At the shop laying my first beads, having a lot of fun experimenting, sharpening tungsten, etc.    (No really, this is actually a lot of fun!)  I'm almost all the way through my first tungsten, but it started a little short as it was a used one that came with the welder.  All the tungsten I have is all pure / green.  I've heard that 2% thoriated might treat me better so I'll try some of that tomorrow when I can run to the welding store to get it.

I'm starting on mild steel using a new flex-head 20 torch with a 7 cup, gas lens, 3/32 electrode, superflex cable.  This machine is hot as a mother ****er.  I'm at 60% power and can pretty easily blow through 1/4" with it.  Its almost like a dang plasma torch!  So far I have learned how easy it is to overheat mild steel and slowly learning to feather control the pedal as a result.  I think something may be wrong with my regulator?  I'm having to use 40cfm/h to get any quality out of my welds and my understanding is that I should only need 15-20.  Listening to the torch hiss at 40-50 cfm/h sounds about like all the videos I watch of 15-20.  When I got the machine the regulator was turned up all the way, making me think that the previous owners had to open it wide to get good welds, too.  Anyone got any input there?

Training my left hand to feed rod is like trying to pat my head with one hand and rub my belly with the other.  I get the general motion but when I do it the tip of the rod wobbles all around contaminating my electrode.  So for right now I am just feeding it with arm motion and stopping my weld to reset the length.  I know this is an acquired skill and plan on sitting in front of the TV for a while feeding wire.  But anyone got any tips on how to keep the end from wobbling so bad?

There's a huge difference between a nice sharp tungsten and rounded.  Before when I was overheating steel and had the regulator set at 20 I kept cracking the tungsten.  That seems to have been resolved since turning the gas up and heat down.  I'm still getting a blue ring about 1/2" up the tungsten though and I don't think I'm supposed to be?

Any tips are welcome!