What a Difference a Great Tool Makes!

fitzo said:
Thanks, Chris! Tells me all I needed to know. Now to spring the money from my wallet. It's either this or a TIG I don't need but horribly desire! lol The drill press would be a real welcome change from watching these two Taiwanese jobs wobble the bits despite having a Starrett arbor and an overpriced Albrecht chuck.

Side note to @52 Ford - As it works out, I will be looking at the Froenius (sp?) TIG welder you mentioned, this week I hope. Choices look like Miller, Lincoln, Froenius, or ESAB. Baseline model. At this point, if HF reviews on their better TIG didn't have 4 or 5 "it broke the second time I used it" I'd look at them, too. Can't do it.
Pretty sure I'm going for a Miller elite helmet after hearing scathing anger at 3M for how they handle Speedglas.
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Awesome! I suggest you check out Optrel, too. I was just looking at their hoods a minute ago. That "autopilot" feature they have sounds pretty interesting. It adjusts the shade setting automatically based on how bight the arc is.

I've never tried one out, but if it works well, it'd be really convenient. I find myself going from shade 9 all the way up to shade 13 fairly frequently. The Optrel headgear looks nice, too.

Oh, and the one I was looking has a light state of 2.5, so shade 2.5 when it's not darkened. That's SUPER light.

AND they're made in Switzerland (NOT China!)

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fitzo said:
Thanks, Chris! Tells me all I needed to know. Now to spring the money from my wallet. It's either this or a TIG I don't need but horribly desire! lol The drill press would be a real welcome change from watching these two Taiwanese jobs wobble the bits despite having a Starrett arbor and an overpriced Albrecht chuck.

Side note to @52 Ford - As it works out, I will be looking at the Froenius (sp?) TIG welder you mentioned, this week I hope. Choices look like Miller, Lincoln, Froenius, or ESAB. Baseline model. At this point, if HF reviews on their better TIG didn't have 4 or 5 "it broke the second time I used it" I'd look at them, too. Can't do it.
Pretty sure I'm going for a Miller elite helmet after hearing scathing anger at 3M for how they handle Speedglas.
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Also: Keep in mind that product failure rate tends to follow a "bathtub curve". A product is most likely to fail when it's brand new and when it's at end of life. So, if you get a Vulcan welder (of which I have a 20% off coupon I can give you) and it DOESNT break shortly after you get it, it aught to be fine for a long time.
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@52 Ford. Thanks for the info and the curve! There are plenty of good reviews for the Vulcan, so I’ll have to keep that in mind. This is just for pure screwing aound because I want to experience TIG before I go, so the HF may be all I ever need, and it’s two miles away if it breaks when brand new.
I’m still going to check out the other brands and will check for that Optrel hood. I need good eye protection as they already had cataracts and Covid further messed the peepers up. The choice of the Miller Elite was because my buddy just bought one with hos welder and DMd me a pic through the hood that was like daylight. Very cool compared to that old POS I gave away with the MIG.
 
fitzo said:
@52 Ford. Thanks for the info and the curve! There are plenty of good reviews for the Vulcan, so I’ll have to keep that in mind. This is just for pure screwing aound because I want to experience TIG before I go, so the HF may be all I ever need, and it’s two miles away if it breaks when brand new.
I’m still going to check out the other brands and will check for that Optrel hood. I need good eye protection as they already had cataracts and Covid further messed the peepers up. The choice of the Miller Elite was because my buddy just bought one with hos welder and DMd me a pic through the hood that was like daylight. Very cool compared to that old POS I gave away with the MIG.
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Whatcha gonna weld when you get your TIG machine? If I was going to buy a TIG welder right now, it'd have to be AC/DC. Not many other good ways to stick thin aluminum together other than AC TIG. Plus, it opens up options for other materials, too. Pulsed TIG and whatnot.

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52 Ford said:
Whatcha gonna weld when you get your TIG machine? If I was going to buy a TIG welder right now, it'd have to be AC/DC. Not many other good ways to stick thin aluminum together other than AC TIG. Plus, it opens up options for other materials, too. Pulsed TIG and whatnot.

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I have no real plans. This is pure bucket-list indulgence. I will most likely try to learn on steel but I have a bunch of aluminum that will be here when I croak if I don't figure out how to ruin it for everybody else before then. :)

I know I want an AC/DC machine. it would be nice if it would also do stick. (I've done gas and MIG. Gave the MIG away when I closed the smithy. Big mistake.) It would be nice if one could change torches to a thumb-wheel style but that's not critical. I would like pulse, and I would like high frequency to get scratchless starts. I have read that square wave is preferential to sine wave, but don't know enough to understand truth there or not. I know because of how my friend is doing with his that a Lincoln Squarewave (no stick capability) would likely do everything I'd ever want to do, but it is one of those simplified control panels that limit capabilites. Would I need that extended control? Unlikely, but it's always nice to have the option, nay? The Miller bothers me because the torch is hard wired and not user changeable. No stick, either.

