Make sure that the 1/16" tungsten is 2% Thoria- not Pure Tungsten, which is used for non-ferrous when you want to have a "ball tip"--I have a special small fine wheel grinder in the shop for putting a BLUNT point on the 2% Tungsten electrodes when I am TIG welding ferrous metals- never grind to a pencil point, as the inital heat when you initiate the arc will blow off that fine point into the parent metal- also, clean and degrease the mild steel filler rod you are using before you weld- and NEVER use coat hanger wire or MIG wire for TIG- Another freebie from "Der TIG-Meister"-- on aluminum or any other non-ferrous metal you might want to weld- use a 50-50 ratio of Helium and Argon- Old times, like me, still call TIG Heli_Arc from the WW11 aircraft welding era when Helium was the inert shielding gas-- And the smallest practical tungsten dia. for that is 3/16" PURE Tung- I use 1/8" 90% of the time in a bigger cup and coolant capacity Linde 300 AMP rated TIG torch-use a block of brass on your grounded bench- as yes, welding non-ferrous means AC and Hi-Freq- with a soft-start pedal or hand rheostat on the Torch- set the welder for the amperage range you will use, with a clean tungsten, normal protrusion from the cup edge is 1.5 x the dia of the filler rod- but in this case, to get a fine even "balled tip"- increase the stick-out slightly, then moved the Polarity switch to DC Rev. Polarity- move the tungsten electrode over the grounded brass block, drop hood (or if you have the never auto-shield series) and tap the soft-start petal- the REV polatiry will immediately ball the tip- so it's a touch and go- as soon as you see that, get off the switch-, re-set the electrode stick out to suit the work and joint you will be welding and REMEMBER TO RE-SET THE POLARITY BACK TO AC--
