[TheForge] argon vs argoshield for tig

[theforge@mailman.qth.net]

On Fri, 15 Mar 2002 12:08:56 +1030, you wrote:

>I Asked this q? a while back and thought I got an answer of yes, you can=
 use
>argoshield with tig, I was just down at my welding supplyer and they =
were
>adamant that no you couldnt, I have mig and tig and wanted to save on an
>extra bottle as the tig is really not used a lot. Ive been using argon =
with
>my mig for about a year now but thought its time to go to argoshield.
Nope, AFAIK, you cannot use Argoshield (75% argon. 25%CO2) as the CO2
is an "active" gas - not good for the weld or the tungsten. One
alternative would be to get an argon bottle and a Co2 bottle and
manifold to mix your own. You can use straight co2 for welding steel,
albeit with more splatter, and it gives more penetration. Using argon
on mild steel for mig will generally give mixed results. You get less
penetration and weld porosity if the surface isn't prefect.=20
Geoff