Everlast PowerTIG 210 EXT - Maiden Voyage

Ok first off let me say that I have never TIG welded EVER. So be nice to me lol. Anyway here is my progress after about an hour of making a complete mess. One thing is for certain I want a smaller torch with a much lighter lead. The stock torch is heavy. My fat arm weighs to much on it's own and it's hard for me to keep my hand steady. I need better gloves too. After about 2 inches my hand is on fire.

Anyway here's a pic and a quick video showing my progress. Any advice after you see both the pics and the video is welcome.

http://alvarezmetalworks.com/wp-cont...uminum-001.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MA1P86c6_4

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Originally Posted by Rafael

I need better gloves too. After about 2 inches my hand is on fire.

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Two words; TIG Finger. Sometimes I use a block of wood for a place to prop my hand. Looks pretty good for a first attempt. What is your AC balance set to? It looks like you could back that down just a little. That will narrow the frosted cleaning area some. You can wrap the cable around your arm or run it over your shoulder to take the weight off your hand, to be more steady.

My experience was similar: using the torch switch requires your hand to be in a certain position. When you try the foot pedal it allows you to move your hand to a more comfortable position.

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Originally Posted by Rambozo

Two words; TIG Finger.

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Where to buy > http://weldmongerstore.com/

It looks like you are using 4043 filler by the blistered look on the top 3 welds, and the bottom weld has more cleaning action and most of the blisters went away. Try 5356 filler for practice it does not blister much at all and will allow you to run far less cleaning action.

Its amazing how good beginners can weld when they have a good machine to start with.

Round 2: Ding Ding

How about these? I talk about the settings and issues more in my video.

http://alvarezmetalworks.com/wp-cont...uminum-002.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWSPh7T1_hQ

I think your beads look great! But you're right, it's a little bit different actually welding two pieces together, they tend to react independently to each other. But if it were easy, who'd bother with it. You mentioned gloves. I would recommend a light, deerskin, type glove that you dedicate 100% to aluminum welding. I use the Black Stallion brand that are designed for TIG welding. I bought them at my local welding supply shop for an unbelievable under $10. Also, since you need to handle the filler wire constantly in TIG welding, I would try to not use the gloves to handle anything dirty, as this could become a source of contaminant into your welds. Anytime you actually rest your hand on the work it's going to get really hot. I know that big piece of sheet gets real hot, real quick. But once you start doing smaller stuff the hot glove issue will become less significant. Thanks for the videos!

Thank you guys for the feedback I will be getting a few Tig fingers to try out. Hell I may just cut them up and sew them to my glove of choice lol. This way I can protect more than one finger. I'll also be looking into those Black Stallion gloves even though I feel weird about the name of them... lmao

It's starting to look like I may end out building two different dedicated carts for my TIG and MIG. That will let me get rid of this massive one I have now. I have a proper welding table so I don't really need that anymore. It is nice to have as a portable work bench though. Who knows I may keep it just for that.

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Originally Posted by Rafael

Thank you guys for the feedback I will be getting a few Tig fingers to try out. Hell I may just cut them up and sew them to my glove of choice lol. This way I can protect more than one finger. I'll also be looking into those Black Stallion gloves even though I feel weird about the name of them... lmao

It's starting to look like I may end out building two different dedicated carts for my TIG and MIG. That will let me get rid of this massive one I have now. I have a proper welding table so I don't really need that anymore. It is nice to have as a portable work bench though. Who knows I may keep it just for that.

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LOL. Yeah Rafael, btw, those Black Stallions come with a cape and cowl. A word about machine location. I had my unit sitting too close to my work area and the cooling fan was blowing into my argon. With all my safety gear on I never knew it.

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Originally Posted by nils

LOL. Yeah Rafael, btw, those Black Stallions come with a cape and cowl. A word about machine location. I had my unit sitting too close to my work area and the cooling fan was blowing into my argon. With all my safety gear on I never knew it.

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By chance do you have a link for the ones you got? I searched them and they have a ton of different ones.

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Originally Posted by Rafael

Thank you guys for the feedback I will be getting a few Tig fingers to try out. Hell I may just cut them up and sew them to my glove of choice lol. This way I can protect more than one finger.

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I wouldn't cut them up. You can use two at a time if need be.
A couple weeks ago I was building up a combustion chamber for an air cooled two stroke racing cart engine, to be re-machined for higher compression.
I got one of my tig fingers so hot that I had to swap it for another. It takes alot of heat to weld aluminum with big cooling fins all over it.

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Originally Posted by zoama585

I wouldn't cut them up. You can use two at a time if need be.
A couple weeks ago I was building up a combustion chamber for an air cooled two stroke racing cart engine, to be re-machined for higher compression.
I got one of my tig fingers so hot that I had to swap it for another. It takes alot of heat to weld aluminum with big cooling fins all over it.

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I just need to order some to see how bulky they are.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rafael

By chance do you have a link for the ones you got? I searched them and they have a ton of different ones.

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Here's a link to Black Stallion and the exact gloves I have.

http://www.revcoindustries.com/catal...roducts_id=674

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Originally Posted by nils

Here's a link to Black Stallion and the exact gloves I have.

http://www.revcoindustries.com/catal...roducts_id=674

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Thank you.

Pretty much everything I would have said has been stated by others already. It looks like you are on the right track. Nice looking beads especially since you are just starting out with TIG.