Square wave TIGgin' and conventional differences

[Boostinjdm]

IMO In My Opinion.  I don't know what type of tungsten the white tip is.  I may have to look it up, but if it balled I guess I don't see a problem with it.  How far are you keeping the tungsten from the material and what angle are you holding it at?  the more straight on you hold it, the more round your puddle will be, makes a big difference in directing the arc also.

[fabr]

First lets get something clarified. A ball is used with aluminum and a pointed tungsten is used for ferrous.Is reidy doing aluminum or ferrous?
 AS for yoshi and the higher amps I'm not saying it can't be done ,I said it was a lot of amps and the way he was describing things it seemed as if he was confused as to what he was actually saying.  With mild he is likely fine but with moly he's asking for a brittle weld at those amps. At least that's what an old time aircraft welder taught me. Anyway if it works ,it's correct. THe fitup is critical ,of course no matter what material is used.

[Boostinjdm]

alum.  he posted a pic of a filler neck on his fuel tank as an example.

[fabr]

Yeah  but we keep jumping around and I thought we needed to make it clear that a ball tip is bad for ferrous,unstable arc and poor penetration. I've seen lots of guys try to weld aluminym with a pointed tungsten and ,well,they have problems.LOL!!!

[Reidy02]

Yeah I am welding Aluminum and I have read that you can weld aluminum with a sharpened or coned tungsten, he reckoned you get better penitration

[Boostinjdm]

I weld alum with a pointed tip...well it starts out pointed.  It don't take long to form a ball all by it's self when your welding.  I stated earlier that I use red for everything.  I think I need to change that.  Last night or this morning however you want to look at it, I changed back to green for alum.  Puddle flowed a little better.  I think I switched to red for alum when I was doing thicker stuff awhile back, the pure tungsten kept getting to hot and unstable.

[Reidy02]

Also white tungsten is pure.

[Yoshi]

First lets get something clarified. A ball is used with aluminum and a pointed tungsten is used for ferrous.Is reidy doing aluminum or ferrous?
 AS for yoshi and the higher amps I'm not saying it can't be done ,I said it was a lot of amps and the way he was describing things it seemed as if he was confused as to what he was actually saying.  With mild he is likely fine but with moly he's asking for a brittle weld at those amps. At least that's what an old time aircraft welder taught me. Anyway if it works ,it's correct. THe fitup is critical ,of course no matter what material is used.

I've never welded moly before, my setup is what I consider perfect heat for mild, 120 wall tube in my application.  I've tried it on 120, and 130, and 125 is just perfect for me.  I weld 1/2" plugs into the ends of some of my tubes, and I set the amps at 90 and just mash the pedal as well since they are a tight fit and uniform.  I can work the pedal just fine, I just weld a little faster, and as long as the part your welding is uniform, it's a lot easier to just use one setting and hold it down.  You don't fluctuate the heat for a mig welder, just pull and go, so as long as your not working with thin metal, you don't really have to fluctuate the heat much IMO. 

I have done some welding on thin stuff, and I work the pedal like crazy, just not my 120 wall tubing, or when i'm welding some of my thicker plate together.  When i've ran outta 3/32 filler, I had to use my thin stuff and I have to turn the amps down, or work the pedal more, otherwise I will go through a whole filler rod extremely fast, lol...

[fabr]

I weld alum with a pointed tip...well it starts out pointed.  It don't take long to form a ball all by it's self when your welding.  I stated earlier that I use red for everything.  I think I need to change that.  Last night or this morning however you want to look at it, I changed back to green for alum.  Puddle flowed a little better.  I think I switched to red for alum when I was doing thicker stuff awhile back, the pure tungsten kept getting to hot and unstable.

Lookat the chart I posted about tungstens. Also see the post on how to form a perfect ball.It works ,also taught to me by an old time welder that did only aluminum for over 20 years on a daily basis.

[Boostinjdm]

So according to your chart I should switch to 1 1/2% lanthanated so I can be lazy and not change tungstens?  I'd be willing to try it, but I have a full box of pure tungsten, and a full box of Thoriated and I don't think I'll have them used up any time soon.  Plus, I kinda like to glow in the dark.  I don't have to carry a flashlight.

[Boostinjdm]

Yeah, I know half a dozen ways to form a ball.  I just choose not to cuz it forms all by it's self.  I usually run a couple inches on a scrap piece after grinding anyway just to get my confidence up before welding the important stuff.

[fabr]

So according to your chart I should switch to 1 1/2% lanthanated so I can be lazy and not change tungstens?  I'd be willing to try it, but I have a full box of pure tungsten, and a full box of Thoriated and I don't think I'll have them used up any time soon.  Plus, I kinda like to glow in the dark.  I don't have to carry a flashlight.

If you haven't used lanthanated I'd suggest you try one for aluminum. It DOES make a difference. I still use thoriated for steel tho since I also have a lifetime supply sitting in the drawer. LOL!!!!

[fabr]

Also try forming the ball to start with. Everyone has their own way of doing things and if it works it's right for you but if the ball is forming while welding IMO you're running too hot for the tungsten and asking for tungsten spitting.

[Yoshi]

well, first attempt at tig welding aluminum on some scrape 1/8" plate, looks like I'll be doing a lot of practicing, lol.....

[Boostinjdm]

First attempt? It could have been a hell of a lot worse.  What is your balance set at?  Amps?