TIG technique question

**arandall** · 06-16-2011, 12:12 PM

I was recently working on some 18ga. steel shelving that required some modifications/welding. I decided it was high time to practice my TIG work. My fit-up was poor, so I had some pretty wide gaps to deal with. What worked for me was to use filler rod that was much bigger than what I understand would normally be recommended. In this case I used 3/32 filler rod with the 18 ga. sheet. Using the foot-pedal, I moved forward and bumped the amperage way up till I melted a nice big blob of filler, then moved back and backed off the heat to establish a puddle in the parent metal, and flow the now slighltly cooler filler blob into the puddle. Then I could move forward and repeat the process. - - It seemed to work for me without blowing too many holes.
Is this extremely bad technique??

**Gadget** · 06-16-2011, 03:23 PM

When I have a large gap I keep most of the arc on a larger filler rod and kind of flow it to the metal. Sounds like you are doing something quite similar. Whether we are right or wrong, I don't know. My feeling is if it sticks it was right.

**KHK** · 06-16-2011, 04:16 PM

I have tried this a couple of times, the only problem I had was getting ZAPPED when the filler rod did not touch the work piece.

**tigqk** · 06-17-2011, 01:13 AM

What you can try, and alot of people do it is to take your E70s-6 or s-2, 0.30 mig wire and fold it back onto itself and spin it up with a drill to twist it, and you can make a wire that is less than what you would be using 0.40 but should work ok and you might even get away with 1/16 tungsten.