Welding instruction video: TIG Welding by Donovan Ford

This video is EXCELLENT! The instructor covers all the fine details of the TIG process as well as describing the equipment and the accessories. Most importantly, the video appears to have been professionally produced because the sound, lighting, and graphics are top-notch!

Great if your a total beginner. If you have some knowledge of welding then I would skip this one. I have been TIG welding for about 5yrs, not professionally. Found the video a little boring.

Very little thought was given to the contents and it was poorly thought out and poorly filmed.

I am sure the guy knows how to weld, but that's about it.

Very amateurish. I am sure beginner tig welders will pick up something from it, but it leaves more questions than it answers. Clearly thrown together in haste.

This video is terrible. Donavan does know his stuff but missing the mark when it comes to conveying that information through this video. I felt like the video never goes anywhere. Unfortunately though there are very few videos on the TIG welding process but even so I would skip this one.

This is a very good informational video on tig. From novice to pro this dvd covers alot. If your interested in learning about tig rent this.

Just finished watching this video.

All I can say is there has to be better out there. This video is something a highschooler would put together for a class project. No continuity in the video and often times he repeats the same information in three back to back segments or contridicts himself.

Eamples are TIG torch that is explained multiple times and the helium argon gases. I get it on the first time through.

The incessant mentioning of "Aerospace community and xray-quality welds" come off more like him bragging and trying to justify his credentials rather than explaining how those industries require better weld quality.

When he does finally get around to welding you are just ready for it to be over.

Let me save you some time and money.

Don't put the tungsten in the puddle. Create a puddle before you start moving. your movement is fwd,back,dip,... repeat as neccesary. Keep your filler rod in the shield gas envelope.

There you have just gleaned what you need from the video.

The tip of using a drill to help in sharpening the tungsten was useful.

The welds were ok looking but honestly I have seen better welds from beginners posting thier attempts onto online forums for review.

Run don't walk away from renting this video.

I thought the video was well... umm.. Mediocre at best. If I have to hear "I'm from weld-pro" and "X-ray quality welds" one more time I'd shove that DVD down the disposer.

Good: ONCE they FINALLY got to actually welding I think they did a good job of explaining exactly what they were doing and the movements required. Good explanation of gasses/flow and the parts of the torch. Good segment on different sized cups.

Cons: Horrible production and editing. Disjointed segments, a bit too much rehashing. No animations or graphics to further explain what was happening.

I wish they would include a really detailed tutorial on if your weld looks like this, then your doing this wrong.

I'd skip this video and spend the 15 bucks on a good welding book.

I have never picked up a tig torch before this video, but have read several books. I must say that I found this video to be AWESOME!!! Books seem to lack the "hands-on" that you get out of a video. If you are new to tig welding and wanna learn the process, I would highly recommend this video,though it gets alittle anoying hereing "x-ray quality welds" every 30 seconds... I feel it gave me the tools and confidence to put down a quality weld "X-ray quality...lol" definatly get it if you need to learn tig, if you already know the fundamentals I probably wouldn't bother...

Its a nice beginner video,but nothing advanced. It talks about gases, torches, tungstens, and such. He demonstrates about 4 actual welds, lap and T joints on aluminum and stainless steel. If you already know the basics of TIG welding this may not be right for you.

Great for a new welder, not so much for someone who's tig welded before.

It's pretty easy to find some agreement with all the previous reviews. I learned TIG welding on my own, without any live examples. I've had all sorts of problems and plenty of successes. This video was very useful to me. Although it is very basic, it's the only opportunity I've had to watch an expert who explained what he was doing. I found it well worth my time and money. The production is not Hollywood quality, but it was definitely acceptable to me.

The quality of the video itself is not very good, but it has some very good information regarding technique and setup that will help the beginning TIG welder.

It seems as though the video ended prematurely. I was expecting some coverage on aluminum welding but ... I did learn from it.

This one was a let down. Things hot rodders need to know, like butt welding thin steel panels was not covered at all. So much could have been done on this subject. He should show welding roll cages, thin metal, space frames and stuff car builders do. Welding in positions other than horizontal on the table with 1/8" plate was not explained. He talks about safety but fails to explain some tungstens are mildly radio active so one should wear protection. Only aluminum and stainless were covered. Many of us have steel cars, lol. There was too much Cheesy bragging about "Weld-Pro" and Dunkcan's amazing welding skills. That time could be filed with more learning. There were still some worthwhile tips I picked up though. Glad I rented this instead of buying it.

This was OK, but not as good as I expected. The host gives you a lot of the information twice; tells you, then tells you immediately again. I did pick up some techniques by watching him lay beads though.

Excellent video. A lot of help for the brand new tig weldor.

This is the worst DVD/Presentation/Training Video I have ever seen. I could not watch the whole thing, the instructor has no teacing skills at all and does not give accurate information he guesstimates, very poorly done!!!

