Finally got the Welder, now all the advice is gone!

[IMBLITZVT]

I got my welder in, only took 3 months... but I got it on a real good sale.

A lincoln 185 Tig welder

http://www.tig185.com/graphics/product/tig185.gif

Now I got nothing to go with it, so what do you suggest... gloves, mask, tank...whatever else I need.

It does have a pretty cool website that asks what you are welding and then tells you what setting you should set the welder to:

http://www.tig185.com/using/setupweld.asp

[cimmaronkid]

Nice welder and I am very envious. Best thing is to go to the nearest Lincoln dealer (welding shop) and ask them what you need. They will be more than helpful and get you the right stuff the first time around. Tell them what you are going to use it for, what types of metal you will be welding, etc. Almost all of the guys that work in these shops are gun nuts as well so plan on spending some time.

[tomoshenko]

Wow, talk about treating yourself right! Have you ever done any welding before? If not, you might consider a continuing education course at a local
tech college. If you get sick of TIG I will trade you my old AC/DC stick welder for it :-)

[IMBLITZVT]

Hate to tell you, its a stick welder too. :) I have done a little welding before but not on a tig. Yeah I got a real deal and the wife paid for a lot as part of my Christmas present. Now I just need suggestions for gloves etc.

[okie shooter]

Well you will need a co2 tank, lots of wire and metal to develop your welding skills. I wish I had some but only one class in college plus high school shop dont make a welder.

A friend of mines father was a professional welder, I saw some of the sheetmetal repairs he made with gas welding. thats some control.

He said for welding mask, get one of the electronic ones. Everyone I talk to thats a welder says that those are the best things ever.

[SSwee]

Argon or an Argon mix works better than a straight CO2.
SS

[Seattlefungus]

Find your local welding store. One that caters to the pros. Everything is based on the fill wire. Standard wire needing shielding gas, flux core no gas, stick with the flux on the outside of the stick. According to the pros, the gas wire is you best choice for clean weld and good penetration. Most told me to stay away from stick welders for clean welds as the flux on the outside of the stick does not provide a complete shield from outside air. The gas mix varies from the metal you want to weld and the wire used. The gun tip diameter and the wire need to match as well. I was advised to get a lot of scrap metal and practice... allot. And with a tig foot feed, that takes practice... On the choice of gas. Get the 80's, not the smaller tanks. For the metal you will use the most. Most weld gas shops have the 80's on hand and filled so they just swap. The shops I went to told me the 50's have a 24hour turnaround. Not good if you want to work the weekend and find you've run out of gas. And there is not much price difference either for value.

[Seattlefungus]

There is some good advise in the posts, I bought the electric helmet. It uses a solor cell to darken the lens when the arc begins. Here is a shop that has a hobby/home modle fora good price(they uselly run over $150 to 200) http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=helmet

[Perro]

save this to your hard drive so i dont have to type it again :)


tillman brand tig gloves - dont compromise - ask specificially for tillman brand TIG welding gloves

an auto darkening helmet with the ability to control the darkness of the shade

a bottle of straight argon - i havent used the mix so i cannot comment on that, but straight argon works great for me.

a column type regulator with the floating ball - the dial types arent accurate - ive tried 3 different kinds, and none have worked well for me. Get the column type from radnor. open the bottle all the way, if your unit controls pre and post flow of gas then crack your torch all the way, strike your pre flow and adjust the ball to about 15

get 2 gas lens bodys for 1/16 tungsten - 1 for a spare

get 2 body washers compatible with the gas lens - 1 for a spare

get 5 #6 gas lens cups - 4 for a spare

get 5 1/16 tungsten collets - 4 for a spare

ALL TIG ACCESORIES ARE PRETTY MUCH UNIVERSAL, YOU DONT NEED TO ASK FOR A CERTAIN MODEL NUMBER

get a 10 pack of 2% thoriated, or ceriated tungsten 1/16

if you plan on welding in tight spots, you can get different sized caps

get a peanut grinder with fine grit wheel for dedicated tungsten pointing ONLY

get a peanut grinder with medium grit wheel for dressing the work piece ONLY

get a pound of mild steel filler rod to start, and some scrap metal - clean it GOOD before welding for best results


works well for me, new welders results may vary, but with this setup, youre way ahead of the game already

[Big Steve]

Straight Argon only for TIG on steel and Alum. The Co2 mixes are for MIG. You can mix in some helium and nitrogen but that's for stainless. Don't practice on your guns!

Steve :machinegun:

[MID]

Practice practice pratice. Then when you think you got it good make a simple structure, and then go to town with a sledge hammer and see what breaks. If you did good, the welds wont be broken.

You can make practical usefull things during pratice. Such as midevil lawn orinaments. Which you can sell to recoupe your money. BAsicly getting paid to practice.

I made this over a year ago, been inservice 5 days a week.Pushing all sorts of dissabled cars and trucks. Made up of all scrap metal. With nuthing more then a die grinder, a torch and a stick welder.

Not a single crack. And it still slides out of the 2 inch recievers welded to the boxed in frame.

I have no training. I read a book when i was 10 and have been praticing since then.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23/midwestrider/DSC01055.jpg

[Rahatlakhoom]

At least get a full face shield mask. I used the goggles that came with
my lincoln and after a long practice session, woke up the next morning
with a severe sunburnt face, and this was a MIG.

Take your time and be patient, welding is a hard won skill.

[Geilt]

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23/midwestrider/DSC01055.jpg

Holy Jebus MID. I saw this thing and the A-TEAM theme jumped in my head.

[RandyCOG3]

Avoid the temptation to practice on scraps of galvanized pipe... galvanized metal gives off zinc fumes when welded.
NOT a good thing.

RandyCOG3