Been in school for 3 days now, nothing spectacular, got some training on different techniques, some history of GTAW, learned how to sharpen our tungsten, the do's and don'ts, basic machine operation (Miller 250 Syncrowave, Lincoln 255 Square Wave, Miller Dynasty) yada yada.

Laid my first pad of beads down tonight using a #6 cup, 3/32 tungsten (2% thoriated) on 1/8" steel plate, DC-, @ 100amps.

TIG is really cool, lots of control. We will be welding steel first, then aluminum, then stainless steel, then titanium, and lastly we will get a magnesium demo.

I was welding using the Miller Dynasty 700 tonight, seemed like a nice enough machine .....................oh yeah...............don't forget to turn ON the Argon!

 

good deal Grip. was that a school through the Navy or off duty education?

 

off duty education

 

Welding can be fun......until you have to do it for a living, then you get over it, real fast. Once you learn how to do it though, it's something that you'll wonder how in the hell you ever lived not being able to do it. The little projects become a lot easier when you don't have to fork out cash for a simple job.

 

good ****, are you pursuing a Bachelors? If so, is it in part of converting to the commissioned side?

 

lol have fun with aluminum

 

LOL, yeah, when you start on aluminum, just forget everything you just learned for steel.

 

I can MIG, Stick and Gas weld but TIG is completely foreign to me, it's one I'd LOVE to learn eventually too.....maybe I'll have you give me a primer course when you finish grippy

 

I had a welding class where we did each type of welding, but only had like 6-8 hours of lab time with each. Definetly liked MIG and TIG the best.

 

If you can gas weld, you can TIG. same process essentially, but you have a machine to arc instead of a torch to heat. You'd pick it up in 2 seconds