Much better results today. Used a 1.25 cheater lens, clean mild steel and was more active with the pedal. No tungsten contamination today either. I made a work aid for holding tubing on the drill press out of angle iron and strap metal. Good practice. Temperature in the garage was 59F.
Also used my new HF Bauer portable bandsaw to cut the steel instead of a cutting wheel on the grinder. What a difference a cold clean cut makes!