I will say, brother, that you are "cool beans" and a breath of fresh air. I am a few months from retirement. Or at least full-time. The point is this, I have used youtube for repairing or diagnosing in our shop never thought of welding teaching; One of the younger welders was telling his protege "he watched this dude on youtube about stainless TIG," and to my surprise, later that evening I checked it out and said DAMN, this guy shares years of experience in his tutorials. I had no idea Jody, hope I spelled it right. Man oh man the insights you share are like I said years upon years of experience, wow. Good job dude. Serious, I started back in 82, Primarily TIG aluminum last 15, and wow great stuff here, thank you.

I love it when you do things the wrong way! They say this is a bad teaching technique but I learn so much from it. Just watching someone run perfect beads doesn't always tell me why mine are so ugly. Thanks for doing aluminum videos Jody.

This man is a very good teacher and clearly knows his stuff. Thanks for the effort. I’m just learning as a hobbyist and I often find I’ll get frustrated with some difficulty and come in and search and rewatch some of Jody’s videos for some missed detail which resolves the problem. Had great difficulty getting a good start on an aluminium TEE joint, re practised on the flat all good, try the TEE again with the same settings, no good, fine when I got it running but awful to start. Re watched a few videos saw the tip in this one about the arc wandering around with a balled electrode, tried the blunt angle, boom, nicer start and runs fine. Long way to go but this man is delivering gold dust here in terms of learning.

Congrats on being recognized by AWS, flipping through the Feb. issue of welding journal and seen the article.

i have been trying to learn how to tig weld since October. i have been able to run a pretty bead on flat plate since maybe day 3 of owning my tig welder but i just could not for the life of me figure out how to tig weld aluminum Tee Joints. after watching this video i tig welded a tee joint first try until i dipped the tip! these videos are life savers! i've been a fan for a few years and i've finally been able to actually follow along and practice with my own welder. the key advice given that i think helped me was using a blunt tip. for whatever reason with a sharp tip or balled tip, my arc jumps all over the place. the blunt tip helped pinpoint the arc to the place i'm trying to start welding. thanks!

This is by far the most helpful video I have watched on welding. I just got my TIG welder and have been having some troubles with making joints. This single video solved pretty much all of my issues!

That slow mo was icing on the cake .. !

Jody, out of all the You-tube channels about welding and fabrication, I can honestly say I gain the most knowledge from you, keep making videos!

TamJeff from the forum here. This is pretty much exactly how I weld aluminum. The back stepping you showed in the pass is also much more forgiving for those who may not have a lot of hood time with aluminum in which to correct for inconsistent travel speed, and giving some time to correct craters from spacing their puddles too far apart. Excellent video.

you got me through so many welding classes at my trade school.

im 17, in highschool and taking a CTE welding class. I just wanna say thank you cause you have helped alot! I'd love it if you made more SS and aluminum tutorials.

Always helpful. I often end up watching your videos several times.

You've got some really good arc shots in this video. The "what not to do" is embarrassingly similar to what I've been doing. Mostly the arc length being too long. Thanks for the great videos.

I'm currently attending a welding course for AWS certification. Out of all the vids I've watched your's are the best. Keep it up and thank you!

Hands down your the most helper person on KZfaq.

I really wish I knew about your videos when I was an apprentice, it would've made me a better welder and I probably would've stayed in the trade. Thanks for all the time and effort you put into making them!

I'm not a welder even in the lamest sense of the word BUT I have had the opportunity to be around some super ones. They'd let me put on a hood and watch and I was just flat-out amazed. Most were working stainless or aluminum and the quality was second to none. You're right in there with them and I salute you for it!

Fantastic video. Really nice shots of the arc pool and examples of what to do and not to do. Well done. Thank you.

Excellent video, I really appreciated the tip on preventing the crater cracks.

You have no idea how much you just helped me, thanks Jody.

Love your videos Jody. In my college welding shop, we’re doing a butt joint to a lap joint to a tee joint with aluminum. Thanks for the useful tips

All I have to say is these videos are awesome. You do an incredible job of explaining and demonstrating. Thanks for the help

Thank you very much for this latest installment! I am new to TIG and just started with aluminum (pretty much the exact same setup as this example). I had some problems, but with this video most of them are worked out and running decent beads on the first try.

Thank you Jody!! I have a lot of trouble starting a aluminum bead, I know exactly what I was doing wrong now. Because I did have a rounded tungsten, I will make sure I have a point and add less filler before I start a bead

Love this show! Bought some of your products and use the tig finger when welding with my Lincoln 175 square wave. Jody is an xlnt teacher!Many thanx. JB

i love watching all of your videos. I recently started tig welding. I was doing arc and mig. there just too easy so i moved on to tig and at first i would always get my tungsten rod stuck to my steel. now as i get more practice i am getting better by the day. Thanks to my welding teacher.

YES, been waiting for another aluminium TIG video! i've had school off the last 3 days so i been missing my welding fix and this is just the thing. went to my first competition for aluminum TIG last friday, was real fun. keep up the good work jody!

