TIG Copper Welding

I am an experienced 6G pipe welder with certs in both Stick and TIG. Do You know of any videos, books, CD'S on how to TIG cooper that is 1 1/2" thick. Do You sharpen the tungsten to a sharp point? Do You use flux? How do You know when the puddle will fall out before it happens in the vertical and overhead positions? How much heat to apply, how much filler rod to add and what about penetration. Thank You for Your Time.

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Its pretty rare that I get a question on tig welding copper...especially that thickness.

I am not aware of any video or training materials but you might check with the copper association.

here is the link to a pdf file I drilled out of their site....be patient for it to load its a 28 mb file

copper association welding pdf report

or...just copy and paste the code below in your brower

http://www.copper.org/publications/pub_list/pdf/a1050.pdf

It seems pretty thick to tig weld, you might need some crazy amperage.

in my opinion, i you must tig weld it, you will need to think hard about

preheat

it takes a lot of amperage so your tig welding machine needs to have the ability to weld at 300-400 amps

use uhp (ultra high purity) helium or 80/20 helium/argon mix

use an electrode that is rated for the amperage

2% thor or 2% lanthanted electrode

use an electrode that is sharp but not like a needle...like about a 30-45 degree taper.

I dont think the trouble with something that thickness will be the puddle falling out but more like keeping enough heat pumped in to keep it welding.