Never thought of eyesight, I don't believe I'm colour blind, at least I wasn't last time I got checked, however I'm at least 6/7 years overdue for an eye test, oops, got all the kids tested up to date but not got round to doing mine. I did have prescription glasses for close up work but it was only minor, they broke years ago and I haven't struggled without them to much so just not got round to getting a retest. I should really get that done anyway.

I suspect the mask a little bit, but apart from that it seems to be fine and I don't remember having the same problem when using the tig, I can make out the shadows of the corner radius sometimes but not always, I was also wondering if its my lighting in the shed, I have florescent strips down the centre which are behind be when at the bench so I'm working in the shadow. I have got wiring in the walls for dedicated bench task lights but not found any 'on a budget' style yet;)

I assume the chalk is ok to us, ie doesn't introduce contaminants into the weld? I think that might be my answer :)

TY Dualist

The first thing I taught my apprentices in welding class is to get in an absolute comfortable position for the weld even if it mean you have to sit down - do a test "dry" run to see if you have 100% control and always stays your welding hand with elbow or use other hand as a support to rest the weld hand on.

Will look at how I was standing and try and move things around a bit to improve access/control, no play to day as little one off sick :(

Some more piccies for you to amuse yourselves with.

Trying to take in all the advice above, I tried sitting down but it didn't feel comfortable, like I didn't have enough control on the torch, felt much better standing up. I wanted to do some more longer runs but didn't have as much box section left as I thought.

Most of these are pushing which definitely feels better and helps with the problem I'm having seeing the join which didn't seem so bad today.

I think some of my problem is down to technique and travel speed which I was trying to experiment with today. I did also try upping the power a notch but then the wire started balling so upped the wire speed a little which seemed to put me back to laying what looked like a flat slug on the joint.

Overall I think some are slightly better and I felt like I was getting a bit more control over the puddle and bead so just got to find lots of thing to weld and practice as much as possible.

I keep reading about it sounding like bacon frying! Well I must be cooking my bacon all wrong as it's never come close lol, what I did get was a nice even buzzy sound, not popping or machine gunning so I think settings wise it probably not too far off.

I find a good breathing cycle helps, much like shooting a rifle. A good few deep breaths to get your blood well oxygenated, then on the last deep breath exhale slowly then hold your breath half way through the exhale. This gives your body between 7-10 seconds of pure stillness. With practice you can get longer depending on how many tabs you smoke:D Perfect for getting those tricky welds in the corners without wobbling, especially if you can get your body "jammed" into a good position ie both hands on torch, both elbows on bench and waist tight against bench.

Breathe
Brace
Stance
Vision
Rate
Power
Penetration
I've just read this thread again and I'm sat here in fits of laughter, all we need now is a few sniper riffles and a pack of cards and we'll all be nailing the ace at 1000 yards next week. Sorry I'll keep it to my self now.

Thanks phil i feel ready to take the missus to bed now:eek: :D :eek:

shh120m, Yep, I think another part of my problem is I want it to be perfect too much so getting tense when its not going right.

Talonmotorsport, you know there are certain things that should happen in the bedroom and stay in the bedroom (Happy Smilie)

shh120m, fill your boots mate (Happy Smilie)

Why do smilies count as images? argggh

I take it the welds are that bad you dont want to mention them then? (embarrassed Smilie)

Certainly look hot enough, but maybe the wire feed is a little fast. Will the power go up any further? Are you pushing as opposed to pulling the pool?

I tend to find if i put the power to the max, and start the pool on the sde of the tube not the open ended one then you can get the pool penetrating. As soon as its about to blow through, hop over to the open ended tube then straight back again and work along like that. I find it helps to "suck" the filler in as opossed to sitting ontop if that makes sense