Another great tip from Weldcraft®
Optimize shield gas coverage by using an appropriate size gas lens. Gas lenses help minimize rework and allow for greater tungsten extension for increased access to confined joints.
And check out the Large Gas Saver Nozzles available at Arc-Zone.com . Pretty slick.
As any skilled professional can tell you, it’s important to constantly improve your knowledge if you’re to become an expert. Welding requires skill and knowledge of metallurgy, geometry, electrical, design, and more.
There are a lot of great resources out there, many of them I have referenced before on this blog: The Fabricator Magazine, Lincoln Electric’s website, Miller’s website, ESAB’s website, Hobart’s website, Arc-Zone.com’s Welding Library, The American Welding Society, and Edison Welding Institute to name a few.
Of course you can buy welding books (Arc-Zone.com carries a nice selection!) You should also consider signing up for manufacturers’ newsletters. Although they are obviously plugging their own products, they offer a wealth of information that you can download or print out for your own welding library. Here’s a few to get you started:
I was perusing the Lincoln Electric website, and although they don’t have a lot of the sizzle and pizzazz that the Miller Electric site has, they do have some good solid information online, from Stick to MIG to TIG Welding Tips, How Tos, Projects, Equipment Selection and Safety Tips.
Here’s a few I found that I liked:
TIG Welding a mini stainless steel biplane. Instructions include pictorial description of step-by-step process, complete supply list, and even downloadable PDF instructions.
On TIG Welding Aluminum
Although many metals are TIG welded, the metal most frequently associated with the process is aluminum, especially with metals of a smaller thickness. Many other processes, of course, can join aluminum, but in the lighter gauges the most applicable process is TIG. The popularity of aluminum in automotive applications has brought TIG welding to a new golden age. Mechanically strong and visually appealing, TIG welding is the number one process chosen by professional welders for professional racing teams, and the avid auto enthusiast or hobbyist.
At Arc-Zone.com we just added BOOKS to webstore. And not just your basic how-tos either. The collection of books goes beyond the basics of welding and metal fabrication to include books that will inspire. Sample titles include How to Restore Metal Auto Trim, Dream Garages, American Hot Rod and Performance Welding. A complete listing of Arc-Zone’s welding books for sale can be found online at www.arc-zone.com.
Add to your welding library today!
The bike on the left is a photo of a custom chopper done by one of our favorite customers, David Anthony Customs…
check out some of his other handiwork. He has become quite good at TIG welding and some of his designs are pretty extreme!
If you’re into building custom choppers, or want to learn how it’s done, check out this website, Custom Chopper Guide:
The most common problems metalworkers and custom bike builders encounter can cost them countless hours of frustration, and thousands of dollars in wasted material. ‘9 Problems Metalworkers Face When Building A Chopper Frame And How To Overcome Them’ is a special ‘mini course’ that reveals the solutions to these problems.
Novato, CA (PRWEB) June 22, 2007 — Building a chopper frame from scratch is not an easy task for any metalworker or motorcycle builder. Fortunately, the most common problems that metalworkers face as they build a custom chopper frame are answered.
Custom Choppers Guide and BCC Orlando have teamed up and put together a mini-course called ‘9 Problems Metalworkers Face When Building A Chopper Frame And How To Overcome Them’. This valuable new resource will help metalworkers save time and money on their frame-building projects. For example:
Problem #1: What is the difference between common pipe and tubing?
The site offers lots of articles and information and while it appears they have an ad revenue business model (you’ll see lots of adsense ads from Google) they do sell Ron Covell videos and some books as well.
And when you’re ready to fire up the TIG welder, and you’re looking for a high-performance TIG torch set up, check out our lineup of Weldcraft TIG torches, from the super small MicroTIG WP-50 or WP-125 to the popular WP-20 water cooled TIG Torch. We also carry a complete line of tungsten electrodes, welding water coolers, and much more! Give us a call at 800-944-2243.
And yet another TIG Welding Tip:
Check the electrical integrity of any work lead cables, and cable connections and ALWAYS use quality cables. A well constructed cable will maximize power flow and dissipate heat properly.
