Fired up my tig machine

DavidR8 said:
Hmmm I'm a righty but I might have to give it a go with the torch in my left hand.
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DavidR8... I am right handed too but I think you will find that switching hands is not really hard at all, and in fact, beneficial. There will be times as you get into more welding that you will HAVE to switch hands, unless you can stand on your head and weld (if you do that, please post a video). For myself, I have had moments where I felt like I could weld better with the torch in my left hand and the wire in my right. Not sure why. I am not even close to being ambidextrous.
One of my biggest issues is welding a straight line, literally. I have no artistic talent whatsoever and apparently I can't even draw a straight line.
 
Aukai said:
I bought the machine from a shop that closed, they said they only used it for stick welding. The plug was cut off so I couldn't run it at the time, for 800.00 I took a chance. It took time to wire the garage, and have a plug put on, then I found out they only stick welded because they burnt a board, and that's all it would do. LOL 1200 bucks for the board, but it's working
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That is still a heck of a deal for that rig. Super expensive new as you will know.
 
7milesup said:
DavidR8... I am right handed too but I think you will find that switching hands is not really hard at all, and in fact, beneficial. There will be times as you get into more welding that you will HAVE to switch hands, unless you can stand on your head and weld (if you do that, please post a video). For myself, I have had moments where I felt like I could weld better with the torch in my left hand and the wire in my right. Not sure why. I am not even close to being ambidextrous.
One of my biggest issues is welding a straight line, literally. I have no artistic talent whatsoever and apparently I can't even draw a straight line.
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Yup, I often joke that my left arm is just along for the ride as it sure doesn't contribute much. All joking aside, I am definitely going to try with the torch in my left hand as I can imagine my right hand might give me more filler rod control
 
Another high on my list projects is to build a tungsten sharpener. I know there are many available but they are either 1.) Too expensive or 2.) Too chintzy.
I used a Piranha when I was taking a night class for welding and wanted to buy one but at well north of $600 I could not justify it. If I could source a motor I believe with our machinist skills it would be fairly straightforward to make a good one. Use a 4" or so diameter diamond disk and collets to hold the tungsten....
 
Aukai said:
This is the monster I hope to figure out, and the table. I don't know if I'm left handed, or right handed yet, and have not figured out which direction I like the best. Gotta burn some more gas.... That is the big amp plug in the back, I may just put a 50 amp plug, and have it for backup, there is a fused throw switch too.

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I love the photo with the lathe & welder in the same frame. You’re doing it right! Lifetime Man Card right there.
 
When your work shop allowed space is 10' long, and 20' wide lots of things get in the picture. The black bag to the left of the welder is the Hypertherm 45 XP, the miller 211 MIG is behind the cart on the right, and the Grizzly G0755 is just out of frame next to the stool by the table, also the 80 gal 220v compressor is to the right of that....:) There is a huge amount of capability available, but ones individual ability is leaving a lot on the table.
 
This is about as good as I can get with aluminum.
Had to make a bracket for the tool box on my tractor. 3/16 plate. 3/32 tungsten. 3/32 filler. 170-ish amps.
 

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I'd love to be able to do that :encourage:
I did order some 1/8, and 3/16 coupons from Ebay so I can practice my steel first.
 
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