Steven Shipley wrote:
>
> What has built my skill is my local community college. My instructor
> takes pride in knowing the answers. And he's awesome. Each skilled
> weldor seems to have a process that they do well. Ernie is a TIG
> lover. He's one of those people who can run a bead on the side of an
> aluminum soda can.
For beginners, I agree this is good road to take. Seek out any courses
given in your area. If one doesn't have that option or a TIG welder at
hand, practice first with oxy-acetylene welding. Hand positioning and
movements are remarkably similar. After becoming familiar with that, TIG
is easier, and then just involves getting used to adjusting current,
preferably with a foot pedal (I suppose I come from the old school, but
I don't recommend torches with the current control on the torch--too
much fiddling around).
> When I started asking about TIG welding, my instructor quickly advised
> me to get a water cooled torch. (Which I haven't purchased.) Can't
> remember exactly but I believe the water cooled torch has a more
> flexible lead. And TIG is all about fine torch control. Which is
> kinda tough for someone who is always popping into Starbuck's for a
> beverage.
A water-cooled torch is my preference, because I used one for years, but
they do stay cooler than an air-cooled torch, and for long, continuous
work, they are clearly better (air-cooled torches seem to be the item
most often bundled with hobbyist machines which have low duty-cycles).
Note that a water-cooled torch cannot be readily adapted to a machine
designed for an air-cooled torch, but it is possible. Whatever feeds the
shielding gas solenoid can be used to engage a water solenoid, too. If
worse comes to worse, one can always use the city water supply with a
pressure regulator and turn the water supply off by hand (of course, one
must then remember to shut the supply off, or the water bill goes up).
All that said, anyone need an 800 lb. 300A Harnischfeger P&H 3-phase
job-shop DC TIG machine with built-in solenoids and high-frequency
generator? I used it for years until the company for which I worked went
bust and I inherited the welder.... Have been hauling it around for ten
years and have never had 3-phase power available to run it. A real
beast. When I called the company that bought out the factory, a few
years ago, to ask them about any means of converting it to single-phase,
even with lower output, they said, "nope, don't know of any way to do
it, but, hey, they're a real workhorse, aren't they? They stopped
building them in 1954, and we're still using them on the production
floor to build new welders."
The thing belongs in a museum somewhere, I think, as a testament to what
American engineering and production once could do.
Cheers, all.
--
Michael D. Porter
Roswell, NM
[mailto: mporter@zianet.com]
`70 GT6+ (being refurbished, slowly)
`71 GT6 Mk. III (organ donor)
`72 GT6 Mk. III (daily driver)
`64 TR4 (awaiting intensive care)
`80 TR7 (3.8 liter Buick-powered)
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