We generally recommend the Flexible rubber cables instead of the standard vinyl cables for your TIG Torch. (Jim Watson, aka Joe Welder™, always says plastic and heat don’t mix.)
The high flex FeatherLite™ cable from Weldcraft is shown at the bottom left of this photo.
So many people get confused by this… and I posted this previously but that post is archived in the old blog so I thought I’d post this little mini tutorial again.
Your water cooled TIG torch’s 3 lines:
1 black RH thread for gas hook up;
1 blue (5/8 x18) LH thread for water IN– cool water from the cooler ; and
1 red– your power cable with DINSE connector which goes back to the power supply carrying the warm water, and a red water return line off the connector to hook back to the cooler….
FYI: Industry standard is that all water connections should be Left Hand thread (LH), gas connections are Right Hand thread (RH)
Shown here is the Miller Synchrowave, with Arc-Zone.com’s CoolKit(tm) — everything you need to to hook up a water cooled TIG Torch and Weld Like A Pro(tm)….
Not sure a water-cooled TIG Torch is right for you? Think you’re doing just fine with the WP-17 TIG Torch that came with your machine? Check out the article, “Why Upgrade” and then decide.
Another Weld Like a Pro(tm) TIG / GTAW Welding Tip:
Maximize your shield gas coverage by extending your tungsten no further than the inside diameter of the cup (nozzle). For example, if your cup is a size 6 (3/8″ ID) then your tungsten should not extend beyond 3/8″.
OR, if you use a set up like the Monster(tm) TIG Nozzle from Arc-Zone.com, with it’s one-inch-wide cup, you can stretch that tungsten electrode out an inch!
With the gas lens collet body set up, you’ll benefit from a coherent umbrella of shield gas with minimal turbulance– especially great when your TIG welding stainless steel, titanium or other alloys.
Did you know I’m on MySpace? I’ve not totally figured it out yet, but I’m already meeting new people online, most recently Debra from The Metal Shoppe
I have to say their web site is not that impressive but the pics they have online are pretty impressive. Here’s what Debra has to say about TIG Welding:
We specialize in custom metal work, particularly copper - or at least that is the direction things have gone this last couple of years. We have discovered that TIG welding is the best choice for “joinery” if you will when it comes to copper when the application calls for it, especially when you use any patina coloration since the silicon bronze or solder does not color up the same.
We actually figured out if you cut actual strips of the copper and us it for filler rod, it makes a completely undetectable seam.
Thanks for the great tip Debra!
We got a call from a potential customer yesterday. He was looking for a Pyrex nozzle for a WP-20 TIG Torch. Now we don’t have these nozzles anywhere on our website, so it was curious that Brett found us. So I asked.
Apparently Brett reads The Fabricator magazine, at least the online version, where he read an article written by Arc-Zone’s own Jennifer Simpson, Improve your GTAW in 3 steps: Front-end parts that make a difference:
Once you know some basic information about the equipment on the front of your GTAW torch, you can get the right parts for your application and start improving your welding performance.
An industry-standard manual gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) torch package includes a torch body and a cable set, either 12-1/2 or 25 feet long. Front-end parts generally aren’t included. While it may sound like the manufacturers are being cheap, it’s really in your best interest, because it lets you customize your torch for the job at hand or to use front-end parts already in stock.
…….
Pyrex and Quartz. Pyrex is a low-temperature, nonconductive glass material, while quartz is a high-temperature, nonconductive glass material. These glass materials are hand-blown to make nozzles for specialty torches for microwelding or standard torches that allow for added visibility when welding in confined spaces. While the Pyrex nozzles look good, the improved visibility doesn’t add much benefit for general-purpose welding. After all, you should be watching your weld puddle, not the gas coming out of your torch. Also, Pyrex nozzles get dirty quickly.
So if you’re interested in Pyrex nozzles, they will be in our webstore soon, but in the meantime, give us a call!
And do let us know if there is a product you’re interested in that we don’t have on our website…
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