exnailpounder wrote:You can practice feeding wire all you want but when you try to put it into effect when you're trying to do 5 other things at the same time you will realize why feeding rod isn't so easy and why it's the last skill you will learn in tiggeration. And it's a few years down the road too.
Are you saying it's going to take me years to do a simple weld?
Nope, just to make one over a foot long
A student now but really want to weld everyday. Want to learn everything about everything. Want to become a knower of all and master of none.
Instagram: @farmwelding
Nick
Personally I found the thicker stiffer rods more stable. The 1/8, 3/32, and 1/16 doesn't osculate no where near as much as the .035 and .045 does. Your movements currently are prolly jerky when feeding the rod. As time goes on you will delvelope a method of feeding that will be comfortable, smoother and stable. Just takes time, try a couple of the different methods when practicing. When your in a tight spot certain feed methods work better than others.
why use standard nozzles after gas lens where invented. Kinda of like starting fires by rubbing sticks together.
exnailpounder wrote:You can practice feeding wire all you want but when you try to put it into effect when you're trying to do 5 other things at the same time you will realize why feeding rod isn't so easy and why it's the last skill you will learn in tiggeration. And it's a few years down the road too.
Are you saying it's going to take me years to do a simple weld?
No! Tig welding takes practice but it's easy after you get the hang of it. The problem is most people just learning, hold the rod and dip it by just holding it and moving their hand forward...not actually feeding it in the sense we are talking about. This combined with watching your movement spacing, maintaining a proper arc length,maintaining a proper torch angle, controlling the pedal, dipping the right amount of rod...etc...most people learn this way so learning how to feed rod on a long weld usually comes last on the list of things to learn because you CAN sucessfully tig weld without the rod feeding skill. I'm not saying it works like this for everyone but it's a tricky skill to learn when you apply it with everything else going on. I remember learning to play the guitar and my mind telling my fretting hand to move and there was no connection but that connection came along just fine after LOTS of practice.
I'm learning a lot about the other parts of TIG, such as storing the torch when I take a break and finding gloves that don't start to char when I get too close to the heat. I ordered myself a magnetic torch stand, and someone turned me on to the Ove Glove, which is a fireproof glove that supposedly works really well for TIG.
I was pretty tired of trying to find a place to put that hot torch.
I also ordered some gas lenses and 1/16" tungstens, plus a Black Stallion TIG Finger knockoff that has a thing that keeps it from falling off.
I don't know what to do about the duty cycle. Seems like I'm lucky if I get 4" of weld before I have to rest the torch for 10 minutes.
People complain about the AlphaTIG pedal, but it has worked fine for me. As far as I can tell, I haven't reached the point where welding problems are caused by the pedal and not my total lack of skill. I feel like I can set the arc however I want. One nice thing about my cheap welding table is that the pedal butts up against one of the table's braces, and that keeps it from scooting around.
I was socially distant when social distancing wasn't cool.
Other wise, about that foot pedal-it will get more critical doing more practical welding jobs and thinner material-that's when the pedal will start to give you issues.
And about holding the torch-always Jerry rig something the redneck way.
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A student now but really want to weld everyday. Want to learn everything about everything. Want to become a knower of all and master of none.
Instagram: @farmwelding
Nick
Don't put me in front of a firing squad. Before buying the BSX product, I bought a TIG Finger. I can't keep it from rolling under the table every time I put the torch down, and I can't get two fingers into it, so I decided to try a bigger shield.
I was socially distant when social distancing wasn't cool.
Chips O'Toole wrote:Don't put me in front of a firing squad. Before buying the BSX product, I bought a TIG Finger. I can't keep it from rolling under the table every time I put the torch down, and I can't get two fingers into it, so I decided to try a bigger shield.
Yeah I feel you. I wasn't trying to make you feel bad too much. You still supported Jody so can't get too mad at you. I just got my first tig finger today actually and I seem to have the same problem. I'll have to play with it some and find certain gloves it works with or a finger combination.
A student now but really want to weld everyday. Want to learn everything about everything. Want to become a knower of all and master of none.
Instagram: @farmwelding
Nick
Olivero wrote:I don't even worry about the feeding, If your welding more than an inch to 3 inches at a time, your gonna warp the shit out of whatever your doing.
Get into aluminum and its even worse, I can make 2 plate butt welds look like a flying bird just by welding it.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no - on larger, longer pieces (steel and aluminum) it's not unusual for me to use the whole rod on one pass.
When I teach welding, I make them practice feeding rod from day 1 - doesn't take them long to get the hang of it.
Dave J.
