TIG Workshop at OSH16

[Chris In Milwaukee]

I took the short-form TIG workshop at OSH on Saturday afternoon. It was a full class, but I managed to get my hands on a torch and weld both aluminum (AC) and 4130 (DC-) with a Lincoln TIG-200. I'm totally hooked! It felt completely natural, and in just a few minutes I was able to turn out some very nice welds. The foot petal made it really easy to control the heat when you needed. And it's a 110V/220V rig as well, which makes it nice.

They has a show special that was $200 off that particular rig, along with a free set of gloves and 10 pounds of filler material. Sadly I live in the "tax zone" of Wisconsin, so I had the pleasure of paying sales tax on it, bringing the total back up to $1399. So I jumped on it. Should be on my doorstep on Friday.

[Bdflies]

Great move Chris! All it takes is practice, practice and more practice! 😎

Bill

[whee]

TIG is so much fun and clean. Sounds like you got a good deal on a nice machine.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Picked up a welding helmet, a jacket, and a bottle of Argon today. Lord help me!

[Bdflies]

I might suggest that you pick up a good reference book, or two. There are LOTS of variables in TIG welding (A/C vs DC, tungsten types, tungsten sizes, std vs gas lens collets & cups, HF settings if not pre-programmed, etc...) that you don't need to memorize, but you'll want to have reference material available when questions arise.
Have fun!

Bill

[Chris In Milwaukee]

There were some good choices in a bookstore sheet that came with the welder. I'll see which ones make the most sense. They're all inexpensive, so it would definitely be a benefit.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

And Wicks sent me a box of adventure today!



I feel the juices starting to flow...


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[mswain]

Check out this tool too, http://metalgeek.com/static/cope.pcgi

You can print fish mouth patterns to mark the tubes.

[Chewie]

Also: http://www.kitplanes.com/issues/32_4...y_21229-1.html

Sent from my XT1031 using Tapatalk

[whee]

Don't start having so much fun welding that you forget about all the other stuff you have to get done😎

I don't want to start to TIG vs O/A debate again but I just wanted to make sure you are aware of that discussion.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Oh yes, I've been a party to that discussion on many occasions.

I have both O/A and TIG (now), so I'll be putting the two side by side and doing some comparisons. The biggest thing I'm looking forward to doing is testing the joints as lsa140 has done and seeing how they differ and what I need to do to make sure they are secure.

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Thanks mswain and Chewie for those references. I've read about those types of miter tools, but haven't needed them until. Very timely information.

[ELee3]

Here is a good website and a good video for welding.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/welding-4130.html

BTW I have been lurking around this forum for a while and trying to decide if I should build a Bearhawk or a Patrol. After reading this thread, I figured I finally had something worthwhile to add, so I registered and this is my first post.
Lee

[Chris In Milwaukee]

Thanks for sharing that resource, and for coming out of lurk mode to do it. . Lots of good stuff there and some helpful products, too.

[interstate al]

Excellent site Lee, Thanks! And welcome!