[Franz©]

Little secret nobody told you. For a beginner switching processes from Heliarc to stick or the other way is a chalenge. Consider that with a TIG torch you're striving to maintain torch distance and attitude, and especially keeping the tungsten out of the pool. Stick on the other hand you're constantly moving the stinger to keep feeding into the pool. 2 entirely different actions and until you get both to a matter of muscle memory, transition is hell. Same applys to Mig/stick transitions. I still remember when we got the first MIG around 1980. The dream of an endless rod was fulfilled, and MIG was the go to whenever possible. Got the coordination down, and it was possible to take longer naps under the hood. Grabbed the stinger one day for a quick overhead pass on something and felt like a damn fool. For you at this point attempting to do TIG/stick transitions is counter productive.

7018 restarts have always been a pain in the ass. That's why you find a lot of long stubs in the bucket when the weldor isn't paying for the rod, and why some shops make you turn stubs in to get more rods. Either use that concrete floor to knock the cup off the rod, or find yourself an old coarse file. My preference goes to a halfround about 14" long. Run the rod up the file like you're striking a match and the cup comes off. When you get that down we'll talk about cutting a couple notches in one edge of the file. Save your stubs, they'll come in handy later on.

[Franz©]

Erik, this will get you started in addition to the book.
http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/142-span-c ... pan-shop-1

NO putting it on the phone and watching in the truck!

[cj737]

I have still never lit up on aluminum even though I have a Miller 210DX and a lot of clean 6061 1/4" thick, 1 1/2" wide bar ready to go. Your post motivated me to buy 2 pounds of 1/16" 4043 filler for my aluminum practice material.

You might get some thinner ally to practice on. 1/4" will require all the amps your Dynasty can throw at it, and unless you're using a water cooled torch, your #17 will get very hot, very quickly. (I know you have the Coolmate, just warning you).

1/8" material with 3/32" filler is probably the sweet spot for practice. I'd also practice just running some stringer beads on ally, and get comfortable with how the material soaks up the heat, before you dive into welding corners and other fitments. And a #8 cup is a very good, all-around cup size until you get into small, jammed up spots.

Your practice images above show improvement, but they all show too cold a weld and too much filler. Increasing the amps will help flatten out the profile, and reducing the amount of filler will help too. With steel, you can weld much thicker material more easily than ally. So grab some 3/32" filler, some 1/4"-3/8" steel, and weld until your hair grows back. You can quench periodically to help prevent your practice piece from getting nuclear hot too.

[Erik Mannie]

Thanks for all the great info. The only problem I had today was when I stopped getting any Argon at one point (after welding very happily for a few hours) even though the Argon tank was about 2/3 full (1400 psi).

I fixed it by (1) putting in a new gas collet body, collet and #8 nozzle, (2) freshly sharpened electrode, (3) new gas hose and a completely new Argon tank (2000 psi), (4) tightening everything from the Argon tank to the tip of the electrode, and (5) increasing the gas flow from 15 cfh to 25 cfh. I don't know what the problem was. We'll see how that old gas hose and Argon tank do when I put them back into service.

I didn't have an extra (long) back cap, but I ordered one for next time I am substituting in new parts. I definitely appreciate the shielding gas flow now! I was worried that something was wrong with my power supply. If I had to send it in for service, that would be a financial challenge for us.

I will upload a picture of today's welds, both before and after grinding with a wire wheel. I tried to use more heat and less 1/16" ER70S-2.

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[Erik Mannie]

I am a complete novice myself, but today I got my 17 year old son on my TIG setup. This is a picture of his very first time welding. In the photo, he just turned off the Dynasty 210DX and the electrode is still glowing. He thought that welding was very fun (of course). He spent four hours under the hood. I spent the whole time bringing him clean 3/16" steel. He did autogenous welds for two hours and then two hours with 1/16" and 3/32" ER70S-2. I also uploaded a picture of his beginner's luck first bead with filler. During those four hours, he dipped the tungsten about a dozen times. When he was done, he went on his laptop and watched at least one of Jody's TIG videos.

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[Franz©]

I envy your fortune with your son. You may go broke buying Argon & paying the electrc bill, but it will be worth it.

Look at it this way, you'll probably make faster progress with you cutting and tossing him the parts to weld up.

That will give you more time to read machining and welding books too.

[Erik Mannie]

I envy your fortune with your son. You may go broke buying Argon & paying the electrc bill, but it will be worth it.

Look at it this way, you'll probably make faster progress with you cutting and tossing him the parts to weld up.

That will give you more time to read machining and welding books too.

I did make myself broke buying the "TIG setup", which was the Dynasty 210DX with CPS, Coolmate 1.3, Miller Small Runner Cart, ArcStation, two Q size Argon tanks, Victor dual flowmeter, CK Worldwide 20 series torch, 250A Tweco stick electrode and all the other stuff needed to spend hundreds of hours practicing. I never regret spending money on good tools and equipment.

Here is the first thing we made. It is a pencil holder.

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[LtBadd]

That's one expensive pencil holder...

[Erik Mannie]

That's one expensive pencil holder...

That is exactly what I told my wife! I uploaded a video of my son TIG welding for the first time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQXYfGmnv1Y

The pencil holder looks like it was made by a child. I didn't have a good plan.

[Franz©]

You only think that's an expensive pencil holder.

Wait till you tally up the cost of a milling machine and tooling to carve a pencil holder from a block of steel.

[JayWal]

I like the patchwork look of it actually. Pretty neat, sure beats welding 5 flat pieces into a square.

[Erik Mannie]

I like the patchwork look of it actually. Pretty neat, sure beats welding 5 flat pieces into a square.

Funny you should mention that. I just spent the last five hours welding 5 flat pieces into a square. I told about a half dozen people that I was going to make them a metal box, so now I need the fastest design. I am now using 1/8" steel plate (scrap, obviously).