Firstly, it's well worth renting. The information in this DVD is easily understood and followed. The way they show the actual welds in progress is great for beginners or the book-wise but unpracticed. A slightly darker filter for the camera might have given insight into what, exactly, is going on under the arc, although, what's being shown is most likely what a welder will see. A minor annoyance to the DVD was repetition. There were a couple of places where they must have forgotten some things were already mentioned and restated/reshot the info. Another minor annoyance was the 1970's, home-style camera zooms, corny page-flips and shaking. Regardless of annoyances, there is good info in this DVD and is well worth renting.

The movie teaches a lot of things over and over again, but does show you how to weld.

X-ray quality welds, GASS filter, x-ray quality welds, GASS filter, got it. Seriously though, very good info. Definately worth renting.

If you've never used a TIG welder at all, this would be a really good video to watch. However, they didn't talk much about choosing settings for the welder -- things like pulse shape, etc.

If you've done a little TIG welding already, this probably won't teach you much.

A little long winded, but the video was hosted by a real welder and not a profesional broadcaster. I got a lot of good information from this DVD and look forward to the next one by Donovan Ford.

Not a very polished presentation, but gives a pretty good overview of the process. We're not all going to make "xray quality welds," but he surely is proud of his work!

This video served its purpose for me: my wife now thinks TIG is cool, and she wants to build stuff. This is a very good thing.

Not that great. There are a couple good tidbits of info on equipment for a TIG newbie like myself but WAY too repetitive on the equipment/set-up. Very scarce footage of actual welding and what minimal footage of actual welding there was was poor quality. Sketchy focus. Not very instructional. I would not recommend this DVD.

If you've never welded before, this will be great help. The only thing not stressed enough is that the guy doing the demo is CONSTANTLY using his FOOT PEDAL to control the heat.

The production and flow of this video is AWFUL. See the reviews by Steven S and Michael B below. I don't know how anyone reviewing this could give it even 3 marks of 5. I recommend readers of these reviews keep a suspicious mind.

I found the DVD to be very comprehensive and though it taught the basics. I still noticed a few new techniques that I could use right away.

I highly recommend this DVD.

Tig welding was just what I wanted and it was a good disk also. Thanks!

Horrible overall quality. It should be called "how to make an x-ray quality weld" on this web page because that's what the guy keeps saying the video is called. He repeats himself after the numerous pauses in taping, the video could be shortened to 15 minutes if he said it once and got on to the next topic. It ends with him making beads and nothing more, it just ends. It has basic info, but by the time you are finished watching it, you will be so sick of it that you forgot what he said. DO NOT RENT THIS!

Good welder, bad instructor & communicator.

I saw this at a friend's and I have to agree with the many poor reviews here, very repetitive. Most of these vids suffer from poor production value, for this one add poor direction. It'd be best if they can come up with a standard outline to follow ensuring that a base of information is covered in all of the welding series.

I agree with this reviewer's points: Cons: Horrible production and editing. Disjointed segments, a bit too much rehashing. No animations or graphics to further explain what was happening. I wish they would include a really detailed tutorial on if your weld looks like this, then your doing this wrong. I'd skip this video and spend the 15 bucks on a good welding book.

The video is very good. It helped me get my technique worked out so the quality of my welds improved. Enjoyed the video and would recommend it.

Excellent info.very informative,spoken in plain English. Worth every bit. Thank you SmartFlix.

I will have to agree with everyone else. Very redundant, seems like they forget where they left off when they go from scene to scene.

I really wanted to learn the actual "dabbing" technique which he spends about 20 minutes near the end showing. This was the only video I could get a real good view of the "dabbing" technique. Other than that, if you want to learn all about TIG, there are other videos that have better flow and no redundancy like the TIG welding video by Ron Covell. He just does not show the dabbing technique as well, but there is other stuff to learn from him.

This video was filmed with a video camera in someone's garage. Poorly done!! You could get more quality information by talking with your local welding supply house. I would not recommend renting this video!!!

Very good. Would recommend renting. Speed of delivery was very good considering the method of delivery.

Poorly done...Not worth the time or money to watch it.

This video rocks - I didn't even see it and I love it!!

This was a very good video and would tell others I know to watch

The video was excellent! The only technical fault that I could find with the video was with grinding the tungsten, which all of my references say should never be ground across the tip. Rather, the tungsten should be ground so that the grind marks run vertically towards the tip.

The video did suffer from the same problem that most welding videos do... namely the ability to film a weld while it is happening. However, the AC TIG section showed beautifully what was going on.

The host of the video was very knowledgeable and managed to get a great deal across in a timely fashion. With some videos, it's pretty obvious that the host is making it up as he goes... but not with this one. A "lesson plan" was clearly created before filming, and the flow of the information was very good.

I would recommend this video to beginner TIG welders! Especially since most TIG textbooks are heavy on theory, and very light on technique. This video bridges the gap very nicely.

TIG Welding

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