[TheForge] tig setup

[Ries Niemi]

On Monday, September 6, 2004, at 10:27 AM, Gladish Family wrote:

> OK, here's my dumb question for the month:
> I'm wanting TIG capability really bad and I think I'm halfway there 
> because
> I have an AC/DC 250 amp stick welder.
> Am I?
> Is there any point to using what I have as a power source?
> Or can you do that?
> Better to just start over and get a complete rig?
> Thanks for any ideas!
> Andy Gladish

Andy- to start out with all you need is a scratch start setup-
an aircooled tig torch, about 150 bucks.
A regulator or flowmeter,
  and a tank of argon.
the aircooled torch does not require a radiator, and it has a manual 
valve on it to turn on and off the shielding gas. You hook it up to 
your welder in place of the stinger, open the valve, and scratch it on 
the grounded work. Pull back, and you have a tig arc.
It is best to start out with DC. AC is really hard to do without high 
frequency, which is another 800$ accessory.
And start on mild steel. While it is technically possible to DC tig 
weld aluminum without high frequency, at least certain alloys, almost 
nobody can actually do it.
But for steel,stainless,  or any copper or bronze alloys, you should be 
able to use your stick welder, for a couple of hundred dollars. Buy a 
few extra tungstens, as with a scratch start torch you contaminate the 
ends much quicker than with HF, so you need to take em out and sharpen 
em more often. But it works, just fine. We were running a second tig 
setup that way when we built the fish bridge a couple of years ago, and 
while it is frustrating when you are used to a $3500 all the bells and 
whistles setup, it gets the job done.

ries