Metal Working tips and tricks.

My plasma cutter is Hypotherm too, HPT. If you google Hypotherm, you will get an old site. Their new site is USAWELD.ccm. They have twp Tigs in the category I am looking at. 131 DCHF DC ($884) and 201 Inverter AC ($2495). Free shipping anywhere in US. Made in Itally. If they are anything like my plasma cutter, I have never had an issue with it in four years. Not the best reference based on very low hours. The other think is the Tigs mentioned only have a one year warranty. The other Tigs I looked at in that range had warranties 3-5 years.
 
So am I disillusioned that resting the cup on the metal surfaces and pulling the puddle is an advantage? Resting the cup on the metal is a big advantage to me if its feasable. But on a flat surface, thats only going to work one directiion unless you start at opposite ends.,
 
Outlaw;n79117 said:
One thing I think Tig would have over the henrob is the option to rest the Tig Cup on the metal. With a Henrob torch, both the torch tip and the filler wire (when using filler wire) must be free handed. The ability to rest the cup on a Tig has to be a huge advantage over free hand. Chad, on your examples, how much "free handing" did you do compared to resting the cup on the joint as you welded? My other question is: On an 11" weld, did you make all 11" from start to finish in one pass or did you skip around? Did you hammer weld the welds?[/QUOTE​I

I've never rested the cup on the panel, I was always told that was a bad habit to get into. I have tried walking the cup on heavier gauge material, which I never got the hang of, guys that are good at that can sure get some pretty welds though.

I have heard of a few people that have purchased the AC/DC tig from eastwood and they both liked them quite a bit, however I haven't used one, but for the price it's hard to beat.. One of they guys had a problem with the foot pedal but after he got a replacement he has been happy.

My welding supply store said they have got some really good reviews on the EverLast welders they sell, they are green welders you can probably see them on Ebay. I watched a review on one of their higher ones and heard a lot of good things about it. However I found a deal on the Lincoln I got so I never moved forward with the EverLast.
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Outlaw;n79137 said:
So am I disillusioned that resting the cup on the metal surfaces and pulling the puddle is an advantage? Resting the cup on the metal is a big advantage to me if its feasable. But on a flat surface, thats only going to work one directiion unless you start at opposite ends.,
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I push the puddle, with the tig torch at a 45 Degree angle towards the direction I am going.
When I first started welding I talked to a guy that did welding for aircraft, nasa etc etc, he told me about keeping the torch at that angle, if you hold it vertical to the panel you get quicker cooling of the weld which isn't necessarily good as it can cause more warpage, By pushing the gas forward it lets the weld cool naturally.
 
Outlaw said:
One thing I think Tig would have over the henrob is the option to rest the Tig Cup on the metal. With a Henrob torch, both the torch tip and the filler wire (when using filler wire) must be free handed. The ability to rest the cup on a Tig has to be a huge advantage over free hand. Chad, on your examples, how much "free handing" did you do compared to resting the cup on the joint as you welded? My other question is: On an 11" weld, did you make all 11" from start to finish in one pass or did you skip around? Did you hammer weld the welds?
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Pretty much in one pass, I had to quickly re-position once so I paused for a few seconds.
 
That patch piece took me 25 minutes from beginning to end with the quick break/interruption I mentioned. I know I couldn't do this same job with a mig welder in that little bit of time.

I think that leaves 68 Coronet as the winner.. Email Kate autorodgirl@gmail.com with your address.
 
Keep in mind you want to get something with a foot pedal so you can control the amperage as you go.

the Squarewave 200 doesn't seem like a bad price for a new Lincoln. may be out of your price range though.

​After looking at the duty cycles you could probably get away with running it on 120V for sheet metal without any issues.
 
Way to go 68. I would never have dreamed that possible. With a Mig, I would be a long time. Alternating spots, cooling, grinding, more alternating spots, grinding, cooling, until the entire seam was filled.
 
Thanks Chad. I knew resting the cup on the metal was too good to be true. I also did not see many videos of pulling a tig weld compared to pushing it, so back to the drawing board. Verdict is still out on Tig or Mig. I have the Mig and I do pretty well with it. I cant say I would rather have a Tig, but I can say both would be nice if I could master it. If its not a good idea to rest the tig cup on the metal, I am going to do more practice with my henrob. From what I can see, henrob and tig are close. Sounds like they both require the tip and filler rod to be "suspended" to make the puddle and feed it. If I can manage that with more practice on the Henrob, maybe I can figure out the heat. Way too much distortion in my practice so far.

