First day didn't go as bad as I thought it would. I did some practice beads without adding filler as per a video I watched. The purpose of this is to see if you can run beads without dipping the tungsten and to just get the feel of things. I'm happy to say I didn't dip even once! (surprised me too)
I did get some porosity mid way so I eventually turned up the argon a little and it seemed to fix that. One thing I'm not too happy about is how loud the fan is on this machine! It really moves a lot of air thru there like a wind tunnel! I had it right near me and I think I can feel the air moving so maybe that was causing the porosity. Going to have to keep a distance from the machine or turn it sideways.
My torch has a trigger on it so today I used that to start with. It makes holding the torch a bit tricky. You hit the trigger and let go and it runs until you hit it again. Tomorrow I will try the foot pedal. I think it might make things easier using that.
Other than working on scraps for running beads on, I had 2 square tubes that I pressed in some metal sleeves in for another project and I needed to weld them into place so I gave that a try and it went well. Just a fusion weld, no filler.
I was tired so I didn't push it any further. Tomorrow I will see how adding filler rod goes and will use the foot pedal. Lots of practice ahead of me! (last pic shows 2 pieces of metal I tacked for tomorrows lesson)