So, I'll look at the ESAB and Froenius and see if they have a little more control versatility compared to the Lincoln or Miller. And, I'll think about the Harbor Freight. That said, the HF will not provide access to welders, which the welding shop machines will do. I'll need to find a teacher for hire, so they will be better help with that. It is a big, confusing juggling act right now and I have option paralysis and nowhere to ask except on these forums. I wish to heck I still was around the maintenance guys at work, because I was buds with most all the welders. Funny how popular you get when the maintenance guys find out you can sharpen the knives they've trashed. LOL

Thanks for your opinions and help.
 
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You know there's a new drill press in your future when your wife starts thinking about and making suggestions how to get it down in the basement and put together. LOL

My bride of 48 years has supported me 110% throughout my tool and knifemaking journey. Heck, she was the striker on my first damascus billet. 5 foot, 95 pounds, and swung a 12 pound maul for hours. Thank you, Nanc.
 
fitzo said:
You know there's a new drill press in your future when your wife starts thinking about and making suggestions how to get it down in the basement and put together. LOL

My bride of 48 years has supported me 110% throughout my tool and knifemaking journey. Heck, she was the striker on my first damascus billet. 5 foot, 95 pounds, and swung a 12 pound maul for hours. Thank you, Nanc.
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Great to have a supportive wife! It's even better when they are willing to help out.

My wife and I have been together almost as long, 40 years this October. She was right out in the garage helping me get mine put together. We are both weaker than we used to be, and it was quite a struggle!
 
CDHumiston said:
Great to have a supportive wife! It's even better when they are willing to help out.

My wife and I have been together almost as long, 40 years this October. She was right out in the garage helping me get mine put together. We are both weaker than we used to be, and it was quite a struggle!
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My Pa once told me, in maybe his best advice ever, "Son, you don't even understand what you've got. You've got a wife who wants nothing more in life than to be included in everything you do, no matter how cockamamie an idea it is. You just don't know how precious that is. Think about your mother and me.' They didn't have that. I understood and took it to heart. We're pretty much inseparable.

We just came back in from mixing about two cubic feet of dirt for a planter - peat, sand, composted manure, topsoil - two radiocarts full, and it absolutely killed our butts. We needed another to fill the planter, and looked at each other and said, "No more" nearly simultaneously. 70 is getting too old for a feeble old man and little bent over old lady to be doing this crap. Haha.

Most of her plans include getting the lawncare guys to get it downstairs and assemble it. We tip our crew generously each year for just these types of needs. I'm happy to pay a couple mimimum wage guys busting their arses every day a Benjamin apiece to get something like the drilll press done and some extra cash in their hands.

So, we'll see. I had welder in my head for months, now I have welder and drill press there. I'm not certain of the order but I'll have both before too long. Life is getting short, I can't take it with me, no kids, and the nieces and nephews don't even really remember we're alive, so ... let them sell the friggin drill press! :D.

PS - Congratulations on 40 years! That is a rare accomplishment these days when divorce is almost like something you can pick up at the drive up at a Wendy's.
 
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fitzo said:
I have no real plans. This is pure bucket-list indulgence. I will most likely try to learn on steel but I have a bunch of aluminum that will be here when I croak if I don't figure out how to ruin it for everybody else before then. :)

I know I want an AC/DC machine. it would be nice if it would also do stick. (I've done gas and MIG. Gave the MIG away when I closed the smithy. Big mistake.) It would be nice if one could change torches to a thumb-wheel style but that's not critical. I would like pulse, and I would like high frequency to get scratchless starts. I have read that square wave is preferential to sine wave, but don't know enough to understand truth there or not. I know because of how my friend is doing with his that a Lincoln Squarewave (no stick capability) would likely do everything I'd ever want to do, but it is one of those simplified control panels that limit capabilites. Would I need that extended control? Unlikely, but it's always nice to have the option, nay? The Miller bothers me because the torch is hard wired and not user changeable. No stick, either.

So, I'll look at the ESAB and Froenius and see if they have a little more control versatility compared to the Lincoln or Miller. And, I'll think about the Harbor Freight. That said, the HF will not provide access to welders, which the welding shop machines will do. I'll need to find a teacher for hire, so they will be better help with that. It is a big, confusing juggling act right now and I have option paralysis and nowhere to ask except on these forums. I wish to heck I still was around the maintenance guys at work, because I was buds with most all the welders. Funny how popular you get when the maintenance guys find out you can sharpen the knives they've trashed. LOL

Thanks for your opinions and help.
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I have some suggestions if ya wanna hear:
Check out 6061.com - look at the "TIG button". It's a torch mounted amp control that works just like a foot pedal. Varies amperage based on pressure on the button. 6061 has a YouTube channel, too. That dude can weld his butt off!

