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what eBay welder?
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Glen
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JASIC was the original maker of my welder (jasic 200p) - idk if it's still a chinese brand or not. Probably is. Would be hard to go wrong with a local supplier and decent warranty on that token one.

1.6mm for tungsten and filler. 2.4mm is only for heavier stuff.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 1:15 pm 
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Nick
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Thanks, will start an order later today. The welder comes with almost everything needed for steel, I will just need to get a larger gas lens for doing titanium.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 1:51 pm 
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maddox



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Giant and Youli are also generic Chinese welders.
I have to admit, I notice a difference between my Youli and the Kempi I used at work.
The Kempi struck the HF arc a lot faster, and it was a lot more focused. Giving a more stable and restfull arc.

On the other hand, €520 or €5200 is a HUGE difference.

On needles and rods. I use 2.4 for most of my work. For very fine work, the arc isn't stable enough on the cheapo. 1.6 should be possible tough.

But that I solve with using the TIG of a friend, who has an ancient Oerlikon from the 1960's. It fills a shed, rumbles like an avalange and when in use hums like a swarm of killer wasps, but I never welded with a more soft and gentle arc stricking it from 30mm's distance and keeping it.

Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 4:14 pm 
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Nick
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I would have bought a Kempi too - except a unit with equivalent features to the Token or Everlast would cost around $5,000 over here! Shocked I have a small Kempi MIG welder and it's been fantastic.

The new TIG is on the way and with a bit of luck, I will be welding (or at least trying to) over the weekend.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 4:25 pm 
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Nick
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@ local welders: Mario put me on to this amazing range of welding tables:

http://weldtables.com/

Assembly video: https://youtu.be/31L4VTfFH1A

Would anyone be interested in getting a couple made locally?
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 4:54 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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Make sure you grind up plenty of tungsten tips and have them handy Smile

They take a bit of work to grind, being so hard, get quite hot doing so requiring gloves, and if you are using Thoriated (mildly radioactive) tungstens, you dont want to breathe the dust. Theyre not deadly dangerous or they wouldnt sell them, The tiny amount (3-4%) of Thorium only slowly decays into Alpha particles which skin will easily stop, but you probably dont want to accumulate a lungful which a professional welder might do if not warned not to.

Lots of differing opinions on what type (ceriated, lanthanated, etc) is best for what current range and AC/DC welding. Jody has some thoughts, but it seems theres a lot of arguments on all sides. Use what you like Smile

Regardless of what you're using, you'll probably dip it in the weld pool a few times (or often) while you develop the feel, and having a few ground spares on hand ready to go will keep you moving along practicing if you dont have to stop and regrind each time.

I find that if you only have a small amount of contamination on the tip from an accidental dip, and not a great big blob, you can get away with continuing to weld without the arc quality deteriorating noticeably.

Also once you do get a round blob on there, the arc does wander around more, but you can also quite often get most of it off simply by welding on something until the tungsten is red hot, stopping and quickly tapping the torch handle (not the tip) against something hard while the tungsten is still red hot. The molten contamination will fly off, much like clearing a soldering iron tip with a tap.

Definitely not recommended for quality welds on a final product, but while you are just practicing on mild steel, a tap clear is a lot quicker than replacing the tungsten to keep you going while you develop the feel of maintaining a tight arc without dipping all the time.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 5:00 pm 
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Nick
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Is there any reason not to grind both ends so I have more uncontaminated tips? After watching Jody's comparison video, I went with the lanthanated electrodes.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 5:10 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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The only thing I can think of is that the back end of the tip is usually color coded with a bit of paint to identify if its thoriated, lanthanated etc. if you grind both ends, you will take the paint off, making identifying the type hard - if you have different types about. other than that, I cant see a problem with grinding both ends.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 5:16 pm 
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Glen
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Andrew and i seem to have settled on thoriated for everything including aluminium. The white tipped ones don't seem to be any better on my machine. Might be better on a digital welder.

As for grinding both ends, if you blob up both sides then you can't remove it from the collet without cutting one end off (Wasteful) or regrinding one end again in the torch which is awkward and annoying.

Regrinding the tip each time it gets blobbed up is good incentive to stop dipping the tungsten into the weld pool Razz
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 5:20 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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I use Thoriated for everything as well.. I tried the white ones (cant remember what they are), and didnt notice any difference, but Im all DC/Steel at the moment.

Good point on the blobbing both ends, I didnt think of that, but you could tap the blob off as I described.

Not dipping is pretty easy with just a little practice when you are sitting at the bench all comfy with the parts nicely viced up in front of you.

Its a bit harder when you are upside down welding on the underneath of a tricycle frame (which Ive been building some of) attaching some bracket. Not quite practical to mount the whole mostly assembled frame on the bench upside down.

As they say, the most important thing for good quality consistent welds, is to be comfortable. but its not always possible.. a friend of mine used to be a certified pipe welder and he told me some horror stories about overhead stick welding pipes while hanging 50ft in the air from a sling, cos thats what the installation job required.

Its nice when you can make Tig Welding a desk job, but not all jobs work out like that. Smile
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 5:27 pm 
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Rotwang
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Not turning the gas on is my main reason for regrinding. Belt sander works well for sharpening.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 5:44 pm 
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Valen
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re-grinding isn't really that hard, you don't actually need to pull the torch apart, just loosen the rear cap dealie then pull the tungsten through, perhaps shake the torch some if it gets jammed in the collet, it cools off pretty quick.

Remember you need to grind the whole thing though (the exposed area), not just a new tip, take all the contamination off.

One tip I found, use a riggers glove (pigskin or something else super thin) on your torch hand and a regular welding glove on your rod hand. If the work is getting hot put some insulator there to rest your torch hand on (block of wood or whatever)

Might be different with a foot pedal but with the trigger start I wind up with like an underhanded grip and the extra dexterity really helps.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:09 pm 
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Spockie-Tech
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One more thing just came to mind. Make sure you button up the top button on your (hopefully fireproof cotton) welding shirt.

Tig Welding being fairly slow, you're exposed to the arc a lot longer, and you tend to sit closer than other types of welding, and while I was *certain the bottom of my welding mask was covering the small opening at the top of the shirt when the mask was down, a couple of times Ive somehow ended up with a painful bright pink triangle there, which then itches and peels etc etc.. Ow.

Not sure how, but its happened and its not fun. Button up ! Smile
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:50 pm 
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Nick
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Been there a few times! I now have an awesome old denim jacket (practically an antique) for welding. I might get a proper leather welding jacket but they look too hot for summer.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 6:59 pm 
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Nick
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Another dumb question - if the welder comes with a foot pedal, does the torch really need a button on it as well to start the arc? the cheap-looking torch that comes in the package does have a button but all the after-market torches I am interested in don't.
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Post Wed Nov 25, 2015 8:16 pm 
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