Welding Tips and Tricks

I'm lucky I never had a welding instructor as good as Jody or his vids 30 years ago when I really started to learn to weld. . I might have been an acceptable weldor. Instead I got to do the layout and use the transit (sp) It's another way of saying how good his vids are.

I bought a number of books. I never knew how to choose good books on welding. Those I've bought in recent years have been of better quality. Books always said hold the electrode at a 45 degree angle. WTH does that mean??? Jody is the best, though he doesn't seem to make youtube videos any longer. His Podcasts, unless I'm doing it wrong are only audio.
Another great teacher is Bob Moffatt on Weld.com Lots of people avoid Weld.com as some of their videos are Wyatt Swaim (Mr. TIG). Some don't care for him.

I will say I've learned more about welding, and numerous other subjects in five years than the 56 years that preceded. I tell the story of my local family owned farm supply store. In 1970 the younger owner took a night course in welding. He then proceeded to establish a welding line to add to the store. He had some 1 Lb paper boxes of 7018, and some 6013, but the staple of the electrode offering was 1109 bought in bulk. Ultimately I figured out 1109 was 6011 read upside down. I burned up hundreds of pounds of 5/32"

20 miles away is GE. Rutland GE is a manufacturer of aircraft engine parts, some military. Security is tight. Rumors of "Heliarc" welding got out, but no sharing of info existed. I was fascinated about it, but the specifics weren't available.

Bill Beauregard wrote:Jody is the best, though he doesn't seem to make youtube videos any longer. His Podcasts, unless I'm doing it wrong are only audio.

Recently his video output seems to have slowed, and you're right he is adding his podcasts to the YT channel

The first time I remember something about TIG was '89, we were building a pulp & paper mill on west coast of northern Vancouver Island . Pulp mills are a lot of stainless. And asked my partner what they were doing, he told me they welding with the arc, like gas welding.

I started millwrighting in sawmills, they break apart a lot. It was two shifts of running, and the graveyard welding it back together. Lots of 1/8" 7018.

Until 2013 for me TIG was something on my bucket list. $2500 entry price was only a teaser. My $2500 first machine was gone as soon as a buyer could be found. The big obstacle was where do I get an answer to my "HOW?" I bet most buy junk before they know enough about it to recognise junk. As they learn, they either put the first machine in storage, or sell it.

That's a good question, did I buy junk, or a gem? And how would I know? Yeah, if I'm able to lay down good bead first time out, that might be a good sign. I haven't been able to find any reviews on the Hugong Wave 200KD. Mine is rebadged under the local tool store's house brand, Magnum. The welder is sold around the world. Nor have I found any reviews on another importers brand that looks like it. The best I could do was notice that ESAB uses the same control panel on their 186. Maybe the same factory, or just the same suppler?

https://www.kmstools.com/magnum-200a-ac ... der-137216

TIG welders should be divided into steel, and aluminum.
Welding steel doesn't require as many features. Second hand serviceable steel welders are plentiful, and cheap.

Aluminum needs more amps than steel. Duty cycle is very crucial in aluminum. Square wave is important, balance control nice, frequency adjustments are good. The Miller Diversion 180 was an inverter with square wave, balance fixed at 72% EN which was very functional, frequency is 120, also good. It's big shortcoming is duty cycle. At full output, its duty cycle is less than 10%

Compare yours, if it serves your needs, you done good. If it doesn't, you've wasted your money.

Willie

Bill Beauregard wrote:TIG welders should be divided into steel, and aluminum

That's a simple and clear understanding, of course, it's never mentioned.

The duty cycle is 35%, but they don't say at what power. ?? And it might be just Chinese numbers, too. Remember Craftsman HP numbers, they were at peak, just before it fried. On a good day, I'm only 10% duty cycle. The other number I noticed was, AC TIG, 10-200 amp . I take it, a 5 amp start would be more desirable for thin gauge aluminum. He compared it to the Miller Sycrowave 210, 3x the price, but a robust machine than the Lincoln SW 200, 2x price. They sell both.

I can't wait to get my hands on it, it's either on the boat or on the docks. Expected arrival, March 10.At this rate I'll have the cart built using the MIG.

Ray

Downwindtracker2 wrote:

Bill Beauregard wrote:TIG welders should be divided into steel, and aluminum

That's a simple and clear understanding, of course, it's never mentioned.

The duty cycle is 35%, but they don't say at what power. ?? And it might be just Chinese numbers, too. Remember Craftsman HP numbers, they were at peak, just before it fried. On a good day, I'm only 10% duty cycle. The other number I noticed was, AC TIG, 10-200 amp . I take it, a 5 amp start would be more desirable for thin gauge aluminum. He compared it to the Miller Sycrowave 210, 3x the price, but a robust machine than the Lincoln SW 200, 2x price. They sell both.

I can't wait to get my hands on it, it's either on the boat or on the docks. Expected arrival, March 10.At this rate I'll have the cart built using the MIG.

Ray

Are you referring to my 6.5 HP shop vac?

, you have one, too eh.

A couple on the bone yard. For mouse pulling in conduit they work very well. I've consumed two since 1995.

RE;mig basics 5&6(videos)
First I find your videos very helpfull.
I have been welding off and on since 1982 and completed my level C 1YR APPRENTICE Training, ya I'm Canadian.
I'm a little confused about Amps and volts,1amp for every thousand of an inch but when I look at your welder setup its
expressed in volts.
Could you please tell me what I'm missing is there a mathimatical system using V over IR,or something easy.

Thanks
Daniel

Mig is a slightly different beast. Amps becomes a direct correlation between wire feed speed( based on wire diameter) and volts. There are some charts out there, they’ve been posted here before, but I don’t have one to post. If you have patience someone will post it.