Not sure which weld you think was the first attempted. On page one of this thread the first post pic is the first weld ever with TIG.Olivero wrote:IF that's your first weld, I think you got a career in front of you bud!
That is not bad at all, I have trained a couple of guys and they were not that pretty, then again, I never let them weld on scrap more than once or twice
I am in the business of fixing & building shit so its rare I can weld on nice and fresh aluminum. 1/8" is a really good thickness and aluminum seems to just flow really good, 1/4" and 3/16" can be a little tricky unless you are able to increase your amps to the 200 range.
Either way, its looking really good.
On page two The second post down from top shows another butt weld, this would probably represent the fourth or fifth beads.
I made a second coupon to practice on so one could cool while practicing on the other.
The lap and tee joints above are probably the14-15 beads I have attempted as padding was getting boring.
I am going to get a ride to town and buy some proper sheet aluminum. That way I can cut several cupons and pad one with a bead, move on to the next, and so forth. That way they can cool. In the end i will have completely padded quite a few coupons and hopefully gotten better at the feeding and footpedal aspect. I havent had an issue with tungsten dipping. only happened twice and thats when I hit it with the filler. I also am prt=etty sure that I am holding the tungsten close enough, I get good arcs like in jody's videos. I try and keep the point of the tungsten less than 1/8 in from the piece, more like 3/32'.
I'll get the hang of it. It may be easier once I get out of this darn neck brace thing so I can actually turn my head and look easier at what I am doing.