Welding - tips for Steady hands

[philbey]

YO!

I'm working on my TIG welding and I'm definitely getting better, but I still have trouble with the old shaky-shack action.

In particular, if I can't get my torch in an ideal spot where I'm 100% comfortable, I find the shakes get crazy!

Just wondering what tips people might have for this? I had a tendency to hold my breath which messes shit right up.

Also, I drink way too much coffee, do you pro welders reckon the coffee-shakes are a load of crap? Or do you notice it affects you?

I do have to say though, I'm using a torch with a flexible neck now, definitely the best investment for anyone looking to buy a TIG.

[wickedblockhead]

getting comfortable is pretty important. rest your arm on something or pin your leg against a table. if you can, rest your torch cup on your piece and "walk" it.

[KrOwN]

best advice is to get COMFY!! find which was works, ive been welding for over 7 years and still get the shakes! take long slow breaths brace your elbows on the table and weld, u will get the hang of it! it takes alot of time w/ tig! cause ur in so much of a bind most the time! set the heat a little colder and try and go slower, seems to help

[philbey]

Yeh the walking method is great when you get it right, I think i might buy a couple more cup sizes (hah) so I can tune the position depending on what I'm welding.

Setting the heat, good call but I've got a real hair-trigger amperage dial which makes it hard. I find usually setting the heat lower usually results in trouble maintaining a good puddle, I think I'll fiddle with lower heat and pulling the tip away from the workpiece a bit.

[billybiltit]

when i welded my tank up i finally got off my ass and welded an arm that swings out off the leg of my layout table and holds a little seat.then with my pedal where i could get to it comfortably it seemed a whole lot easier to control the arc and the feed wire.i also keep a few different chunks of 4x4 and 2x4 and stuff handy to use to rest my arms on.
hth,
leon

p.s. i guess i am saying try setting on your ass like your eatin dinner.but weld instead.

[deelux]

I try and set the heat so when the pedal or knob on the torch whichever you use is hot enough when your all the way down it melts the base metal that way when you see that your going to blow through you back off just enough so you don't burn a hole but not to the point where it cools the weld down. If the heat is set to high you might find it hard to try and feather the pedal then if it was set closer to the amperage that you need for the application. I also find that if I wrap the cable around my neck and I don't have the weight of the cable weighing my arm down as I move. Take it slow you will always have better welds if you take your time and proper prep work is a must or it won't matter how good you are. I use a TIG everyday and I still find room to improve so don't give up.

[Toecutterp]

I have a taller than normal table. I found that it helped me a ton. You don't have to lean over as far. Get comfy, lay you work out the easiest way to move around it. Just try to make your bead direction flow.

[workingclass]

Ditto, Ditto and Ditto. I'm also a welder by trade and learn/improve everyday. Just remember to breathe and try not to think about it to much. If you do you'll find you start gripping the torch to hard or getting tense in the wrist and hands, that's when the shakes set in, for me anyway. Keep at it, you'll get it.

[mikeyfrombc]

breathing control is huge IMO , as for steady hands i find i get the shakes cause i,m out of shape , you stay in one position too long and your muscles get cramped and that's bench welding , try crawling around doing a cage is a car and contorting to get it position , i bet someone who does yoga or ti-chi would make a killer tig welder in all positions due to muscle strength , control and relaxed breathing

[philbey]

Yeh, I quickly learnt that the prep is the key with TIG. It's not even difficult, just hit it with the wire wheel or flapdisc and off you go.

I've got quite a tall bench, and I am 6'3 tall, but I sit on a regular short stool and it's perfect. The welding benches I was using when I first started were much too low.

I don't have a pedal control, or even a torch heat control. The pro whose welder I've borrowed didn't like torch heat control knobs, but he has got years of experience at setting his current right in the first place.

I find that often to run a good puddle, I've got my electrode very very close to the workpiece, especially with thin gauge metal on HF. Lowering the heat and pulling away slightly should improve this shouldn't it?

[wickedblockhead]

you dont want to pull away or "long arc". you want to keep the gas flowing on your weld. but turning down the heat will help. turn it down low enough so you can hold it as long as you like without blowing through. then work up from there. keep your welds tight and your angle tight. if you get too wide youll get undercut. watch the puddle. that bein said its easier said than done.

[philbey]

Fair enough, I'll give that "hold without blow through" tip a try. Just keep dialing up the amps till i get the sweet spot?

When you say getting too wide, I assume you mean the arc cone getting to wide as I lift off too far? a lot of my earlier welds are getting nasty undercut, even though I seem to be adding filler at a frantic pace!

[specialseventynine]

I like to keep my electrode no further than 3/32" away from the puddle, that keeps the arc controllable and argon cloud where you want it. You would benefit HUGE from a pedal added to your setup when you purchase your own tig unit.

Everybody else has said it, and I will too. Get comfortable, rest your torch hand on something, but don't do it all the time. There are times you won't be able to rest your hand on an object due to your welding situation and it's important to practice "free hand" welding so it's not a disaster when you need to.

For me 2 cups of coffee max, any more than that before I pick up my tig torch I might as well weld while doing jumping jacks.

[wickedblockhead]

too wide, when you are rolling your torch from side to side, you can only "roll" so far depending on how much metal you are moving. if you are using 3/32 rod, keep your welds about 1/4 inch accross. if you point your torch too flat you can get undercut as well.

[deelux]

Ditto on having a pedal or some way to control the heat the cool thing about a TIG is you can hold a molten puddle for quite awhile in one spot and not blow through by simply using the pedal to maintain the heat so when you get one of your own be sure to pick one up. I try to count 1 and 2 and every time i count 2 i dip the rod. This helps to achieve a stack of dimes look if you are getting undercut than you are either to hot, going to slow or not adding enough rod. Just keep practicing and trying to maintain a puddle that is consistent and doesn't narrow or widen.