TIG Advice

[jonfromhamilton]

Hi everyone,
sorry I didn't make the meeting on Wednesday a friend of mine is pretty sick and his wife was calling to give me and update.

I am going to buy myself a TIG this EOFY, and just wanting to get any advice? thinking 200amp and willing to spend up to 2k on one.

Just want to get advice on specifics how important they are like whether its a trigger start or scratch start that sort of thing you wouldn't appreciate until you actually buy one without/with it!

Thanks guys

[luigi]

Hi Fellas.
Hi Kiwi.
Would highly recommend a foot pedal control. It helps you control the heat , most important at the termination of welds on aluminium.

Trigger start is best....because if you touch your work with the tungsten, ( the electrode is a tungsten rod)) it immediately becomes contaminated and needs to be reground.
I think most welders give you the option of scratch start or trigger ( I think they call trigger start high frequency start)

You will need lots of tungstens and a dedicated grinder to regrind them and lots and lots of scrap pieces to practice on.

Also, Tig welders use pure argon, they won't work well with Mig gas.

Its a very difficult thing to use without expert advice.......and I am certainly not an expert

Good luck Kiwi.

Regards. Wayne.

[jonfromhamilton]

Thanks Wayne good to know about the grinder.
I don't have a grinder yet so great excuse to get one too.
Can you use normal scrap instead of rods if you have a scraps?

[luigi]

Hi Kiwi.
Not quite sure what your question is....but Tig uses filler rods, much like oxy welding.
Depending on what you are welding, you can sometimes fusion weld without filler.
Hope that answers your question.
Regards. Wayne.

[gwagensteve]

Filler rods are generally an alloy that will improve weldability. If the material you’re welding in unknown, it is possible to cut ttin strips of offcuts to create extra filler, but that’s not practical or desirable if the material being welded is known.

[jonfromhamilton]

I think it's coming down to a weldarc 200i AC/DC or the Unimog version which can come with a foot pedal in a undleundle. The Unimig seems to have better duty cycle.
My Unimig mig has been fine.
Luke has a wia I think maybe I'll ask him

[jonfromhamilton]

bought the unimig razor 200 ac/dc with the foot pedal and a trolley and 6kg of different filler rods for 1800 basically.
now all my welding dreams are going to come true!

that will be 8 dog cages I have to make now to pay for that.