Thanks for this, I was having trouble with my fillet weld practice today and managed to do EVERYTHING in your what not to do section ;)

I just finished the TIG unit in my welding course at school, one of the last joints that I had to do was an aluminum butt weld, flat position, and it seemed to me, from what you've done and what my instructor did, that there's more than one way to do it successfully. My instructor put a large bevel, about 35 degrees, onto a couple 1/4 plates, with maybe a 1/16 landing and 1/8 gap, and actually welded backwards, pulling the puddle along and letting the argon flow through the gap to shield the backside of the weld, and it turned out beautiful I could never manage to weld it like that, I ended up just butting the two plates together with no edge prep and hammering a bead through them, but I'm really interested to see if you could try some aluminum groove welds out like that and maybe see your technique and get your opinion on welding like that

thanks for you sharing I always find great content. I just picked up a TIG machine and just started learning.

Your videos are very educational. I appreciate them a lot! Thank you! Could you make a video about different torch angles and their effects? I've been having some trouble tig welding aluminum and I feel that's the cause.

Thank you so much for sharing this! I'm just a hobby welder relatively new to aluminum. You showed exactly what I was doing wrong! Time to try it again tomorrow.

Thanks a lot for these videos Jody, I am in school right now and you're TIG videos have helped me out a great deal. Cheers!

I always learn some subtle thing from your videos. Keep em' coming!

I'm glad i found your video i have found others but nothing compares to what you put up all the mistakes i was making i was able to correct them by watching your videos.

thanks jodi, expertly demonstrated; aside from never using a tig before, the explanations w/ the basic welder used in the video seemed clear enough and understandable (having the machines user manual or some other type of educational experience as reference) - arc length, tip 'profile', oxidized filler rod, the crater cracks - seen those plenty of times on an associates all aluminum racing carbody repair work, the arc wandering (balled tip) hard to recognize the cup angle in relation to the workpiece in most of the video - taking your word for it accounting the electrode length & cup style as demonstrated. thnx again, respectfully, gerald.

Great demo as ever. Can see exactly what you are saying to do but often my technique still Fido butts it. Great to come back and watch it again! Thank you.

I really appreciate your time to share your knowledge and experience with the public. Your videos are very informative, down to earth, and easy to follow. As many others have said, thank you. I will be visiting your store in the coming days ahead, all the best...Glenn Underwood

''Thanks for watching''??? No. Thanks for sharing Jody.

Jody This videos seems to be just what I am looking for, great work. And bye the way, I do have a Ph.D. in an unrelated field, but my interests in fab work requires that I learn what your teaching. Keep up the work!

Those arc shorts are beautiful! Great welding tips and camera skills.

Love your work Jody, always very informative and energetic. Keep it up!

Thanks for posting. I'll keep watching for more on aluminum.

These vids really help me out a lot I use scratch start air cooled at the shipyard and I am teaching myself thanks a lot.

I'M TIG WELDING A 1" ALUMINUM SQ BLOCK, THAT I CAN DRILL AND TAP, TO A 1/8" X 2" AL BASE STRAP. I HAVE 1 A LINCON 255 SQ WAVE PULSE TIG WELDER BUT I HAVEN'T LEARND HOW TO USE IT YET . THATS WHY I'M HERE . GAS SETTING, PROB LENGTH, AMPS AS A PERCENT OF THICKNESS BUT WHICH THICHNESS ? LOL. THE PULSE LOOKS LIKE A GOOD OPTION. I HAVE A HAND HELD PROB, FILLER ROB. AND RED TUNGSTEN. AND PLENTY OF SCRAP AL. GREAT CHANEL!

Thanks for the tips, saw what I was doing wrong. I will try again tomorrow. Just putting a small guide tab on a flat plate. Flat but joint was ok but T joint, couldn't get it hot enough so it was just like your example.

I'm learning in a class and I've had great success with AL until the fillet weld. We are welding .06 with 3/32 ceriated at 60 amps max. I've been using a 20° grind and having trouble with the arc focusing on only one side or the other. Definitely adding too much filler to start. I'll try the 45° grind and see if I can stabilize, then add less filler to start. Thanks so much for the videos!

Awesome video. I was having trouble with starting my welds and making them look good

Probably the best video on KZfaq!

hey Jody I am somewhat new to tig welding and I love the videos you have. I have learned a lot from them. on this video you touched base on "lack of fusion". I seam to get that a lot when I am welding aluminum. I was wondering if you have a video on that and how not to do that. I am using a miller diversion 180 with the lift arc torch if it matters. ps love the tig finger I got one for me and my dad. thanks again.

I've had nothing but trouble doing aluminium a couple of weeks ago, coming to a had today when I felt like throwing and breaking something. I'm gonna have to go back in tomorrow and see what I can recognise I'm doing in your "How not" section. Seriously, I'm on the verge of burning something down.

5:40, you answered my question, always wondered if it was bad to hold a tight arc and then back off, thanks.

Finally I know how sometimes I didn't get nice welds on aluminium, thanks Jody!!!

