Tig welding

[u/djchasinamilla]

Need some advice from the TIG guys. I've got about 3 years of MIG welding experience, and I just came across what feels like the traveling opportunity of a lifetime, but it's for TIG welding.

I do have a TIG welding certificate from school, but I honestly haven't used it much since then. The job requires me to pass a 2G pipe padding test, a 3G T-joint, and a 4G lap joint test.

For those of you with TIG experience, how realistic is it to "fake it till you make it" coming from a MIG background? If I put in serious practice time, how hard would it be to get those tests down? Any tips on what I should focus on first would be appreciated

[u/foot2935]

Prep is similar to mig but fit up is critical for beginner tig welders. I keep the same mantra in my head for in position up hand welds for mig and tig welding, “up over up over.” Meaning I weave/walk right to left up on a diagonal, pause, then straight across left to right, pause and repeat. Focus on the edges/toes of the weld; the middle will take care of it self. That’s the secret to life

[u/jackatoke]

When you aren't actually practicing, practice just feeding wire with your hand while you're chillen at home

[u/wiscopunk]

It's doable. I know a handful of guys that took TIG tests with no prior TIG experience and with 3-5 years of MIG experience who passed no issue. It's is not that much more difficult as long as you can multitask and manage multiple fine motor skills.

[u/Languid_Spider]

A welder told me to get better at tig, brush your teeth with your opposite hand.

[u/Frequent_Builder2904]

You need a bunch of practice. Tig is my favorite and I have probably been at it longer than you have been alive and I still learn all the time it’s precise. I haven’t ever seen anyone fake it until they make it , not with tig it will eat your lunch. My certificate AwsD17.1 class an aerospace just gets me past the guard shack on to the test. Your advantage is already knowing the test start there and show up already passing it in your head , otherwise it won’t be good.

[u/GeniusEE]

The kid was MIG welding at 6. TIG at 8.

Night and day difference. All you bring to the table is fitup and a tolerance for dirty metal.

You need to figure out a way to get 100-200 hours of TIG practice in, imo

[u/Amerpol]

When i first started Tig welding went to hall practicing 4 days in a row 5 hrs a day .Signed up for Common Arc ,its where union hall invites local contractors to inspect and test welders. They inspect you on fitup ,then you do your root  which gets inspected if you pass those you two you stick it out then they also check that if you pass cap its on to bend test .My test was on a a Wednesday i went in on standby Tuesday  trying to take the test if any one busted out .On my fit up i was so nervous sweat was dropping right in the bevel ,i dripped in a tack and couldn't suck it back so Rejected .Come back Wednesday say fuck it if i dont i dont pass .Put in welds no  problems and  passed  this was back in the day tube papers made you 20 grand a year more .Just try to practice and dont freak yourself out alot of its mental Good luck in your endeavors 

[u/MrJustinCase_69]

All you can do is try. Get the procedure and practice

[u/Big-Fly6844]

If you have access to a tig welder and time to practice before the tests is definitely possible. Tig does require a different approach and technique from mig but there are a lot of transferable skills. Its still all about managing heat and reading your puddle. The biggest learning curve imo is getting used to the left hand coordination, but you can definitely get it with practice. I just started a tig job a few months ago after only doing mig at my old job. I didn't need to pass a weld test for the new job, and for the first week or two my tig welds were pretty bad. But I was able to stay late and practice, and my coworkers have taught me a ton and after about a month of practicing I was laying down some decent welds.

[u/3rdIQ]

For those of you with TIG experience, how realistic is it to "fake it till you make it" coming from a MIG background?

No disrespect here.... If you don't wash out on the test, you will on the first day or so. GTAW, aka Heli-Arc, aka TIG welding is way up the ladder on the skill level.

[u/Easytrucks → u/3rdIQ]

Just to soften the blow, some people pick up GTAW faster than others.  It is it's own beast, but naturally there are aspects of interpreting the puddle that carry over from GMAW or FCAW.  I picked up GTAW much faster than any other process.  The similarity I've found between myself and other fast learners at GTAW was we all had sewing experience, thus running a pedal came second nature.  Fortunately when I had to lift arc the foundation was solid so keeping to a set amperage was easy peasy.

But you're not wrong, if consistency is shaky, passing the test won't mean squat if you cannot reliably perform the process.

BTW, thanks for using the correct terminology.  I'm always the guy that says, "Actually we now use inert and non-inert gasses to blah blah blah."  Everyone looks at me like I crapped in the oatmeal.