How to practice TIG Weld wider gap?

by Steven
(Sorong, Indonesia)

Hi Jody, nice to meet you again.
I've watched you video "Metals and how to weld/Aluminum Properties". In that video you welded the joint which wide enough for me to TIG Weld it (I still can not TIG weld a wide joint). I hope I can do that in the near future. So I'm to asking your kindness to share with me and other guys about "how to practice TIG Weld on wide gap (is it the same with "Root Pass"?)", what is the machine setting, and so on. Is the same practice apply to mild/carbon steel, stainless steel and alum???
Thank you Jody. Your site is a learning place for me.


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Steven,

first of all, wide joints are much easier done with a foot pedal amperage control.

with a foot pedal and pulse current, you can time the sequence of adding filler rod with the pulse and weld a wide gap.

but often times, folks dont have a foot pedal available.

thats when you need to set the amperage lower than normal and leave the rod in the puddle to keep it cooled down....and sometimes use a larger rod than would be used normally.

backing helps too. for stainless welds, a piece of aluminum or copper clamped to the back side so that the weld metal is supported helps a lot for welding gaps. This is not always possible because the back side is not always accessible...

regards,

jody