Welding Tips and Tricks

new to the forums. been watching jody's vids for awhile. just got my 186 ac/dc thermal arc machine and need to get some filler and gas. what would be a decent list of fillers (mild steel, stainless, alum) to pickup to get started with? guess i need some gas too? yeah, basic questions, i ask for your patience, it's late. thanks.

monte

The most common fillers are ER70S-2 for mild, 308L for stainless and 4043 for alu. Some 309 would be good to have as well for dissimilar metals. I use 1/16" filler more than any other size but i would be good to have an assortment of sizes. Pure argon for gas.

Hey Monte, here's some 3/32 er70s3 rods I've gotten in the past, and were very good quality and a great price.

http://www.amazon.com/INETIG-ER70S-3-36 ... 32+tig+rod

here's some Aluminum tig rods, also a great price....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ER-4043-ALUMINU ... 53e5eb5424

And for stainless, you'll haft to do some looking around.

and you'll need a fair amount of tungsten if your just getting started tigging

http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-HTP-2-Lantha ... 20dacd0259

I've had good luck with HTP's 2% lanthenated tungsten in the past, I've switched over to weldcote, just cause I got a bunch of it at a good price.

And for tig cups and collets etc, it's up to you.

good Luck, and feel free to ask any questions.
~John

And for gas I started with a 84 cu ft bottle,
But the larger the bottle the cheaper per cu ft prices are going to be.
I'm up to a 155 cu fter now, and about $60 bucks to fill it, or rather, trade it out.\
John~

ps. almost a weldmonger with 500 posts

Monte,
Welcome to the Forum. One question for you is how are you using your machine? If you are just beginning and practicing in the garage than a wide selection is not necessary. I would recommend everything that has been mentioned by the others for filler. One thing I might change is the 308L. If you are just practicing or not doing critical welds than that is more than fine, but if you do anything for customers or friends I would recommend getting 316L. If you have 316L you will not have to worry if you have a good enough filler. Once you master your Alum welding skill on 4043, go for some 5356. I think you will like the bead characteristics better. As for your cups and collets I mostly use CK Worldwide. I love their stubby gas lenses. Any of the Weld Craft (now Miller) will work well for you. As was mentioned this is going to be more of a personal preference or whatever the job dictates. Have Fun!!

P.S. AK I guess I have a long way to get my 500 and weldmonger status.

Try to get your consumables online and not at your local lws. I bought my first batch of consumables at my lws where i got my machine and i ended up paying almost double what i psyed for my ck stuff online.

Did you get a pedal with your machine or just get the torch switch?