Welding equipment tricks: how to become a more skilled welder and how to pick the top welding equipment. TIG Torch angle should only be around 10 degrees or less: Ideally, torch angle should only be around 10 degrees or less. Too much torch angle will deflect the heat and melt the rod before you ever get it into the puddle. This causes the rod to ball up and blob into the puddle. That’s bad. You don’t want that. You want to slip the filler rod into the puddle so that you can get a consistent bead. There are exceptions to …