Thread: problem TIG butt welding thin material

Originally Posted by brenton21

as you may not be able to get a piece of copper in behind the panel. is it possible to use some 1.2mm zinc? you would be able to concentrate more heat into it rather than the .8mm panels

Do you mean zincanneal sheet? not sure if this'll work - Anything with zinc makes tig welding a real pain as the zinc vapourises and gathers on the tungsten like you wouldn't believe.

Originally Posted by Brendon5374

He had it on around 20 amps. We were both mainly burning the edges away trying to get a puddle. I got too careful and started getting stuck too often. I was just trying to tack, no filler rod.

If your fit up isn't perfect (i.e. no gaps) it is virtually impossible to get a butt tack on thin material without filler rod - the edges will just retreat at they melt away. Use some filler for your tacks. You could try positioning the filler rod so that when you initiate the arc, the filler is right there on the joint to take some of the heat and add metal.

Have you tried to run a bead (with or without filler) on a flat bit of 0.8m? I know you were just trying to tack, but If you can't run a bead like that you're going to really struggle doing a joint.

Be prepared to go through a few of those disposable cylinders before you get a good system going - I think they hold about 10mins worth of gas each (60 litres at a minimum of 6 LPM) - which will go very quickly when using a manual valve.

Cheers

- Mick

[QUOTE=WelderMick;1374377]Do you mean zincanneal sheet? not sure if this'll work - Anything with zinc makes tig welding a real pain as the zinc vapourises and gathers on the tungsten like you wouldn't believe.

Thats what I use for rust repairs, panels rust for a reason, so the more protection the better. just have to sand the zinc coating back on the edges your welding