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what eBay welder?
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Glen
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Argon is heavier than air, my plan was to just weld it inside a small open tub.

Ill get pics of the water chiller tonight, i don't think you will need it for a wp17 (standard size) torch at 150 amps though.

What brand were you looking at? I always heard good things about the everlasts and they seem to have an Aus distributor. Was gonna get one if the ebay machine turned out to be junk. Andrew and My own seem be annoyingly robust though haha.
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Post Mon Nov 23, 2015 5:05 pm 
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maddox



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Nick, if you want to convert a "cheap" sandblasting cabinet, you'll have to replace the gloves and the viewport.

The original gloves just melt, and the plexi viewport is not capable to handle the UV, you'll need a piece of tempered glass (car window is what I would use)

But it is doable. If you start with a new box. Used cabinets are too contaminated in my experience.

Post Mon Nov 23, 2015 5:14 pm 
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Valen
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@glen I don't think you are going to get good coverage without burning through a lot of gas that way? argon will pretty quickly disperse into other gasses so I presume the reverse is true. Have you seen it done?

@nick the glovebox stuff I've seen seems to be they put all the parts into the box then do the welding. They use an oxygen sensor to know when they have got enough argon through to displace the oxygen.

They seem to flow the argon for like 10 minutes or so at a decent rate.
you might be able to cheat though on the argon consumption if you put all the parts in, then put a garbage bag into the box fill the garbage bag with air until it fills the box, then use an argon purge (outside the bag) to deflate it allowing it to vent to outside, so you really minimise the amount of air you are trying to get out of the chamber by dispersion. Dunno how much of an effect that would have but it could be interesting to find out for the hobby scale ;->


I reckon try with a big gas lens and a back purge of foil and tape on some scrap and see how you go, if you are stitching it and have a long post flow gas it should cover most of your weld with argon even after its cooled.
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Post Mon Nov 23, 2015 6:04 pm 
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Nick
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@ Glen: great minds think alike - the Everlast welders seem to have much better bang for the buck than other major brands, while being higher quality than the generic Chinese welders. I haven't seen any bad reviews of them yet and the Youtube welding channels seem to treat them as equals to most big name welders.

I was thinking that a small 20 size water cooled torch (capable of 250A) would be handy for getting into tight corners.



Its the same size as the #9 air cooled torch that is only capable of 125A, which is why the water cooler option is interesting.

With gas purging, I found a place that sells trailing gas diffusers and another place that sells humongus gas lenses made for difficult materials like titanium with a bit of back shielding and gassing the welds will be much better than what the 'pro' welder achieved.
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Post Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:19 pm 
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miles&Jules
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wow ti seems like a total bastard to do.....is argon bad to breath?
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 8:18 am 
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Nick
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Argon is very inert so its not poisonous in itself. Breathing too much of it would exclude oxygen so you could (in theory) suffocate. With the small amount used for welding its not likely to be a problem.
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 8:53 am 
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DumHed
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I find Titanium welds really nicely - you just need to be a bit careful about contamination and making sure you get decent argon coverage.

It's much easier and less fussy than aluminium.
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 9:36 am 
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Knightrous
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I recently bought a Rossi SUPER P200IS TIG welder from Edison's for $740.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-ROSSI-Welder-Inverter-Plasma-Cutter-4in1-Welding-Machine-AC-DC-TIG-ARC-Stick-/160861426342

While I haven't actually had a chance lately to throw down welds with it, having used Glen's TIG (Same model, different label) it's a great TIG for the money.
The only things I need to buy for it is a foot pedal ($60) and a flexi Tig torch.
I bought my D sized Argon bottle for $389 (refills are $99) and the regulator was $99. I found TIG welding easy to learn, but hard to do perfect. As a person who has never been a great welder, I'll suffice for ugly looking welds, as long as they are strong Smile
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 9:39 am 
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Nick
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That's another point - are flex head torches really useful?
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:12 am 
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Knightrous
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quote:
Originally posted by Nick:
That's another point - are flex head torches really useful?


My opinion might be biased because my first TIG experience was with a flex head, but it made it a lot easier as I didn't have to hold my hands at a specific angle to keep the torch at the right angle, I just flexed the head and kept my hands in a comfortable position. I can only imagine this gets even better when your trying to do welds in tight corners or welding things that you can't put on the bench.
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:22 am 
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Glen
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I struggle to go without them now haha. You have to rest your hand on something to weld nicely, they make this very easy to do so, as you can put your palm on part of the robot frame and bend the torch into position etc.

+ Aaron that's a surprise it didn't come with the footpedal - mine did but it sucks haha. If you can hold out till i finish my new pedal you can have the old stock one.

For gas i just bought a full size E cylinder for $460 they pick up and drop off the gas free too. Very nice people to deal with Smile
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 10:31 am 
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Nick
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That's good to know; I really like the look of these Weldtec rotating and interchangeable head torches:



Typically, they are not available locally Sad
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:40 am 
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DumHed
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I've only had a flex head torch more recently at work, and don't find it that useful.

All the complex stuff I've done in the past has been with a generic WP17 torch and I never found it to be a problem.
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Post Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:07 pm 
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Valen
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I've only desired a smaller torch like 3 times that I can think of.
Mostly a shorter tungsten would have done the job.

Probably one of those you don't miss what you never had dealies.

If they are spendy then have a go with the standard torch and get one of those if you need it. If you want to have a play with TIG you can come up and use ours and get a feel for it, see if its for you.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 8:23 am 
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Nick
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The Everlast welders are off the shopping list - they are all out of stock until at least January Mad. At least the local agent was prompt and helpful at getting back to me. I found two alternatives; A little know company called Token Tools that imports a unit very similar to the Everlast:



Chances are that both welders come from the same factory Smile. This one is almost $500 cheaper with the same warranty and accessories.

The other option a Unimig with similar specs:



It is a re-branded Jasic welder from China; I can't remember if I heard good or bad things about Jasic in the past. It costs slightly less than the Token Tools welder but has a shorter warranty and less accessories included, possibly lower customer service as well.

So far, the Token tools TIG is in front by a nose - any opinions?

What would the experts recommend about tungsten and filler rod size for 3mm mild steel? I have quite a bit of that lying around so its a good place to start learning.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 12:48 pm 
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