Professor Hammer's

METALWORKING TIPS

- Ron Covell

Q. I am an accomplished stick and MIG welder, and all of my autobody welding has been done with a torch or a MIG welder. I am restoring a ’38 Ford pickup and plan on butt-welding the sheet metal repairs with a TIG welder. I have an old Miller 330 transformer machine that I repaired, and I finally have the TIG function working well. I will be butt-welding 18-gauge panels to the existing 19-gauge body. I have been practicing butt-welding 18-gauge panels and have it dialed in pretty well. I watched your butt-weld panels at two of your workshops, and I have some questions. I get the best results at approximately 50 amps using a 1 ⁄16-inch tungsten with a #5 cup, after trying #4, #5, and #6 cups, with argon set at 20 CFH, and 5-second post flow. I have tried 0.040, 1 ⁄16-, and 3⁄32-inch tungsten, both thoriated and created. I have heard created doesn’t work on the old transformer machines, but it seems to work fine for me. I have a few of your DVDs, including the one on TIG Welding.