Thread: tig welding corten 16 gage sheet help please

A friend is making a large sculpture out of corten. Theres about 1000 feet of joint to weld. Hes using mig with the right wire but would like to use his tig unit. Using 3/32 electrodes,15-17 cfh gas the points round off in about 5 inches of weld. He's using pure argon and ceriated electrodes. Does this sound about normal for wear and proper gas? Syncrowave 250 electrode negative, no pulse. Max ampreage 140 and probably at half throttle.

Why not use standard red thoriated tungstens? Never had a red tungsten round off at that low amperage. Gas sounds fine.

corten will show a tig weld in a few years. It works good for pin hole repair and touch ups, but it will be ugly in 5-7 years (unless indoors or high up type work).

If I had 1000' of joint to weld, I'd want the MIG.
what is the reason for using TIG ?

Out of curiosity, what is the right wire for corten?

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match the material metallurgy to the filler wire. i'm sure 70s6 will be fine, 70s2 can work if its clean.
look up what wire you buy from and find the charts for filler metal on Lincoln or one of the others website.

I'm not sure wich wire he is using. One of his other scultper friends specified what works . He is using mig for alot of this but likes to fuse weld the joints to reduce grinding. I get the problem with tig showing in a few years, different filler than base.
I'll tell him to try the thoriated to see if it helps. He may just continue with the mig. Lots of grinding...

Central steel services in Alabama has their own voodo solid wire for Corten. It is slightly different from the parent material intentionally. 75/25 gas will greatly improve his weld, and .035 or even smaller wire if you can get it.

Originally Posted by J Henricksen

I'm not sure wich wire he is using. One of his other scultper friends specified what works . He is using mig for alot of this but likes to fuse weld the joints to reduce grinding. I get the problem with tig showing in a few years, different filler than base.
I'll tell him to try the thoriated to see if it helps. He may just continue with the mig. Lots of grinding...

I would suggest turning up the MIG and moving faster.
You should be able to get a small profile (but well wetted in) weld with more voltage.

Originally Posted by J Henricksen

A friend is making a large sculpture out of corten. Theres about 1000 feet of joint to weld. Hes using mig with the right wire but would like to use his tig unit. Using 3/32 electrodes,15-17 cfh gas the points round off in about 5 inches of weld. He's using pure argon and ceriated electrodes. Does this sound about normal for wear and proper gas? Syncrowave 250 electrode negative, no pulse. Max ampreage 140 and probably at half throttle.

Points rounding @5 inches does not sound right. Pic of control panel settings please.

I havent been out to the shop in a while. I'll be going there this weekend. I get the info on which wire he is using and some pics of the control panel. Right now I'm telling him to adjust the settings on the mig to get a flatter bead.
He gets a lot of burn through butt welding 16 g corten.

Originally Posted by J Henricksen

I havent been out to the shop in a while. I'll be going there this weekend. I get the info on which wire he is using and some pics of the control panel. Right now I'm telling him to adjust the settings on the mig to get a flatter bead.
He gets a lot of burn through butt welding 16 g corten.

"Move Faster".....

Are you sure that you are doing it correctly? Maybe that’s the reason why you are unable to deal with it so easy. The point here is that everyone thinks that it is an easy thing to do. Welding. Like, come on, you just grab the welder and put that protection thing on your eyes, and you are ready to go. The truth is that none of this is actually good and working. In order to be a good welder, you have to, at least, read some articles about it, like Best Miller Welder (MIG, TIG, Stick, Flux-Cored) in 2020 - Metalworkmasters.com, and be aware not only about the mechanics or “art” of welding, but also about the materials you need and the tools you are using. It is a whole industry, and in order to keep in shape, you have to improve your mind!

Originally Posted by Caferan

Are you sure that you are doing it correctly? Maybe that’s the reason why you are unable to deal with it so easy. The point here is that everyone thinks that it is an easy thing to do. Welding. Like, come on, you just grab the welder and put that protection thing on your eyes, and you are ready to go. The truth is that none of this is actually good and working. In order to be a good welder, you have to, at least, read some articles about it, like Best spammer Welder (MIG, TIG, Stick, Flux-Cored) in 2020 - spammingmasters.com, and be aware not only about the mechanics or “art” of welding, but also about the materials you need and the tools you are using. It is a whole industry, and in order to keep in shape, you have to improve your mind!

Spam-a-lot....