The biggest difference between the 2 torches is the amount of heat you will experience while holding the torch. Water-cooled torches allow you to run 250amps on your machine for the entire duty cycle and your hand won't cook. The 17 is smaller and some find it easier to learn with due to dexterity. ...

As a new student welder, your welds look good. They need to improve to be "great" but you know that. And time under a hood will bring that. Your top pass is not burnt in on the "left edge" (as you look at the picture). Remember, what ever you do on one side of the head, you do on...

Ok thanks so just keep on practicing and try to figure out how to go 1/2 way in one pass and maybe weld a little hitter and try to go a little faster. You could slow down the wire feed instead of going faster. If you're learning to weld tube/pipe, angle matters and that a lot easier to maintain whe...

There's heaps of advantages to each welding process: Stick you can do outside with the wind howling, on rusty metal, and in a single pass on some pretty heavy metal. Try that with a TIG! MIG is absolutely faster, more "flexible" (as has been mentioned) and will tolerate "less clean&qu...

I'm looking for hood that isn't quite as annoying. I'm using a Lincoln 3350, which is great, except when the pipe fitters leave the forklift running behind me for extended periods of time. Other guys say they have the same problem, so It seems it is common for any hood using optical sensors...so I ...

Another option is: buy one of the more capable units now without the TIG and Spool gun packages, lowering your initial purchase price. Add the options later. This saves you money in the long run. We all face financial constraints (unless we are named Zuckerberg) so buying economically is (cost vs pr...

None of the above. You stretch a little bit with your finances and buy this: https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/miller-multimatic-215-auto-set-multiprocess-welder-907693 It will do all you ask, plus more. I have its predecessor and aside from TIG being "Lift Arc" only, its a great litt...

I would say that you are using way too much heat. 150a for 1/16" and 3/32" is overboard. When you use a 1/8" tungsten, you are depriving the weld from some amount of heat as the electrode is consuming current. I'd be using a #5/#6 cup, 3/32" electrode, and probably a lot closer ...

I'd echo some of what Nail says. I'd say you're getting too much penetration. Halfway through that bead, your travel speed picked up too fast. Maybe back off the heat a bit, slow down to get the "right" amount of penetration without bulging through so much. There's no downside to welding s...

Actually Jody did a video on this and used DC to spot tack aluminum. You can get penetration without the heat that melts and distorts thin aluminum. Search his website or YouTube videos for the tutorial.

I have a 3/8" aluminum (6061) table (42"x60") that cost me about $500. I also have a 5/8"x4'x8' Cold Rolled table for welding and fixtures. It too cost me about $500 for the top. For welding, I prefer the steel table because I can use magnets to help position and tack which I can...

Might also drop your cup size given you're using 0.035 filler.

Did I read that right on page 3 under applications there's a note about doing it on 2mm thickness? That would make it primarily for thin work. But possibly a great advantage for doing stuff like boat repair. That's using their "Pulse AC MIG" setting. Yes, AC MIG is primarily targeted at t...

Welding on "used" aluminum boats requires a great deal of cleaning first. Got to be clean, clean, clean, and then cleaned a bit more. Acetone wiped, then stainless brushed before welding. The pontoons are often pretty thin too, so heat control will be very important. You might experiment w...

You shouldn't really need the DIG function except for overhead welding, maybe some vertical uphill. A tight arc is always best with stick, you should "almost" feel the base metal. 60xx series rods burn off very quickly with a high deposition rate. It might be easier to practice with 7018 r...

I'd offer you some opinion based input: Welding 1/8" rod on 110v is probably overtaxing your machine. While it may be listed as capable, its usually the outer limit of its performance. Hence, it may struggle to keep the amperage consistent all the way to the work surface. If you want to practic...

The wiring melting will "sag" due to gravity. About the only way to overcome that is to whip across the middle and sweep up, letting the puddle fill in behind you. It still won't be as clean as downhill, but if you must go vertical up, it will help reduce the bulging.

The lesson I learned last night...You know almost immediately if you forgot to turn on the gas! :o I bet there's not a person who's welded with gas that hasn't done this. At least twice. A good habit is to hold the torch towards your face and bump the pedal so you can confirm flow across your cheek...

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Welding bicycle frames is almost certainly going to require TIG welding. And its NOT easy to do. The tubing is rather thin, and heat effect will possibly do more damage than benefit of your weld. I would not suggest you undertake welding that without some decent instruction and lots of practice due ...

You can learn to do the math and make your own templates to practice any angle or pipe combo posible. If you have already had some welding training and were able to pass cert tests then I would recommend getting into an aprenticeship. He's interested in tools to help create the bevels, not the math...

A friend of mine who is a pipe welder by trade fabbed up a clever tool. He took an Oxo torch wheel (two wheels spread with torch holder in the middle like you might use to cut a straight line) but reduced one wheel's diameter so the torch is angled 37* from centerline. He then wraps the pipe with a ...

Why you would do DC instead of AC I don't know, I have heard of it but never looked into it, I guess if you don't have a machine that can do AC welding, then it would make sense but I think you would just be better of getting an inverter machine that can do AC & DC and getting a bottle of argon...

IF this is just for you, just bevel the joints on either side or both sides and weld em up. I have a Dynasty 200 I have done plenty of 3/16" and 1/4" with it, 80 or 60 grit flap disc and off you go. Thanks, I know I can do it without using Helium. The goal is to do it with less than 150 a...

Looking for some recommendations on using a Helium mix to TIG some 1/4" and 3/8" aluminum. Using a Dynasty 200 with a 17 air cooled torch. My understanding is that the % of Helium will allow me to run lower amps with equal or better heat. But, do you recommend 90/10 or 80/20 for reliable r...