Welding Tips and Tricks

I would typically purchase items from Jody whenever I can or he has what im looking for... I know that probably sounds typical (as this is his forum) but its true... I used to do that to show support, because I have honestly learned a ton from watching his videos even before i ever picked up a tig torch and this made my first welds, decent to nice... now honestly people think ive been tig welding for years... simply not true... and im working on getting very good at it...

I will no longer buy products from Jody, just to show appreciation and support... I will buy products because he actually sells products that are excellent quality... I purchased some some items a while back... torch etc (was not available on weldmonger) while at it i figured... what the hell ill pick up the gas lense kit, it is prob all the same, right? WRONG... luckily I bought the clear cup setup (which was ck brand)...

I got my welder all setup, tried out the clear lense and it welded decent/nicely... called it a night.... the next day i switch over to the 3/32 lense and cup out the "kit"... welder wouldnt weld for anything... i thought maybe the torch had failed etc... put the other setup back on and it welded decent again... i looked at the cup and setup out the "kit" and it is brand new, couldnt see anything wrong with it... they didnt/dont even offer a choice as far as brands etc... i thought i was buying something quality...

I jumped on weldmonger and bought two gas lenses to try them out.. i would have bought the kit, but i had to be sure it was the setup and not something else... plus i already have the rest of this kit and all those cups... smh...

the parts from Jody arrived today... the tungsten grinder (only thing that came from somewhere else in the pic) also arrived... while at it, i thought i would pick up some extra tungsten and the lagesse lasquare...


threw the sticker on the welding cart


without even using the new lense, i could tell a big difference between the two... the two are brand new... the one on top, came from Jody... it just "looks" much better than the other... these are supposed to be the same size

I did make multiple changes at once... so im sure it has to do with a combo.. but i also took the tungsten that came from him and ground it up using the techsouth adj grinder (honestly already loving that, as i am still a rookie and that was too simple to use, like sharpening a pencil)...


the tungsten on top came out the torch and the three bottom pieces, are one stick of the new tungsten... which is what i loaded up into the torch

without cleaning any material etc... i lit up on a piece of scrap and welded... it honestly welded amazingly... i cant even describe the difference.. i welded this bead extremely fast. i had a perfect arc, perfect gas coverage, etc... no other changes.. its hard to described as these beads are not perfect compare to a pro... and i have welded some nice looking beads already... just that this was so easy and so smooth, i dont know what to do with myself... had to walk away from the welder..

i have an ahp.. i upgraded the pedal... and added a custom water cooler... but i have to say, this simple change, has been the best thus far... buy your parts from reputable companies and support those who support you, before the others...
the arc was a perfect cone and smooth as ice (hadnt been since ive began tig welding) and there was no putter, no issue at all with gas coverage... it seemed like i could actually "see" everything much clearer..


welded a couple more beads... welded at an extremely fast pace, for me at least... and was night and day difference... will clean up some aluminum and weld on my positioner tomorrow... i didnt care about bead profile, cleaning the material etc.. just watched what i was doing and welded as fast as i could...

those are not my best looking welds... however it was more about the way it welded for me than anything else.. im sure i will have a much funner time from here on out... cant believe how much of a difference small changes can really make... just gotta make sure you get good quality parts... as far as the tungsten grinder... i did ok with using a dedicated wheel on a bench grinder... but it isnt consistent at all for me... so i wanted to see how i would do with something, where i could have a consistently sharpened tungsten... and with good quality tungsten

as far as the way it welded.. how the arc looked and how stable it was... it had never been this well defined, stable, or welded this easily... cant wait to make some more parts and get some more practice...

this whole thing being about tungsten and gas lenses may be boring or irritate some people once they read through it... so i have to throw in a pic of one of the projects im working on... nitrous mini bike... i still have a bit of welding to do for it, so this will make it a much better experience for me

Well stated...

On the Tungsten grinder, I have the same one...can't believe I wait that long to buy one, you can see the difference, I use it on my sanitary pipe.

Absolutely F**K Cancer

Rick_H wrote:Well stated...

On the Tungsten grinder, I have the same one...can't believe I wait that long to buy one, you can see the difference, I use it on my sanitary pipe.

Absolutely F**K Cancer

thanks... i had read where people were saying it takes longer to sharpen the tungsten than on the bench etc... i dont know what they were using on the bench to grind with, but for me, that was faster, smoother... and effortless... it was pleasant to weld... not that it wasnt before... but it was just so "different" and i wasnt expecting that at all... i just wanted to get good gas coverage and get back to routine... as soon as the arc started.. i kinda froze and was staring at the arc and very small puddle i had formed... it was so smooth.. i have pretty good control etc... and it did exactly what i wanted it to do... was just smooth... now we will see how it does when i try to weld something else... i can already tell it will be a much better experience from here on out...

So basically one of the gas lenses was faulty?

Oscar wrote:So basically one of the gas lenses was faulty?

as far as the cheaper lense... i tried all of the cheaper gas lenses that came out that kit and they all sucked, they all went in the trash... i checked and there were other complaints about those lenses... i wouldnt say faulty, more that the way that they are made, they do not provide adequate shielding, or consistent shielding... i would say more that they are an inferior lense... i havent purchased any more of them, to see if they are all made this way... or if it is hit and miss... nor will i... the ck lenses are the way to go for me...