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~
Syncro 350
Invertec v250-s
Thermal Arc 161 and 300
MM210
Dialarc
Tried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Olivero wrote:I don't even worry about the feeding, If your welding more than an inch to 3 inches at a time, your gonna warp the shit out of whatever your doing.
Get into aluminum and its even worse, I can make 2 plate butt welds look like a flying bird just by welding it.
Sometimes yes, sometimes no - on larger, longer pieces (steel and aluminum) it's not unusual for me to use the whole rod on one pass.
When I teach welding, I make them practice feeding rod from day 1 - doesn't take them long to get the hang of it.
Most of us hit the duty cycle on our machines or overheat the torch llloooonnnggg before we run out of rod but feeding rod for aluminum is useful as it eats up filler more than anything else. I can feed pretty decently nowadays but don't really do the kind of work that requires long welds.
I never seen anything that requires looooong welds, maybe for pretty welds but as long as you can tie in and all that, I never run mine for too long. Like nail said, gets too darn hot
But hey, we all weld differently not a thing wrong with being able to feed rod. I just wouldn't worry about it when learning to TIG, as I go, sure why not practice it but I worry about so many other things when I weld, making sure its watertight, looking good and penetrating, rod just kind of finds its way.
Maybe I am just feeding it without noticing and I have learned it without thinking about it
Ill be darned. I will have to pay attention to that next time.
Chips O'Toole wrote:I started practicing, with both hands, as instructed. If it's an unnecessary skill, it won't be the first one I've picked up.
Not a useless skill...just depends on what you want to weld. If you are doing a bunch of smaller prices then not critical. If you are doing positioned work on larger diameter peices, then yes feeding rod is important. But you can get a lot out of your filler. Today I was running some horizontal stringers on aluminum about 7 inches long. Propped my filler hand and just dabbed along and never fed any through my hand. And besides you should learn to get good at starts and stops. I do it all the time on practice pads. Run out of filler and start to bake my hands-back off-add a little filler and stop-readjust and restart. Gives its own practice.
A student now but really want to weld everyday. Want to learn everything about everything. Want to become a knower of all and master of none.
Instagram: @farmwelding
Nick
Farmwelding wrote:
Not a useless skill...just depends on what you want to weld. If you are doing a bunch of smaller prices then not critical. If you are doing positioned work on larger diameter peices, then yes feeding rod is important. But you can get a lot out of your filler. Today I was running some horizontal stringers on aluminum about 7 inches long. Propped my filler hand and just dabbed along and never fed any through my hand. And besides you should learn to get good at starts and stops. I do it all the time on practice pads. Run out of filler and start to bake my hands-back off-add a little filler and stop-readjust and restart. Gives its own practice.
When you start building things for money - do you really think you'll want to "practice starts and stops"?
Also, will every joint only require just the exact amount of filler that little dabs is all you'll need? Try that with 1/4" aluminum joints.
Last edited by MinnesotaDave on Wed Apr 05, 2017 7:03 am, edited 1 time in total.
Dave J.
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~
Syncro 350
Invertec v250-s
Thermal Arc 161 and 300
MM210
Dialarc
Tried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Feeding rod is an important thing to learn. Even when building up or fixing cracks on case repairs, made from aluminium and magnesium, where it's in small area I have to feed rod. It's not a long run, but small local area. Also different joint configurations on tubing have you have to push rod in puddle sometimes so you need to feed rod. Feeding rod is important thing to practice and learn.
why use standard nozzles after gas lens where invented. Kinda of like starting fires by rubbing sticks together.
Chips O'Toole wrote:I started practicing, with both hands, as instructed. If it's an unnecessary skill, it won't be the first one I've picked up.
Feeding rod is a great skill to have and very necessary so if you can pick it up it's going to benefit you in the long run. Just as important is your torch hand. You have to learn how to keep it in a good position to do long runs. It helps to have a prop stand to slide your hand on or you have to do whatever you need to do, such as clamping a piece of angle onto your work and things like that to be able to stay in position. There is no shame in stopping and re-starting either. Our main goal is usually that beautiful stacked dimes look, and that is essential in alot of areas but just as important is a correct weld. Sometimes you can't make them all pretty. I look at welds on every day things and alot of them look like drunk monkeys did them so sometimes just hot gluing parts together is good enough for some applications. Look at the pictures Lt Badd posted of the welds on one of the space shuttle engines. Not impressive but obviously passed all the tests.
exnailpounder wrote: Look at the pictures Lt Badd posted of the welds on one of the space shuttle engines. Not impressive but obviously passed all the tests.
Just to be clear for those who might be new or missed that thread, those weren't welds I made, although I'd be proud of them, but pics I took while at Kennedy Space center, Steve (Otto) also posted the same pics.
