Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi All,

I am a tripalagic and I have a shop where I do TIG work. problem is that I can't use a foot pedal for amp control. I also have a problem with my right hand that holds the torch. Can't work a torch switch.

Does anyone have any kind of device that I can control using my teeth ? When I was in rehab I was able to control machines using a clench bar between my gums. more pressure more go on the equipment. So Does anyone think I could rig up a reostat that I can use with a tooth clech bar ??

open for ideas...

thanks


Mike

Hi Mike

Thanks for the post. I'm sure no one's ignoring you, but this is a bit out of left field (so to speak), and probably the opportunity to put forward some positive ideas are limited. That being said, let me try to do some investigations to see if there are any ideas.

Are you able to advise what model welder you have?

There was a great forum article recently for a device that allowed Pulse control by inserting in series with a foot pedal.

I could see something like this being able to be adapted to take an analog input from a pressure sensor or similar and controlling the output.

I wonder if member Jattus is reading this post and could share ideas?

Best for now

Trev

I see no reason a mouth operated cable couldn't control a rheostat - but you may have to make it yourself.
I'm thinking using a currently made mouth cable and connecting it to a rotary rheostat that also trips the micro-switch.
The heavy spring isn't part of the rheostat, it's there for foot control feedback.

Is there any chance you could squeeze a foot control under an armpit or between your legs?

Or maybe modified foot control on your lap where leaning forward presses down? Would only take a few inches of movement with a proper lever setup.

WWoW wrote: I also have a problem with my right hand that holds the torch. Can't work a torch switch.

use a hand-operated amptrol with the left hand.

I think you should write to some of the major welder manufacturers as it might be something they would like to investigate and the publicity around something like this certainly would not do them any harm.

Oscar wrote:

WWoW wrote: I also have a problem with my right hand that holds the torch. Can't work a torch switch.

use a hand-operated amptrol with the left hand.

You must have skipped over the whole triplegic part. Tri meaning 3... If he's holding the torch with his right hand, one would be lead to believe that he has no other usable to use anything with.

That being said, how are you feeding filler wire out of curiosity?

Well trained willie?

I have built a number of adaptive controls for folks, but never a welder. I work with a group locally called May We Help. They are a volunteer outfit who take on such challenges for community members. I think you are on the right path and would reach out to your PT or rehab providers.

GreinTime wrote:

Oscar wrote:

WWoW wrote: I also have a problem with my right hand that holds the torch. Can't work a torch switch.

use a hand-operated amptrol with the left hand.

You must have skipped over the whole triplegic part. Tri meaning 3... If he's holding the torch with his right hand, one would be lead to believe that he has no other usable to use anything with.

That being said, how are you feeding filler wire out of curiosity?

my bad read it wrong. So yea, how is the filler rod getting into the picture?

Hello All,


Thanks for the response. I will try to answer :

1. I have what is called "gross Motor Control" in my right arm. Like having a huge spasm in my hand and it takes a large amount of shoulder and back muscles to move my hand back and forth. So I hook the Tig Rod under my middle knuckle and use a rolling motion of my shoulder to dip.. yes some times (most) it looks like fido's butt. Alum is a real bitch, the rods are so soft.

2. I like the idea of using a foot switch on my lap, I will ask my wife to help me strap it on and see if it will work, belive me I have tried much weirder stuff.

3. somebody asked what type welder do I have, I have two Longiviety's machines. Yes, I would have loved to get a Miller or ... but the od bank roll is pretty slim. I have two Longgivity's because the first one died and my best friend reached deep and had mercy on this poor soul. His place in heaven is secured.

So far the business is trying to take off. got one job and two tiny ones on the board. :!!!!

Jody is the best....keep it up.

Mike

Mike,
Welcome to the forum.

Glad to see someone with real challenges out here trying to be productive. We have more than one member here who work out of wheelchairs and have devised some work arounds to meet their challenges. Being limited with your arm presents a real obstacle for tig welding for sure. I think about what I'd do if I had limited or no use of my limbs sometimes while I'm working and it makes me cringe. My son, also a member here, (GreinTime) is a recent above knee amputee and I am witness to his struggles and his accomplishments, we should all share the same grit as you guys exhibit, it's admirable.

Have you ever seen the cold wire feed by CK Worldwide? They have a couple different options for handheld torches that might be worth checking into.

We have plenty of inventive folks here that if we put our minds to a problem I'm sure we can come up with something to lighten your load a little. You might have to become a wordsmith first to paint us a mental picture of what you can and can't do so we can keep our ideas on track.

If I have this right, you have full use of your left hand and only limited use of your right hand, correct? How do you get around, wheelchair, scooter, other? What are you trying to weld, large, small, out of position, bench top? Just some questions to get the brain oiled.

Watch one of Jody's newer videos that he did with Roy Crumrine where Roy uses a self made prop for his torch hand that might be of value to you if your fine motor skills are lacking.

I'm sure we can help you and others with similar limitations if we understand what hurtles need cleared.

Len
P.S. you don't have to qualify your machine choice here, we would all love to have the bigger, better, newer machine and probably 2 of them if the wife would allow.

I admire your desire and ambition. I have 2 perfectly good hands and feet and I complain about things all the time. Shame on me. I wish there was something that I could recommend or help you with, but I don't know of anything. It looks like you are getting some pretty good feedback and if I can think of anything I'll add it.

Have you considered laywire TIG instead of going for the stack of dimes?
Other idea is making a chin activation style. There is already a welding hood that uses a chin strap to raise and lower the welding lens on the hood... Similar design might work for a current control

Use a sound operated on/off switch?

Frankly, I've been stewing an idea for a jaw-operated amptrol for some time. Even named it... Ready? "You gotta hold your mouth right..."