Check out "Welding Tips and Tricks" on YouTube. Jodi (host) is an excellent teacher. He also (owns?) WeldMonger.com... Home of the "TIG finger". It's a heat resistant pad that you put over your welding glove so you can steady your hand against your work as you weld (without incinerating your digits).

Check out ThisOldTony on YouTube - He does a great job producing his videos. Lots of fancy editing. Anyway, he's a hobby machinist (a good one!) and has some videos on TIG that I think will really help you out as a beginner.

Also - if it'll TIG, it'll SMAW. Both processes require a constant current (CC) power supply, where FCAW and MIG require a constant voltage power supply (CV). You can also TIG weld with a SMAW machine.

The issue with trying to TIG with something like an old transformer stick burner like a Lincoln "tombstone" is that there is no provision for an amp controller (e.g. foot pedal), no "easy" way to start the arc (e.g. lift arc or HF start), and no gas solenoid integrated into the machine. With a setup like this, you'd go straight from the shielding gas cylinder, through your flow meter, then straight to the torch. This is why some torches have a gas valve on the actual torch body.

Gas valve torches and even scratch start (starting the TIG arc without high frequency start - like lighting a match) do have applications in industry.

You can't use high frequency start around sensitive electronics and if you're using something like an engine drive welder you're probably going to need a gas valve on your torch.

Edit; it's "weldmongerstore.com"

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52 Ford said:
I have some suggestions if ya wanna hear:
Check out 6061.com - look at the "TIG button". It's a torch mounted amp control that works just like a foot pedal. Varies amperage based on pressure on the button. 6061 has a YouTube channel, too. That dude can weld his butt off!

Check out "Welding Tips and Tricks" on YouTube. Jodi (host) is an excellent teacher. He also (owns?) WeldMonger.com... Home of the "TIG finger". It's a heat resistant pad that you put over your welding glove so you can steady your hand against your work as you weld (without incinerating your digits).

Check out ThisOldTony on YouTube - He does a great job producing his videos. Lots of fancy editing. Anyway, he's a hobby machinist (a good one!) and has some videos on TIG that I think will really help you out as a beginner.

Also - if it'll TIG, it'll SMAW. Both processes require a constant current (CC) power supply, where FCAW and MIG require a constant voltage power supply (CV). You can also TIG weld with a SMAW machine.

The issue with trying to TIG with something like an old transformer stick burner like a Lincoln "tombstone" is that there is no provision for an amp controller (e.g. foot pedal), no "easy" way to start the arc (e.g. lift arc or HF start), and no gas solenoid integrated into the machine. With a setup like this, you'd go straight from the shielding gas cylinder, through your flow meter, then straight to the torch. This is why some torches have a gas valve on the actual torch body.

Gas valve torches and even scratch start (starting the TIG arc without high frequency start - like lighting a match) do have applications in industry.

You can't use high frequency start around sensitive electronics and if you're using something like an engine drive welder you're probably going to need a gas valve on your torch.

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Thanks, man! I DO want the info and the advice. I'll check out the leads. Appreciado.
 
I saw the CK early on and it was recommended as one of three choices - Red, Blue, or CK. Finding someone local who sold them proved fruitless. One place advertised CK, I got all excited, but all they have ever carried were their torches. He said they have the best torches. I am not real enthused with the idea of ordering delivery. I want to be able to look someone right in the eye if it breaks and drop it in their lap.

Primeweld was suggested here as a decent import, but once again all I can find is mail order. gack.
 
fitzo said:
I saw the CK early on and it was recommended as one of three choices - Red, Blue, or CK. Finding someone local who sold them proved fruitless. One place advertised CK, I got all excited, but all they have ever carried were their torches. He said they have the best torches. I am not real enthused with the idea of ordering delivery. I want to be able to look someone right in the eye if it breaks and drop it in their lap.

Primeweld was suggested here as a decent import, but once again all I can find is mail order. gack.
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Gotcha. I don't blame you a bit.

For what it's worth, I don't think I've ever heard anything bad about CK torches. I believe one of their selling points is the "super flex" hoses they use (or something like that)

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Wow, what a difference a month makes. Not uncommon in my life, ill health interfering and determining my course forward is a way of life. :mad:

I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) mid-June during a routine checkup. Went through a cardiology evaluation a couple weeks ago and saw the cardiologist for the news last Thursday. Nothing fixable, I simply have a heart in decline. Two more medications. Unsurprising, but alters long term plans, again. Oh, well, life is like that.

