Tig Welding Test

How to Practice a Tig Root and hot pass using Flat Bar

Check out the Tig finger here and decide if it could help your welding

Got a Tig Welding Test coming up?

Dont have any way to get some practice on pipe?

There are all sorts of tig welding tests for pipe welding that involve a tig root pass and hot pass...with a stick fill and cap.

This is a very common tig welding test that comes in all sizes and thicknesses...and in different material types.

You could break the bank trying to buy all the different sizes of pipe to get some practice before going to take a tig welding certification test.

Since a large percentage of tig welding tests are on carbon steel, one way to get some practice is to just get some 3/16 " thick cold or hot rolled steel flat bar that is 2-4 inches wide and about 8 inches long.

I made a video recently showing how a corner joint with a 1/8" gap could be used to simulate a pipe root gap and explained how the same mig welding settings and mig techniques could be used to weld the inside corner joint as was used on a open butt pipe weld.

Well guess what! The same joint is a great way to practice your technique before heading out for parts unknown to take a tig welding test.

I dont know about you, but I dont like driving for 15 hours to stay in some flea bag motel only to get up the next morning to fail a welding test because I didnt get any practice.

Its depressing, and humbling.

I would much rather feel some little bit of confidence from doing something close like a mock up ...if not the exact test.

The exact test is usually impossible to practice. But what if you could set up a mock up and use the amperage setting that worked for your test??

Would that give you an edge? I think so.

A corner joint using 3/16" 1/4", 3/8" thick carbon steel can provide experience, and is a confidence builder....and its cheap compared to buying beveled pipe welding coupons.

I get emails frequently from welders who are either going to a school that does not have beveled plates, or they are practicing on their own with plate or pipe they bevel themselves with a grinder.

So I figured I would share a practice joint that gives some real good practice. Also, I had acess to a few beveled plates.

You can order beveled plates from Triangle Engineering for a reasonable price...(roughly 7 bucks depending on current steel prices).

The bevels are coated with a special paint that you can weld over if you want..the paint is called Deoxaluminite.

You can get pricing on all welding coupons at Triangle engineering at www.trieng.com


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