About to jump into Tig in Indiana

[Shaggy]

Hi Guys, my name is Steve and I ordered a PT200Dx on Monday and can't wait to strike my first arc on it. I have a Hobart Handler 140 Mig and an old, I mean really old Hobart AC Stick welder already. I've had the AC stick for probably 20 years and used it for repairs around the farm (small hobby type farm) and the house. Then when I got the Mig last year and I made a cart to hold both welders man, the light bulb lit up and I thought, this is pretty cool makin stuff. So then I bought that cheap Harbor Freight 4X6 Horizontal Band Saw. Well of coarse I had to make my own stand for that because the stand that came with it was way too short. That came out great also and I'm on a roll so then I started watching welding videos on youtube and saw how neat tig looked and had to give it a try. So I guess you'd say I'm hooked. Now we'll see how quick I pick up on this Tig Technique. I'll bet it's harder then it looks in the videos.

Steve

[RichardH]

Welcome, Steve!

I'm finding there's a lot to learn about TIG, but with a couple hours of practice you'll be turning out decent beads (with plenty more to learn). The thing I like about TIG is that you add filler separate from the arc, unlike stick and MIG, so pausing in a spot to fix the puddle doesn't mean you end up with a fat bead there. But that means you need pretty good 2-handed coordination - although I've been doing fine soldering for decades, feeding filler rod's just not the same.

It is kinda funny though, isn't it... A lot of early projects with welding are projects you wouldn't need if you weren't into welding (cart, welding table, ...) "You see, I need a welder to make the cart... for the welder."

Cheers,
Richard

[Shaggy]

Thanks Richard, that is funny that it seems like the first thing most people weld up is a cart to hold their new welder. It's a bunch of fun to make. I felt like a real fabricator. lol
Kind of wish I was younger I think I could enjoy welding for a living. Probably the pro's will chime in and tell me it's tougher to make a living then you think. They're probably right to.
The part about controlling how you add the filler and the higher precision of tig is what got me looking into it. Some of the stuff I want to do is small and intricate and I'm hoping tig will be the way to go.

[DaveO]

So I guess you'd say I'm hooked. Now we'll see how quick I pick up on this Tig Technique. I'll bet it's harder then it looks in the videos.

Harder than in the videos, maybe, but so cool when it comes together!

[zoama]

The first part of this video will give you some great tig welding tips Jody Collier has the best welding videos on the net, by a wide margin.

[fdcmiami]

happy to put in a good word for you. think we have one extra machine below. bring extra socks. lol



Kind of wish I was younger I think I could enjoy welding for a living. Probably the pro's will chime in and tell me it's tougher to make a living then you think.

[RichardH]

Kind of wish I was younger I think I could enjoy welding for a living.

I've come to accept that I wouldn't have nearly as much fun (nor make nearly the money I'd like) trying to make a living at most of the things I enjoy as hobbies. So, I keep the golden handcuffs on and don't resent the cost of my hobbies.

The part about controlling how you add the filler and the higher precision of tig is what got me looking into it. Some of the stuff I want to do is small and intricate and I'm hoping tig will be the way to go.

Ditto. A lot of my projects are so small that the work would be done before I could even get a MIG dialed in. So, TIG it is!

Cheers,
Richard

[Shaggy]

Hey Zoama, I agree, Jody's videos are the best. I have watched a buch of them.

Thanks for that video, I'm not sure I've seen it.

fdc, wow that's not what I had in mind. lol I'm sure welding outside has it's ups and downs. Hadn't thought about those crappy weather days.
Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Richard, I definitely agree with the "work would be done by the time you dialed in the mig". Can't tell you how many times I've been trying to weld a nut onto a piece of tubing or some such thing and pull the trigger in the mig gun and bam there's too much filler already. I'm banking on tig to let me really get parts the way I think they should come out. I'm sure the more I practice on the mig the better I'll get with it also. Just seems to me that tig is going to be better for some things.

Thanks again guys, I appreciate the welcomes and input.
Steve

[m j mauer]

Welcome to the forum Steve, yes Jodys vids are amoung the best out there.

[Kempy]

Steve welcome to the forum you will get some things from videos but you just have to do some welds and put them on the forum and wait for comments on how it looks or ask question on how to do it something.
Good look on your new Everlast welder.

[Shaggy]

Thanks Kempy, I know you're right about the fact that I could watch videos all day but, you really don't get it until you start trying it yourself.

I'll try to put up some pics of my welds once the 200DX gets here and I get it powered up.

Steve