[TheForge] TIG opinions, please

[Ries Niemi]

>
Obviously, whatever works, and whatever you are comfortable with is 
what you should do. There is never a "right" way, or only one way, to 
do anything.
And everybody is doing different work, with different materials, in 
different sizes, in different situations.

But personally, I often run my tig welders at 175 to 200 amps, welding 
steel, and stainless. And when I need to run aluminum, both of my 
machines have been asked to put out 300 amps. And even then, there are 
times when I have had to preheat the aluminum first, or else 300 still 
wasnt enough.

But common jobs for me would be the one I did this week, welding 40 
pieces of 1/2" round stainless to a 3/4" thick, 48" diameter stainless 
circle. I used every bit of those 165 amps, getting bite into that 3/4" 
plate, and used the foot pedal on every weld, to get penetration in the 
thick stuff without completely melting the round bar. I have done jobs 
like this in the past, scratch start, and I find that with all the 
oddball angles or reaching into workpieces, and the fact that for an 
average round bar to flat weld, I like to do it from 4 different 
angles, the amount of times I would inadvertantly dip my tungsten 
scratch starting, meaning stopping and resharpening, was a big factor.
With a foot pedal, I can be much more precise in my arc control, and 
since I often have only a half inch of clearance behind the torch head, 
scratch start is just one big pain.
So to me, in my common everyday welding, I would be lost without a foot 
pedal. Sure, I could still do it, and I have done it plenty- but the 
convenience, better qualitiy of my starts and stops, tapering amps, and 
the time saved, is significant.
I can go a couple of hundred welds without resharpening.
I can weld 24 ga to 1" square.
Added control is good, in my opinion.
And both of my tig machines are running just fine- in fact, my main 
machine, an inverter, has digital readout of both amps and volts, so I 
am very aware of exactly what power requirements I have, and the amps I 
really need to do the job.

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

ries

> I can't imagine welding steel at 165 to 200 amps for tig.  Fifty more 
> amps and you will be arc-gouging.  Time to check your hardware.   The 
> only thing I use a foot pedal for is to control amperage.  It's just 
> not worth it to me to set it up to start my arc.  That would slow me 
> down, not the opposite.
>
> Best,
> Bill Woolley
Ries Niemi
Industrial Artist

http://www.RiesNiemi.com