a shrink fit where the outer piece was heated red hot and the shaft cold was driven into it. Then when the outer piece cooled it would shrink and hold...

I have been ordering cheap no name stainless filler rod from on line.

surfing the web, I see a great difference in filler rod prices between a name brand and these no name brands. Is it worth the extra money to buy the name brand? If so which brands do you like the best?

Thanks

thanks for your advice

I would like to limit the amount of stainless rod I keep in stock. Since I plan to weld mostly 316 stainless is it OK to use 316L rod as my do all stainless rod for 300 series stainless?

I don't know what this means. I don't think I dipped the tungsten. I was making several passes as practice over other welds. Metal started clean I filed it to bright steel and wire brushed it bright between passes since I am having problems getting my welds to shine. Did I dip? Is the metal not clea...

Thanks for your help.

I the tungsten is discolored above the ground point, do I need to cut it off?

can I use scotch brite or wet dry paper to polish it?

I have been getting a fuzzy deposit on the tungsten tip. sometimes its soft and seems to wipe off and sometimes hard. 1/2 stainless steel 304 with 3/32 308L rod #8 gas lens 20 CFH 140 amps 3/32 2% lanthanated While I don't know, it seems like some types of welding problems might cause different cond...

Dose anyone know where I can find photos of different contaminated tungstens telling what caused it.

I was playing around and tried a couple ways of protecting the back of the weld and thought that some might be interested in my tries Yes I know my stainless still does not shine, but cleans up nice with a wire brush. I made a aluminum foil tray then using 20 seconds of post flow filled it with argo...

Thanks

Still learning and dipping so cheap it is

I am still quite new at tig welding, but I feel I am getting quite good a t tungsten sharpening. So, it goes without saying that my tungsten are getting shorter and I need to buy some new ones. The first time I purchased them I got the cheapest I could fine, now that I am getting better is it worth ...

A 5 inch length of this 8 inch wide heat sink delivered is about $30.

Has anyone tried using aluminum heat sinks as chill blocks?

I have been pricing thick aluminum block and the price is much higher than aluminum heat sinks. Yes they would not be as good as solid blocks for corner jounts but they should be good for flat work.

I got a new Lincoln auto darkening welding helmet. What a difference from my old harbor freight darkening. Also got the cheater lens. I can now see the puddle and the arc clearly. Being able to see lets me get the arc much shorter creating much less heat. Weld shown is thin walled tube to 10 gauge p...

other photos that missed last post

Mark

update I am getting better. I still can't get the hang of the higher amperage welds you all talk about so I tried lower amps and a .040 tungsten and it seems to work for me'. I well keep trying those higher amp om practice plates though. Plate weld: 16 gauge 304 stainless, no filler metal, 35 amps ....

My weld polish up good enough for my needs so as long as strong and stainless.

So I guess its time to just keep welding and get better if not as shiny as I would like, welds.

Thanks

Mark

the tank is labeled Argon. No sparks or splatter. The last test may be a little high on the flow 20 cfh and a #6 nozzle. My steel welds don't look that nice either. May have a chance to get access to another tank just to check if it is the gas If I can't, It's only an 80 cf tank, and as you all say ...

I guess it the gas? I took the torch apart, (end cap and all cup end fittings off) unplugged the lead from the welder (gas feed separate connection) plugged both sides of the torch head with my fingers. When I pressed the peddle the flow meter jumped up as it pressurized the lines then went to zero,...

Markus, I did your test looks like I have an equipment or gas problem. The photo is done at 45 amp 25 sec post flow #6 cup (I tried it with a #8 gas lens and got similar results) I have tried to find leaks here is what I have done first tank gauge still shows almost the same pressure half an hour af...

Maybe I did not make myself clear I am happy for all the advice I have been receiving. I am trying to follow the advice. I do not in any way mean any disrespect to those giving the advice. I am sorry if I am a slow learner and am not progressing as fast as some may like (my self included) I don't we...

Criticism, I am getting the advice I asked for.

I hope to be a better in a few days and I will update my mentors on this forum.

Thanks again

Tried again, same setting but with a 1/4 inch aluminum back up plate and moved fast. Guess what, I got some color other than all grey, still not pretty but at least not all grey. When I said I moved fast, I moved way faster than I ever thought to go. I ordered the 16 gauge 304 stainless, i will give...

Thanks again for all your help. From the comments, I seem to be a bit out of my machines capabilities so I tried something different. (max amps 160) The piece is 3/4 by 1/8 wiped with acetone ground with a wheel that has only seen stainless wiped with acetone 125 amps 3/32 2% lanthanide tungsten 20 ...