Welding filler metals for TIG: precise selection, stronger results

In TIG welding, your arc control is only half the equation. The other half is choosing and handling welding filler metals that match base metal chemistry, service conditions, and desired finish. Pick right and you get clean puddles, sound fusion, and repeatable mechanical properties. Pick wrong and you invite porosity, hot cracking, carbide precipitation, or a color mismatch that telegraphs rookie work.

Everything You NEED to Know About TIG Welding distills years of shop-proven practice into a clear playbook for filler metal selection and execution. Inside you’ll find alloy-by-alloy guidance (carbon steel, stainless, aluminum, nickel, and bronze), selection matrices by joint type and position, and quick-reference charts linking rod diameter to amperage, travel speed, and heat input. Get practical rules for stainless ferrite balance and heat tint control; aluminum AC balance, cleaning, and wetting; and dissimilar-metal transitions using buttering and buffer layers. Eliminate common defects with step-by-step fixes for porosity, lack of fusion, crater cracking, and contamination—from surface prep and gas coverage to tungsten geometry and wire feeding discipline. Built for real shop timelines and code-compliant outcomes, it’s a precise, trustworthy resource you can open on any job.

• Clear AWS ER-class guidance (ER70S-2/6, ER308L/309L/316L, ER4043/5356, ERCuSi-A) with when-and-why notes.
• Visual troubleshooters for gas coverage, oxide control, and heat-affected zone management on thin and thick sections.
• Ready-to-use checklists, WPS-style settings, and finish criteria for consistent, inspector-ready welds.