Tig Tungsten Electrodes

Tig Tungsten Electrodes

Manual TIG welding is often considered the most difficult of all the welding processes. Because the welder must maintain a short arc length, great care and skill are required to prevent contact between the electrode and the work piece. Similar to Oxygen Acetylene torch welding, Tig welding normally requires two hands and in most instances requires the welder to manually feed a filler wire into the weld pool with one hand while manipulating the welding torch in the other. However, some welds combining thin materials can be accomplished without filler metal like edge, corner, and butt joints. This is known as Fusion welding where the edges of the metal pieces are melted together using only the heat and arc force generated by the TIG arc. Once the arc is started the torch tungsten is held in place until a weld pool is created, a circular movement of the tungsten will assist is creating a weld pool of the desired size. Once the weld pool is established tilt the torch at about a 75° angle and move smoothly and evenly along the joint while fusing the materials together.