First time welder from Florida

Just received my PowerTig 185DV, this will be my first welder and having never welded before I’m very excited to jump in. I purchased this machine to aid in my hot-rodding hobby; I’ve found myself in situations multiple times where I am stuck in limbo trying to get something welded or fabricated, and this just seems like the next logical step in the progression of my hobby.

Have a pretty good friend who has done a lot of my tig welding give me some tips and watched some videos on the “Welding Tips & Tricks” YouTube channel, I highly recommend it to anyone thinking about getting into welding.

Here are a few photos of my very first welds.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7589/...8f2e4d58_c.jpg


The ones with the red X are my buddies lol.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8797/...7ca4fd1a_c.jpg


First butt weld

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7692/...7216e7a0_c.jpg


Second butt weld

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8728/...8da09500_c.jpg

Welcome to the forum, what type of hot-rodding are you into?

Looks pretty damn good for a first attempt. One thing with TIG in general and aluminum specifically, is that to get the nicest finished welds, you want everything as clean as you can get it. That will take care of a lot of the stuff floating up in your puddle. Like operating room clean. Sand or stainless wire brush the oxide layer, then wipe down with acetone. Do this right before you weld.
Also when you end your welds, taper off the power and add a little extra filler to prevent the little crater at the end. It's more than just looks, it is a place where cracks will start from that crater. Keep up the good work and have fun.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by m j mauer

Welcome to the forum, what type of hot-rodding are you into?

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My current money pits are a 88 Fox Body Mustang with a turbo 4.8 LS swap, and a 90 AWD Eagle Talon.

I'm pretty new to the the domestic side of things, I've owned my mustang for about 3 years now and it was my first and only domestic/RWD car I've ever owned. Previously I was heavily into DSMs (Eclipse/Talon/Laser) owned quite a few of them, made some considerable power with a little 2.0 liter engine, but after seeing how much easier and reliable it was to go faster with the LS platform.

Here are a few pictures/video of them.

Bought both cars as rollers and built them both from the ground up. If this sort of thing intrigues you I can link you to my full length build threads for both vehicles lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3Vf0BIIQu0

Mustang Dynograph

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8740/...b87ea71e_c.jpg


https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8579/...43462f98_c.jpg


DSM

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7178/...89e00af9_c.jpg


https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7197/...625076d4_c.jpg


DSM Dynograph

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8030/...f8bd1c38_c.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rambozo

Looks pretty damn good for a first attempt. One thing with TIG in general and aluminum specifically, is that to get the nicest finished welds, you want everything as clean as you can get it. That will take care of a lot of the stuff floating up in your puddle. Like operating room clean. Sand or stainless wire brush the oxide layer, then wipe down with acetone. Do this right before you weld.
Also when you end your welds, taper off the power and add a little extra filler to prevent the little crater at the end. It's more than just looks, it is a place where cracks will start from that crater. Keep up the good work and have fun.

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Thank you, I felt like they were pretty decent as well, I was expecting much worse.

My buddy let me know about the pitting at the end as well from letting off the pedal too quickly, I need to pick up some acetone to clean up with, this has all just been scrap I had lying around so I haven't been over meticulous as far as cleaning goes, but the first real project I do I will be sure to take every measure to ensure its clean.

I messed with some round stock yesterday and it turned out alright after I did it a few times, I'm having a lot of fun, and just need to keep practicing.

Bigboost, where in Fla are you located? Maybe add that to your profile (Location)? I think you will have TIG down in a very short time, and it will save you and make you some cash with your interests.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by everlastsupport

Bigboost, where in Fla are you located? Maybe add that to your profile (Location)? I think you will have TIG down in a very short time, and it will save you and make you some cash with your interests.

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I'm up in Jacksonville, thanks for the vote of confidence. I hope you are right!