Help with TIG Welding Please

proficient.

programmes,

opposed

In a nut shell - versatility. Nothing wrong with gas / arc / mig in their proper places but most things can not only be 'done' with tig but they can be pretty as well. If you only have one set a big tig will fit most bills. (Different if you are in mass production though.)

Don't you love it when they screw their eyes up on those shows as they weld - so much safer than using proper eye protection and watching that bead form is so easy when your eyes are closed - NOT.

AWEM

the answer is CONTROL with TIG and O/A you have the most control; how much heat , where at, how much filler material, clean , no slag, no spatter.

example on control, you can weld a small washer to a 4 mm (3/16") thick plate, and create a perfect fusion without flooding it with filler material. it will look nice.

MIG is for production - fast best for mild steel and aluminum. advantage - small HAZ (heat affected zone)

most, if not all cars truck chassis are mig welded, body panels spot welded, than bolted.

TIG is the surgical welding process. Clean, precise, versatile, and very kind to the base metal. It is quite a bit slower than MIG or Stick welding, but that is not TIG's purpose.

As long as the welds were good, it should last as long as the steel doesn't rust away, or fracture.

As long as you are not welding on a heat treated car frame. heat treated frames are very common on trucks and some cars. They require special techniques.

TIG is wonderful, but it is also the hardest process to get really good at. I have been teaching welding for about 12 years and TIG has always been the toughest for most students to get the hang of. It requires extremely good eye/hand coordination. Having good near vision helps a lot too. Many of my elderly students have great difficulty seeing the arc at low amperages.

Vaughn: Without getting into the TIG vs MIG, or a similar discussion thread, my experience on TIG has been this. I had some experience gas welding from college and wanted to pursue metal sculpting in my 1/3 half of life. I still have the gas torch and I still use it occasionally. I weld a variety of materials to form my work. Anything from 1/16"-1/4" mild welding rod to 1/2" stainless plate. TIG is very precise with very little differential in setup from one size metal (or type) to the next. I have welded copper, TIG braze welded SS and joined the very thin to the very thick without too much trouble. SS is especially good because I can frequently not use any filler rod and the resulting welds clean up beautifully. I have a gas torch, but I am finding new ways to use my TIG torch because the heat area is very narrow. Definitely worth learning how to use it. Hope this helps.

-Mike