Great information, thanks for helping those of us striving to learn more.

This is perfect timing. I have the Lincoln Square Wave 255, slightly more advanced than the 175. Thank you for those tips, I'm sure that will help a lot. Can you show how to properly weld the inside corners of a box?

For anyone wondering how to get into the metal fabrication world, you can go to school or you can buy a entry level machine, practice and practice and then start looking for a job at any local metal company, weld tests helps boost your skills, specially when you see some really good welders, anyway I bought a miller diversion 180 (similar to the square wave 175) and now I am getting a job at a local metal shop, 16 bucks an hour, that's more money then most college graduates.

really good videos! making me feel a lot more confident as a beginner

thank you, good advice as usual. been having the problem with balled on alum. will give that a shot!

Congratulations for this video. I got my AWS Certificate years ago building boats in Florida.

Awesome! Always like the aluminum tig videos. Thanks, very helpful!

back in the 70 in the 300 area at hanford i was in the need of a clear extended heli arc cup to reach down through a small hole. they had a glass shop there and i asked if they had any glass that would hold up to white hot temps and they had quartz tubing the right size so they used a lathe to mount the pink ceramic cup and the quartz tube and they melted them together with hydrogen gas. then i had then cut the end of the quartz tube at a 45 degree angle and had the point bent over to direct the gas sideways then cut the sharpened end of the 2% 3/32 tungsten off then re welded the sharpened tip back to the shaft and put all this together on a straight torch then taped a steel rod to the torch handle then stuck this about 3 feet down a small hole to weld a small part. the quartz tube helped me see what i was doing. its odd to see 40 years later now they are making quartz cups.

I'm just getting started to be introduced tig welding what are the the tools I need just bought a Lincoln 210 mp and that's all I have i love you're videos they are very helpful

Your videos have helped me so much. Thank you.

Jody, you make it look so easy that you should be held accountable.. :D Because of your videos I bought Stamos S-AC200P BASIC tig welding machine.. I have been now training to weld with tig something like week and now I'm starting to understand how difficult that can be.. Total respect your skills and expertice.

Really enjoyed the video, I have that lincoln 175 , great little machine!

Great arc shots as always, and good to see the Lincoln Square Wave getting some love, (What I have) I keep looking at inverters but so far have resisted, The Lincoln keeps chugging along....

Great series , really enjoying your posts and will probably buy your DVD

helps a lot Jodi! thanks again for your tips & tricks.

Amazing seeing how the crack forms so easy.

Beautiful filming, and very informative..

Great tips on preparing the tungsten..

your explanations are very understandable, thanks.

Jody, Many thanks for these tig videos. I really appreciate you showing the wrong way to do it. That helps me see some of the things I've been doing wrong. Joe

Very helpful presentation. Thanks for sharing this with us.

The "How not to start a bead" section was brilliant. Very helpful.

welding is an art. and you are the artist

thanks for sharing your knowledge, God bless you

you are a talented teacher. thank you.

I just bought one of these Lincoln 175 machines for 700 with brand new pedal and new ck 17 tig torch. Now I need to weld some really heave stuff so I will preheat and pray it works. I have the skills so I think it will. Question if we always want a balled end why not grind one? Seems to work when I tried it. Tungsten in cordless drill. Spin it up and round the end a bit.

Few of my observations when welding Al - It can be harder to differentiate the color of your tip and the puddle. You can be holding the tip closer than you think and it sticks. - The puddle and bead fills up a lot thicker than on steels, you can have what looks like a nice contact distance but you can easily put so much rod in that you bury the tip. - And when the filler rod slips out of shielding gas and it forms oxide layer with a visible ugly tip. You have to stop right now, you're asking for trouble if you dip it like that. Avoid the above and Al is so much fun to weld when it goes right. It's so awful when it's going wrong.

Thanks a lot for the information .

That's great, is there any video that you talk about that "glass" cup on your tig torch? Can you describe it ? thanks

Bravo! Exact video subject matter I was looking for.

mui bien maestro me interest mucho sus classes felis año nuebo grasias por sus tips

As always excellent video and information keep up the great work!

thats what i have been doing wrong thanks for the tips jodie. keep up the awesome videos

Great training!

great tips on how to start the bead!

Looks amazing! welding aluminum looks pretty close to just soldering. Same tricks.

you are a very good teacher

As always, great tips, thanks.

Gracias por la enseñanza. ¿Hay algún producto que se recomiende para limpiar el aluminio? y ¿Que pasa cuando sueldas dos calibres de diferentes en una union "T" de aluminio, debes de orientar el arco a la de mayor calibre o que se hace?

Great video

Great video!

Awesome...Waiting for the next video.

Excellent info!

Thank you for the great video. 🙏

Hey Jody, could you make a little video on how much wire you should add when tig welding on various materials? I'm still learning and I'm constantly getting crap for adding too much or too little. I personally prefer adding a lot for aluminum and quick rapid dabbing for steel and stainless. Any help would be awesome!

Your are amazing welder,Thank you very much.

Good video as always.