I also have a spool of the easy grind wire to try with my Mig so Im looking forward to that compared to the wire I have been using.


Lot of good information comming out of this thread! Thanks
 
My first welding was with an old fashioned torch & I got a henrob before I got a tig. At shows , they always weld coupon sized aluminum. Right off the bat, I did awesome with some .023 to .063 aluminum samples. BUT, move up to trying to attach 2 4 x 8 aluminum sheets & they would be flopping all over the place before the weld area would be hot enough to start. Using flux for aluminum also sucked. But for small aluminum projects with a lot of shaping involved, it leaves the metal more workable & the welds get very flat full penetration.
For steel, the henrob is much better for older vehicle 18 gauge steel than thinner stuff.

One thing I will say, If you learn some with a torch & then buy a real tig, you'll love the [gas pedal] control.
 
Chad.S said:
That patch piece took me 25 minutes from beginning to end with the quick break/interruption I mentioned. I know I couldn't do this same job with a mig welder in that little bit of time.

I think that leaves 68 Coronet as the winner.. Email Kate autorodgirl@gmail.com with your address.
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I knew you were fast but even I thought my guess was low. LOL
 
jlcustomz said:
My first welding was with an old fashioned torch & I got a henrob before I got a tig. At shows , they always weld coupon sized aluminum. Right off the bat, I did awesome with some .023 to .063 aluminum samples. BUT, move up to trying to attach 2 4 x 8 aluminum sheets & they would be flopping all over the place before the weld area would be hot enough to start. Using flux for aluminum also sucked. But for small aluminum projects with a lot of shaping involved, it leaves the metal more workable & the welds get very flat full penetration.
For steel, the henrob is much better for older vehicle 18 gauge steel than thinner stuff.

One thing I will say, If you learn some with a torch & then buy a real tig, you'll love the [gas pedal] control.
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I could only imagine that a Henrob would warp some 20 ga in a hurry.

And I love the pedal control.. It can be a hassle at times but I still love it.
 
Chad.S said:
That patch piece took me 25 minutes from beginning to end with the quick break/interruption I mentioned. I know I couldn't do this same job with a mig welder in that little bit of time.

I think that leaves 68 Coronet as the winner.. Email Kate autorodgirl@gmail.com with your address.
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Lol, I was surprised such a close guess came in so quick..
 
Outlaw said:
Way to go 68. I would never have dreamed that possible. With a Mig, I would be a long time. Alternating spots, cooling, grinding, more alternating spots, grinding, cooling, until the entire seam was filled.
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If your not doing it for a living you may not need the speed, but it is still something to consider, you may get lucky and come across a deal on a tig machine, just something to keep a eye open for.
 
Don't forget it takes half the time to dress a TIG weld vs. MIG. Tig is a nice weld that grinds easier and planishes easier. Planishing MIG welds doesn't work right and can crack the harder weld.

I don't know for sure I've read from a good source that the gas welds are stronger/better to planish than even the TIG.

My 180mig and 250 mig pretty much collect dust.

Chad, nice collection of clamps. Theres more money sitting there than a lot of bodyman's entire tool boxes.
 
Thanks for posting this Chad. My eyes were opened last weekend at Wray Schelin's metal shaping class when he did the TIG welding demonstration. I have since forced myself to experiment with TIG and yes, it is difficult to master but every now and then during my practice the system worked and had a nice weld for an inch or so (my son is a welder and has a Precision TIG just sitting in my shop begging to be used). Long ways to go but I can see the benefit of going this route.
 
Id like some input on Tig welders. In general, it seems DC is about half the cost of DCAC. Im considering looking at a more expensive DC Welder and dedicate it just to 12-20 guage sheet metal. It would be an opportunity to see how well I can master Tig. If I like Tig and can master it, I can always move up and sell my Henrob. I never do any welding on anything thicker than 1/4 inch and thats rare.
 
Amother question I had on Tig welding is, do you use a copper backing strip and if so, what happens when you have a gap somewhere in the fitment?
 
Outlaw;n79166 said:
Amother question I had on Tig welding is, do you use a copper backing strip and if so, what happens when you have a gap somewhere in the fitment?
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In Wray's class he said a copper strip not only helps dissipate heat, but it also shields the backside of the weld. I wasn't using it to practice so had a lot of blow throughs. Yesterday I picked up a small sheet of copper I can cut into strips and I'll try that next.
 
Good question on the copper, it's something I haven't tried yet, I remember Wray mentioning it though.
 
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