Hi,
Im confident using my mig to weld in my repairs and I get pretty good results, but I really want to tig. I have a tig and I use it very rarely but when I do I fusion weld as thats all I have been taught.
I decided to tig a repair into a project Im working on at the min. I hoped to fusion weld it but I trimmed the panel a little short and there was a small gap. Too small to mig, so I decided Id tack it in place with the mig as I was out of Argon for the tig, get a new bottle of argon and tig it in with some filler rod.
I welded at around 35-40 amps. I built the puddle on the top of the mig tack then welded to the next tack, about an inch at a time, adding 1mm filler rod. I blew a couple of holes but considering I havent hardly ever tig welded with rod, I was fairly happy with it.
I ran the file over it and every where there was a mig tack its high. Iv been hammering the weld with a planishing hammer and a dolly the closest shape to the panel I can find behind the weld but I cant seem to get it nice at all.
This is my process so far:
1) Trimmed my donor panel and quarter panel close enough to scribe:
2) Tacked it in with the mig, ground the tops off the tacks and hammered them back into shape:
3) Welded it in about an inch at a time, from tack to tack. Didnt planish as I went. Quite a lot of material:
4) Quick block with 80 grit to show the highs and lows:
5) After struggling on around the first 10 inches of the panel for around an hour I dont seem to be getting anywhere fast. I put a little more die on it and filed it to show highs/lows of how it is now:
I just cant seem to get it nice. Iv tried hammering on just the weld with a planishing hammer and dolly, then removed the excess weld when it was proud... Then I tried hammering on the lows on dolly with a planishing hammer, hammering on the highs with a planishing hammer off dolly, and with my slapper with the dolly on the lows. None of this worked very well and Im reluctant to go at it too much as Im worried about changing the shape too much instead of just stretching the shrinkage. Iv also tried hammering the lows out from behind the panel with a crowned hammer into a shot bag when I started to loose patience.
Am I getting it completely wrong or do I need to just be more patient?
Any tips / advice / criticism welcome.
Cheers, Neil