I was undermotivated laying stringers on plate steel or even welding practice joints. Even though I spend most of the time cutting, grinding and setting up clamps, I am happier practicing my beads on something that won't go into the scrap heap.

I head off to a two week Chromoly Brazing class tomorrow, and then a two day class "Intro to TIG". The day after Mother's Day, I start Chromoly TIG. Even though vocational school is ruinously expensive, it is fun.

[Erik Mannie]

You only think that's an expensive pencil holder.

Wait till you tally up the cost of a milling machine and tooling to carve a pencil holder from a block of steel.

One of my lifetime goals is to get a small to medium mill and lathe (not a combination unit), and learn how to use them. I think this is what I will be doing when I am retired.

I am a renter so I can't get a really heavy unit because I might have to move it every few years, maybe even with only 30 days notice. If I get a medium one, I will probably leave it on a pallet.

[Franz©]

Eric, it may not be safe for you to continue associating with me.
You should consider that I helped 1 buddy package a 6" lathe into airline acceptable luggage so he could fly it to Alaska and carry it into his apartment living room.
I also once disassembled a Bridgeport in a school shop and delivered it to another bud's shop, in the cellar of his mother's house. That little trick required a powered appliance cart and safety winch. The stairs had to be reenforced too.

Have you ever given any thought to owning a 28 foot trailer with a shop inside the trailer? Figure on a 40 minimum if you'll need living space in the trailer and 48 if you need to accomodate a genset, water heater and propane and Diesel tanks.

[Erik Mannie]

Eric, it may not be safe for you to continue associating with me.
You should consider that I helped 1 buddy package a 6" lathe into airline acceptable luggage so he could fly it to Alaska and carry it into his apartment living room.
I also once disassembled a Bridgeport in a school shop and delivered it to another bud's shop, in the cellar of his mother's house. That little trick required a powered appliance cart and safety winch. The stairs had to be reenforced too.

Have you ever given any thought to owning a 28 foot trailer with a shop inside the trailer? Figure on a 40 minimum if you'll need living space in the trailer and 48 if you need to accomodate a genset, water heater and propane and Diesel tanks.

Wow, those are some extreme equipment moving stories. That is amazing that you reinforced the stairs.

It is very crowded in the city that I live in (Santa Rosa, CA). There is nowhere to park a trailer of any size. I am lucky to find a house to rent with a garage of any size. Being a city slicker, I had to look up the word genset.

[Franz©]

Are there any Co-Op machining clubs in your area?
There is a group in Rochester that leases some space in the old Bausch & Lombe with a half decent shop.

They got lucky on the timing and scored some machines that would have been headed for China were it not for the Co-Op.

[Erik Mannie]

Are there any Co-Op machining clubs in your area?
There is a group in Rochester that leases some space in the old Bausch & Lombe with a half decent shop.

They got lucky on the timing and scored some machines that would have been headed for China were it not for the Co-Op.

I looked for a machining co-op in the Bay Area (CA), but I didn't find one even though there are 7,000,000 people here.

I will buy a mini lathe and mini mill to get started, probably Grizzly products. If I wait to get medium sized equipment, it might not ever happen due to tight finances.

[Franz©]

http://www.baemclub.com/

[Artie F. Emm]

There is nowhere to park a trailer of any size.

Easy, just paint Walmart on the side and leave it in their parking lot.

Any kind of makerspace or hackerspace you could join? Or did you look into that when you looked for co-op machining clubs.

[Franz©]

Another valuable bedside reader for budding lathe operators.
http://www.vintagemachinery.org/pubs/1617/3789.pdf

It's free, and well worth the time to read. Knowing how the machine operates, what holds it together and what can be done with it is key to success in machining.

[Erik Mannie]

So my first planned trip to The Hobart Institute has fallen through because I couldn't find a place to stay. I was only going for 8 weeks, and all of the landlords required a minimum 12 month lease. I considered living in a van, but even my van deal fell through. A motel for 8 weeks would be too expensive.

I had already bought my round trip ticket (nonrefundable) and given Hobart a $150 deposit. This could not have gone more badly.

I will try it again later with a plan to stay in an RV Park.

[LtBadd]

So my first planned trip to The Hobart Institute has fallen through because I couldn't find a place to stay. I was only going for 8 weeks, and all of the landlords required a minimum 12 month lease. I considered living in a van, but even my van deal fell through. A motel for 8 weeks would be too expensive.

I had already bought my round trip ticket (nonrefundable) and given Hobart a $150 deposit. This could not have gone more badly.

I will try it again later with a plan to stay in an RV Park.

Erik sorry to hear that, I attended Hobart many years ago, but at that time I lived in Columbus, a 1.5 hour drive.

[cj737]

So my first planned trip to The Hobart Institute has fallen through because I couldn't find a place to stay. I was only going for 8 weeks, and all of the landlords required a minimum 12 month lease. I considered living in a van, but even my van deal fell through. A motel for 8 weeks would be too expensive.

I had already bought my round trip ticket (nonrefundable) and given Hobart a $150 deposit. This could not have gone more badly.

I will try it again later with a plan to stay in an RV Park.

Before you give up, check out Air BnB. Some places allow lengthier stays, up to 1 year in a private home. Most will do by-the-week rental.

[Erik Mannie]

I still want to go to Hobart, but I will have to only go for the classes that directly pertain to what I am doing (building bicycle frames).

I still don't understand what the students do in the down time between classes, especially the weekends. I have gone out of state for school many times, but the schools always had so much homework that it filled the down time. I don't think that Hobart has mountains of homework.

When I go, I guess I would just stay in a motel, Uber to class and back, and read a few books. I sure would miss having a shop.