So, I completely compromised everything I've been saying I wouldn't do :rolleyes:, decided I wasn't going to buy the high-priced spread and end up with something pricey my wife will be burdened to sell in a couple years. I went and looked at the Harbor Freight big Vulcan TIG but they don't have one in stock, and the restock date for the website is December. That said to me that while they have one at a store in Wisconsin that they could transfer, if I get a clunker I can't get a replacement. So that won't work, plus I really don't like scrolling through menus for everything.

I kept going back to the Primeweld TIG225x that @Gliden07 suggested last year. (Thanks for mentioning it!!) Good reviews except for the few DOAs that seem inevitable for everything Chinese, in stock, and a bunch of knobs and switches instead of menus. So I ordered it. Picked up a steel welding table and a cart from Harbor Freight. Will get an ESAB Sentinel A50 helmet and tank of argon tomorrow, the welder arrives Wednesday, and hopefully by Thursday afternoon I'll know whether I have a unit that works.

If I take to this and mr ticker keeps up it's rather strange rhumba beat the same and doesn't change, eventually I may buy American. If the Primeweld keeps working, though...

Thanks to all who have made suggestions, and to @52 Ford for being so willing to help. It's appreciated.
 
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fitzo said:
Wow, what a difference a month makes. Not uncommon in my life, ill health interfering and determining my course forward is a way of life. :mad:

I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation (A-Fib) mid-June during a routine checkup. Went through a cardiology evaluation a couple weeks ago and saw the cardiologist for the news last Thursday. Nothing fixable, I simply have a heart in decline. Two more medications. Unsurprising, but alters long term plans, again. Oh, well, life is like that.

So, I completely compromised everything I've been saying I wouldn't do :rolleyes:, decided I wasn't going to buy the high-priced spread and end up with something pricey my wife will be burdened to sell in a couple years. I went and looked at the Harbor Freight big Vulcan TIG but they don't have one in stock, and the restock date for the website is December. That said to me that while they have one at a store in Wisconsin that they could transfer, if I get a clunker I can't get a replacement. So that won't work, plus I really don't like scrolling through menus for everything.

I kept going back to the Primeweld TIG225x that @Gliden07 suggested last year. (Thanks for mentioning it!!) Good reviews except for the few DOAs that seem inevitable for everything Chinese, in stock, and a bunch of knobs and switches instead of menus. So I ordered it. Picked up a steel welding table and a cart from Harbor Freight. Will get an ESAB Sentinel A50 helmet and tank of argon tomorrow, the welder arrives Wednesday, and hopefully by Thursday afternoon I'll know whether I have a unit that works.

If I take to this and mr ticker keeps up it's rather strange rhumba beat the same and doesn't change, eventually I may buy American. If the Primeweld keeps working, though...

Thanks to all who have made suggestions, and to @52 Ford for being so willing to help. It's appreciated.
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Sorry to hear about the Health issues. I hope that Primeweld works out for you. I just brought this subject up to the GF a couple days ago too!!
 
Gliden07 said:
Sorry to hear about the Health issues. I hope that Primeweld works out for you. I just brought this subject up to the GF a couple days ago too!!
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Thanks. Just another bump on my road. 20 years ago my doctor told me I'd be dead in a year. I'm still here and plan on keepin' on until God decides otherwise. I'd much rather be sick me than some poor terrified child hunkered down in some town the f'n Rus are bombarding.

Welder showed up today all pretty and shiny and heavy for me. LOL I have to go out this afternoon and pick up a helmet and tank and hopefully tomorrow burn metal. I'm really eager...

Thanks, again.
 
fitzo said:
Thanks. Just another bump on my road. 20 years ago my doctor told me I'd be dead in a year. I'm still here and plan on keepin' on until God decides otherwise. I'd much rather be sick me than some poor terrified child hunkered down in some town the f'n Rus are bombarding.

Welder showed up today all pretty and shiny and heavy for me. LOL I have to go out this afternoon and pick up a helmet and tank and hopefully tomorrow burn metal. I'm really eager...

Thanks, again.
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Well you have a GREAT ATTITUDE towards your problems and I hope everything works out.
Look into some of the Yes Welder helmets they have a lot of sales. I bought a nice one in a year end clearance sale for 80 Bucks?? If I remember right. Been a couple years and like everything the prices keep going UP! Gotta give a review on that Welder when ya get it fired up!
 
Gliden07 said:
Well you have a GREAT ATTITUDE towards your problems and I hope everything works out.
Look into some of the Yes Welder helmets they have a lot of sales. I bought a nice one in a year end clearance sale for 80 Bucks?? If I remember right. Been a couple years and like everything the prices keep going UP! Gotta give a review on that Welder when ya get it fired up!
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Thanks, again! Once I get things up and running and a bead laid down I’ll make a post about the start of my journey and ask for help and tips along the way. Other than watching feeds like YesWelder on IG, two books, and a dvd, I know nothing of TIG, just some gas and MIG. Should be fun.
 
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