Any suggestions on my tig setup -Dialarc HF (dinosaur)?

[dntfxr]

First off let me say thanks to all who helped in my old thread, it is greatly appreciated. I went by my local welding supply and got the last few things I needed to get started- regulator, argon, hoses, tungsten, and fillers. He recommended pure tungsten for aluminum and 2%thoraited for everything else. So I spent most of the evening sharpening tungsten hahahaa! I seriously melted almost an inch of electrode before I figured a couple settings out and got a clear puddle! I think partly I ground the wrong angle to begin with, and I think my magnets holding my flat bar were doing something weird with the arc. It would wander all over very erratically. I tried reducing the flow, helped a little. Finally moved the magnets away and cleaned the HF points and it finally didn't melt the electrode and had a nice focused arc. Like its supposed to! I stuck with the 2% and ran a couple UGLY beads but man it was fun! My first bead was on the corner, second behind it and 3rd after that (from right to left).The first two besides just ugly I think may have been too cool. The third I used a little more pedal and slowed down some, still ugly though lol. And the others I dipped my electrode before I figured out to support my hand on something. I can see it's tough to keep a steady pace, hopefully it will come with time. I'm looking forward to learning how to do it right, any suggestions or help is appreciated. The machine itself seems to work ok, but any help with dialing it in is also appreciated. And I figure I'll play for awhile with mild steel before I try aluminum or anything else. I did have an issue with my "new" used pedal, it controlled the amps and HF start, but it wasn't closing the gas solenoid. The solenoid closed fine with the remote switch turned off though, so it got to be in a connection or inside the pedal itself. I'm about to take it apart and look, hopefully just dirt or something. Any ideas on that issue?

And oh yes, those ugly but fun beads!

 

[Big Barn]

You're off and running!! Have fun.
Those look WAY better than my first beads.

Terry

 

[dntfxr]

Well thank you sir! You're too kind, any suggestions on how I can improve?

 

[Shield Arc]

First thing you need to do is grind / sand all that mil scale off the plate.

One of the moderators on Welding Web sharpens his tungsten with a drill motor, and bench grinder. I've been doing it that way every since I seen his picture.

 

[Big Barn]

Well thank you sir! You're too kind, any suggestions on how I can improve?

I'm way too new to tig welding to be giving advice! Others here will be of help.

Terry

 

[Shield Arc]

The weld on the left is not to bad. Maybe try not adding so much filler rod. Space your dabs of filler rod out a little more.

 

[Bladehauler]

I learned ALOT from watching Jody at "weldingtipsandtricks" on youtube !

https://www.youtube.com/user/weldingtipsandtricks

 

[dntfxr]

Thanks for the tips guys! That drill trick looks really neat! The local store had a special wheel made for tungsten I may go back for and set my grinder up. I click on my picture and I can't believe I posted that ugly thing lol! It's a lot to put together all at once, with the foot pedal in particular. And I was actually on the tailgate of my truck outside the shop, I gotta get a table set up. I've always enjoyed welding but I think I found a new favorite method. With practice maybe I will get it!
On another note, I picked up a new ground clamp for my little Lincoln Weldpac100, and it is amazing how much better it welds now even with fluxcore.

 

[dntfxr]

I had a short practice session after work this evening. Very short. I turned the welder on got all set up and tried adjusting the post flow controller back and forth several times and it began to work! The solenoid began to close on time like it's supposed to. That's the good news. The bad news is after only one bead the HF quit. I tried turning the machine on and off, cycling the switches, disconnecting the pedal, nothing. I couldn't get the HF to turn on. I'm hoping it's not something expensive, or hard to find. Anyone have an idea what it could be or where to start looking?
On another note, I had been using the angle grinder with a flap disc to sharpen the tungsten, but I decided to try the 2x72 with a cheap aluminum oxide belt with the drill trick. It worked great! I'll keep that one belt dedicated for that job for now. I may try a ceramic belt when this one is worn.
My one bead before I lost HF , and the grinder with large contact wheel-

 

[Big Barn]

Bummer about the high frequency. Not familiar with your machine and can't think of anything off hand. Hopefully someone here can help...

Terry