Welcome to the community! Tell us about yourself, your welding interests, skills, specialties, equipment, etc.
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BillM
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    Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:40 am

Hi everyone. I'm recently retired from the construction industry. I've been a stick welder for 45 years and thought I could weld anything. So I bought myself a new Miller syn 210 with a spool gun. I've gained new respect for the tig welder. In the past I've only used tig to smooth out welds that were going to be magnafluxed. It's a new learning curve. Thanks to all the info on this site and the incredible videos available.

BillM
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    Sun Nov 19, 2017 10:09 am

You sound like me. Welcome!!
Lincoln MP 210, Lincoln Square Wave 200,
Everlast 210 EXT
Thermal Dynamics 25 Plasma cutter

" Anything that carries your livelihood wants to be welded so that Thor can’t break it."
CJ737
BillM
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    Fri Dec 07, 2018 10:40 am

Thanks for the welcome.
What's the best size electrode to start learning/practice with? What I tried first.

I have a new Miller syn 210.

3/32" !.5% lanthanated electrode.
1/8" hot rolled coupons. 3"x5". I found out real quick to grind off the mill scale.
Factory settings. 125amps, volts were running around 9.2 to10.0.

Once I cleaned the coupons I could dab a decent bead.
Then I tried a 1/16" 2% lanthanated on cold rolled coupons.

was doing great until I touched the tungsten with the filler. It seems I had to many amps (125) for the 1/16" electrode.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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    Sun Nov 19, 2017 10:09 am

I use 3/32 80% of the time. As I go up in amperage I use i/8".
Lincoln MP 210, Lincoln Square Wave 200,
Everlast 210 EXT
Thermal Dynamics 25 Plasma cutter

" Anything that carries your livelihood wants to be welded so that Thor can’t break it."
CJ737
cj737
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    Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:59 am

A 3/32 lanthanated tungsten will handle most everything your machine throws at it. Even going thinner, the 3/32 is quite capable of a clean arc at low amps. Absent of doing coded work, 3/32 for even 27 amps works well. I swap to a 1/8” for thick ally when I’m running above 180 amps for extended periods, and swap to a 26 style torch when I do. I don’t find much occasion to run a 1/8 tungsten with a 17 torch personally. Either it’s more tungsten than I need, or it’s too high in amperage for the torch (air cooled 17). Hence the paring of the 26-1/8.
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