Welding Tips and Tricks

I would like to see a comprehensive video on all of the consumables used in tig welding. Discussion of cups, sizes, brands and durability. Some talk of tungsten types and their use according to amp usage and work material. Proper tungsten grinding etc.

Tally Tig wrote:I would like to see a comprehensive video on all of the consumables used in tig welding. Discussion of cups, sizes, brands and durability. Some talk of tungsten types and their use according to amp usage and work material. Proper tungsten grinding etc.

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TallyTig.

You have mentions a few topics and you will probably need to watch various videos.
There is a lot of literature in the internet on those same topics.

Just make some internet searches. Here are a few examples:

Types of electrodes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nPvCwsk06Q

Grinding of electrodes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48I3Su5iQFw

Alexa

Hey,

On the main site. you will find HEAPS of quality videos on tigging,

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tig ... ideos.html

Get the pop corn ready.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tig-welding.html

Jody has put thousands of hours work into these, so grab a couple of tig fingers and get stuck in.

Mick

weldin mike 27 wrote:Hey,

On the main site. you will find HEAPS of quality videos on tigging,

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tig ... ideos.html

Get the pop corn ready.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/tig-welding.html

Jody has put thousands of hours work into these, so grab a couple of tig fingers and get stuck in.

Mick

I do have a Tig Finger already! Ordered one last year.

On Jody's vids. . . I have watched them all and some of them multiple times. I know there are some that cover tungsten choices and their best use and even a couple cover gas lense and champagne lense but none of them really talk about the quality differences between brands and how that can affect results.

For use beginners on a budget I suppose we all tend to order the cheapest we can find. However, I am concerned that that choice might hurt in the long run by us not getting the results we could get if using higher quality stuff.

Also, a good explanation of typical use would help me make better choices as to just what I buy. Instead of having all cup sizes and all gas lense sizes, could I just get by with two or three sizes for most all of my work?

I can make some comments on cups, etc, from my own experience.

A preface: I TIG almost exclusively with a Miller SW250DX without the pulse/spot bells and whistles, with a WP-20 or WPF-20 torch (In another thread I said it was a -17 torch... that was incorrect).

I do literally everything with 3/32" tungsten, including heavy aluminum, though I have free access to helium. Lacking that, I'd keep 1/8" pure tungsten for my heavy sections. I do sch.5 and sch. 160 SS with 3/32, as well as 16 ga. sheet through 1/4" plate and angle, carbon or SS.

I primarily use three cups. Two for a standard collet-body, #4 for tight quarters, and #7 for open spaces, and one #7 for a gas lens when I require a lot of stick-out on odd shapes that disrupt gas flow.

I also have a #4 standard that's gone a couple rounds with the bench grinder to minimize it's length. Used with a short back-cap, this is my go-to when there's no room behind something, but it's used rarely.

As for brands, yes, some are better than others. I find the Radnor brand to be consistent and economical, and have done x-ray quality work with it. I use only 2% thoriated and pure, which are suitable in the absence of an inverter machine. The Ceriated that Miller now ships in their "starter sets" work fine for carbon and stainless, though I've never done an x-ray weld with it.

Don't take these as specific recommendations, as your needs may differ; The point is, you can get high-quality results from a relatively small kit.

Steve S