I've got one of those too. I've got a astigmatism so without my glasses, the cheaters still don't work that great.Get the magnifying lens that slides in the inside of the welding helmet...
My new welder...
- Thread starter bobs409
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I always wear my welding helmet! Just can't see perfectly. Always wear a dust mask too, filters out the dust but also prevents my lens from fogging.
Here's something to keep in mind Bob. I had one of those terrible days welding aluminum today. No matter how much I cleaned the aluminum, it just seemed as though it was contaminated. And of course I was getting frustrated and welding air cleaners you're never really in comfortable positions, so dipping the tungsten was happening. The mailman came and dropped off my new tungsten grinder attachment. So I had to try it out. After using it to sharpen a tungsten, welding was back to normal. So I'm think all of my tungstens I had sharpened on the disc sander were contaminated. I cut the ends and sharpened all of them on the new grinder. The next one I had to use, no problem. So the point is, there are several reasons why you get contaminated welds, dirty metal, dirty filler rod and contaminated tungsten. Keep an open mind if welding isn't going right. It may be any of the previous. Just because you think you grinder or sander is clean, you may still be contaminating your tungsten. Geez, I don't think I ever typed "tungsten" so many times at one time.
Works great.
First day didn't go as bad as I thought it would. I did some practice beads without adding filler as per a video I watched. The purpose of this is to see if you can run beads without dipping the tungsten and to just get the feel of things. I'm happy to say I didn't dip even once! (surprised me too)
I did get some porosity mid way so I eventually turned up the argon a little and it seemed to fix that. One thing I'm not too happy about is how loud the fan is on this machine! It really moves a lot of air thru there like a wind tunnel! I had it right near me and I think I can feel the air moving so maybe that was causing the porosity. Going to have to keep a distance from the machine or turn it sideways.
My torch has a trigger on it so today I used that to start with. It makes holding the torch a bit tricky. You hit the trigger and let go and it runs until you hit it again. Tomorrow I will try the foot pedal. I think it might make things easier using that.
Other than working on scraps for running beads on, I had 2 square tubes that I pressed in some metal sleeves in for another project and I needed to weld them into place so I gave that a try and it went well. Just a fusion weld, no filler.
I was tired so I didn't push it any further. Tomorrow I will see how adding filler rod goes and will use the foot pedal. Lots of practice ahead of me! (last pic shows 2 pieces of metal I tacked for tomorrows lesson)
I did get some porosity mid way so I eventually turned up the argon a little and it seemed to fix that. One thing I'm not too happy about is how loud the fan is on this machine! It really moves a lot of air thru there like a wind tunnel! I had it right near me and I think I can feel the air moving so maybe that was causing the porosity. Going to have to keep a distance from the machine or turn it sideways.
My torch has a trigger on it so today I used that to start with. It makes holding the torch a bit tricky. You hit the trigger and let go and it runs until you hit it again. Tomorrow I will try the foot pedal. I think it might make things easier using that.
Other than working on scraps for running beads on, I had 2 square tubes that I pressed in some metal sleeves in for another project and I needed to weld them into place so I gave that a try and it went well. Just a fusion weld, no filler.
I was tired so I didn't push it any further. Tomorrow I will see how adding filler rod goes and will use the foot pedal. Lots of practice ahead of me! (last pic shows 2 pieces of metal I tacked for tomorrows lesson)
Today I got the tungsten stuck. It only happened once so far though!
I switched to the foot pedal and I like that more. It was one more thing to work though as if I didn't have enough things going on ALL at the same time!
Maybe I should try playing the harmonica too! 
I practiced today with the filler wire. I can't say I stacked any dimes but I did stack some crazy shaped .50 cent pieces! Getting the consistency down is just another thing to learn.
Turning the machine sideways seems to have ended the porosity problems. I did change to a #7 cup and bumped up to 14 CFH.
Felt lousy most of the day so didn't stay with it too long. Guess that's it...
It only happened once so far though!I switched to the foot pedal and I like that more. It was one more thing to work though as if I didn't have enough things going on ALL at the same time!
Maybe I should try playing the harmonica too! I practiced today with the filler wire. I can't say I stacked any dimes but I did stack some crazy shaped .50 cent pieces!
Getting the consistency down is just another thing to learn.Turning the machine sideways seems to have ended the porosity problems. I did change to a #7 cup and bumped up to 14 CFH.
Felt lousy most of the day so didn't stay with it too long. Guess that's it...
After using these for a while, I'm not sure... I probably cut about 10 or so tungstens and it feels like the more you do, the less cutting action. In fact, the edge feels smooth and I think the one I was using stopped cutting all together now. I wonder how the abrasive dremel wheels would work? Probably go through a few thousand of them if I remember, they wear quickly.
Are there any other options out there for cutting tungsten??
I've cut and ground more than ten tungsten with my tungsten grinder. It came with three diamond wheels. I'm still on tne first side of the first wheel. They're probably Chinese made. You could probably whip up a similar fixture. May help the wheels last longer than free handing?
Forget the cut off wheel. Heats that tungsten up to glowing orange! 
I might try one of those diamond blades for an angle grinder yet.
An update on my welding. My Tig welds still look like Fido's butt however... my Mig welding skills seem to have improved! I think I'm more in tune with what's going on. Next project is well underway... 
I might try one of those diamond blades for an angle grinder yet.An update on my welding. My Tig welds still look like Fido's butt however... my Mig welding skills seem to have improved! I think I'm more in tune with what's going on.
Next project is well underway...
Here's the remains of a couple sessions of thin aluminum welding practice. Still dip the tungsten now and again. They all started off at 3' long. Now an inch or two left.
Here's the remains of a couple sessions of thin aluminum welding practice. Still dip the tungsten now and again. They all started off at 3' long. Now an inch or two left.
I'm getting a pile of ER70S-2 stubs myself!
Supposedly you can tig them together to make them usable but not sure if it's worth the argon you would use.
I throw the ends in my my aluminum scrap recycle box.
I got a chance to try out some silicon bronze today. WOW! I love this stuff! It flows like butta'. It's perfect for patch panel repairs on cars. (also useful for joining mix matched metals like cast iron to steel, stainless to plain steel, etc. It has a low melting point so you don't have to cook the base metal to get it to flow. Just don't use it for anything structural.
I had one of my best Tig sessions today. Very happy with my results welding 18 gauge steel. Doing patches and auto sheetmetal work will be a breeze now! The recipe for success seems to be 50amps, 1/16" tungsten and 1/16" filler rod. I used both ER70S-2 and the silicon bronze, both worked nicely. I wanted to try out some new .040 tungstens I got but I don't have the collet for it like I thought I did. By using that smaller tungsten I should be able to narrow the bead some and probably weld with even less amps.
I even did a kick ass inside corner fillet weld on 16ga square tube with the silicon bronze. So far, the lap and fillet welds are troublesome for me but not with this stuff.
I had one of my best Tig sessions today. Very happy with my results welding 18 gauge steel. Doing patches and auto sheetmetal work will be a breeze now! The recipe for success seems to be 50amps, 1/16" tungsten and 1/16" filler rod. I used both ER70S-2 and the silicon bronze, both worked nicely. I wanted to try out some new .040 tungstens I got but I don't have the collet for it like I thought I did. By using that smaller tungsten I should be able to narrow the bead some and probably weld with even less amps.
I even did a kick ass inside corner fillet weld on 16ga square tube with the silicon bronze. So far, the lap and fillet welds are troublesome for me but not with this stuff.
Okay, I read that you are cutting your tungsten, why? I do understand sharpening it.
You guys have a smaller torch?
You guys have a smaller torch?
Yes, I showed mine.