The basic idea is a limit-switch/potentiometer (like most of the half-ass "thumb controls" we already have) imbedded in an athletic mouth-guard. Perhaps a load-cell would be a better choice? The goal is to have microamp currents in the mouth, so even a spastic bite cannot produce a shock. Shielded twisted-pair to a relay box for the welder's amptrol circuit at 20 mA.

I need this. Not for any lack of personal function, but for standing on my head welding in the middle of a mess of pipes and tubes where working the foot-pedal with my knees is a major inconvenience.

Consider this as formal "publication of the idea" as this is the first time I've shared it with anyone.

I will work with anyone interested in developing this.

Steve S

Idea could work

I supposed if you use a thin-fim pressure transducer and some op-amps to amplifiy and then post-process the signal you'd have a very, very low power setup that would be safe in the mouthpiece, but being (virtually) solid-state you could probably embed it into a silicone teeth protector or something similar and the varying pressure of biting down onto the mountpiece could be sufficient to make it work.

Having a setup that relies on a fixed jaw location and bite/jaw pressure and not movement could possibly make it more controllable than some hinged setup that (like a pedal) relies on a specific position of the jaw.

Perhaps an experimentation kit to start out with to see if some prototype can be built: http://www.measol.com/Products/TekScan.html

Bye, Arno.

I'm down for a prototype. I'm not sure I could add much in the electronics department, but mold making is another story. When you get to that point I'd be glad to help.

A load cell similar to those used for small digital scales could possibly be used for the sensor, but would need to be amplified and interfaced to what the welder in question needed.

Depending on how it was done, it could possibly have a selector switch (dip switches?) on the interface box to select what range to output as the control signal.

The end output to the machine need only be a voltage divider and on/off trigger. The voltage divider would be 0-5VDC and behave like a potentiometer. In a Miller foot pedal, I believe the pot is 5Kohm. Essentially, the +5VDC and ground terminals could be the power source with a designed resistance of that 5Kohm, for a current consumption of 1mA. This suggests an auxiliary power source, as I doubt one will power the driver circuit to read a load-cell and convert it to a 0-5VDC signal on 1mA.

I'm leaning toward a wireless setup, so the mouth cannot accidentally become a ground path if the torch, arc, or rod were to come into contact with a wired version. Long-life lithium batteries with an "active only when squeezed" operating mode could make for a permanently sealed unit with a multi-year lifetime like a pacemaker, or perhaps lithium-ion rechargeable batteries with a pickup coil for wireless charging.

Just thinking out loud at the moment.

Steve S

"Just thinking out loud at the moment.

Steve S"

keep it up, sounds plausible, like a good idea

You don't need variable control to weld aluminum. You could use a momentary switch and operate it with anything you can move. You could make a switch out of a wooden clothes pin if you had to. Look up manual pulse welding. The momentary pulsing would allow you to stop and start as much as you needed to without interrupting your passes other than a little fog where you start and stop. Just use higher amps.

Another idea for the sensing element could be to use a pneumatic pressure sensor, and a small rubber bellows/balloon on a hose. No chance of being part of the circuit there, even if the driver is wired in.

(I remember the sewing machine that my Mom had when I was a little one having a setup like that for the foot pedal.)

Hi Mike! Thanks for the post! This is a wild subject, and one that I would never have thought would come up! I intend to keep watching this thread! I teach welding at a college, and I am a kind of an 'all inclusive' guy. Everyone needs a chance. I had an autistic student come through, and he was a good welder. Finding a company that will work with him is a different story. All this guy needs is someone to remind him to stay on task, and remind him several times a day. I am appalled that assholes out there refuse to work with this guy, because he is slightly 'different'.

Anyway, I look forward to hearing what finally comes of this! Carry on, brother!
Gary

Mike:

Please identify the model of your Longevity Tig.

Anyone know the technical specs of a Longevity pedal (Ohm range of the potentiometer)?
Does the pedal have a microswitch to start/stop the arc?

The reason I ask is that while I don't have the technical skills to design a solution, I do play an EWI4000 (electronic wind instrument). Electronic wind instruments use mouth position, bite, breath pressure and velocity to control various elements. A user can produce incredibly complex, precise and nuanced musical articulations with this technology and I believe this may be adapted for Mike's use.

Here is my thought process:
The pedal on my Lincoln Square Wave Tig 175 has a potentiometer that varies from 0-10,800 ohms. My guess is that it is a 10K pot with a 10%+- variance. Some electronic keyboards use a 10K pedal to control volume. I ran across a site that has a breath controller the that plugs into an electronic keyboard and converts breath to volume. The controller has controls to adjust sensitivity. I think this is a close match for the problem we are facing (assuming the Longevity pedal operates similarly), but the cost point may be too high. And, while it may provide the amp control needed, but still doesn't address the arc on/off control.

I posted this issue on a wind instrument forum and will be following up as information emerges.

Dan

Mike:

A couple follow-up questions.

1) Can you identify any physical limits you might have that would impact a mouth operated option? for example, bite, range of jaw motion, lung function (normal breathing and capacity etc.)?

2) Can you define your preferences for starting/stopping arc and controlling amperage?

For example, some breath controllers use a "bite" sensor (gum pressure) to control one parameter (arc start/stop in this case) and breath velocity to control a second parameter (vary the pedal amp control).

These processes can be separated (Finger button/body operated pressure sensor to initiate arc, and breath pressure/velocity to control amps etc., or any viable combination that works best for you).

If you are not comfortable responding in this forum I can switch to PM.

BTW: For others working on ideas or possible solutions - Keep in mind the need to isolate the user (mouth) from potentially dangerous electrical conditions.

Thanks
Dan