Welding Tips and Tricks

For welding thin guage sheet metal all the way up to 1/8" mild steel has anyone used the stubby kit which mainly helps with clearance issues, any difference then conventional set up on actual welding? Gas lense kits any comparisons there?

Being a hobby welder - and believing in the old saying "he who dies with the most toys wins" I have added several of the neat items which Jody demos to my shop. When I first took a TIG course at the local community college several years ago gas lenses seemed to be considered exotic and expensive and the school did not have any. I found out that they are neither and I have used them almost exclusively ever since. They provide better gas coverage at a lower flow rate. I thus spend less on gas and can buy more toys.

Again, based on Jody's comments that small torches are more to his liking... I purchased a WP9 flex head torch from weldingcity.com for the princely sum of $9.95. I also purchased the small gas lens bodies for this torch in .040", 1/16" and 3/32" size. I have the torch attached to a Weldcraft super flexible woven cover cable. With this setup I find that I can weld better as I am not wrestling with a bulky torch and a stiff cable. With my Dynasty 200 DX on pulse I can push 150 peak amps thought the WP9 with out a meltdown.

For heavier work I have a couple of WP17 torches. I had been using medium gas lens bodies with them for quite a while (until Jody showed the stubby gas lens available for these torches). I have a 3/32" stubby gas lens body which I use on the WP17s now. I have run pulse all the way to 200 amps with the stubby gas lens. I will say that the torch gets hotter quicker than with the medium gas lens at the same amperage. I guess the larger lens acts as a more effective radiator to dissipate heat. That said, I have gotten spoiled by the stubby. Light, compact and nimble. It makes the medium gas lens seem like a claw hammer.

As to the conventional collet bodies... I donated all that I had in my "collection" along with all of the nozzles (except 1 3/32" body and a couple or 3 nozzles) to the college. Standard collet bodies have ONE advantage over the gas lens. If (when) you are welding something which you could not or did not clean as well as you should... It WILL spatter onto the screen of a gas lens. Especially if it is a brand new gas lens I saved the conventional collet body for such situations.

Ken

p.s. I also have a CK FlexLoc torch. It is the larger size and uses the WP17 size consumables. I was going to get .040" and 1/16" stubby gas lens bodies for it but I think I will get the small size head so I can use the WP9 collet bodies which I already have. The stubby WP17 bodies are (as far as I can find) only made by Weldcraft and they are $proud$ of them.

Thank you very much for the input, greatly appreciated!

CK 4 Series are also stubby gas lens for a #17 torch. I also use them quite often and mostly on a CK flexloc torch. Only set back I've encountered is the fact that you can't use a brand new stick of tungsten because it sticks out about an inch. As often as these old shakey hands touch the puddle with the tungsten that's not a problem for long.
Len