[ThaiGuy]

Hi all, Maybe this has been covered prior, but could not find answers. I have been using foot controls like most people for maintaining a good arc. No real issues, except that I am a stroke patient...have some occasional "he-be-jee-bees" that come from nowhere. Hehe...at least I have an excuse.

Though right handed, I have found that I weld much better with the torch in my left...my stroke affected side! It is more stable. That said, I do not do so well with the longer body extensions...long legs. Torch in left, wire in right, right foot on pedal. (Left does not get along well with others) As I said...no true issues, but I am still looking for more comfort and smoothness.

I have tried a few hand amp controls...all cause too much variation for me. Not fun, bad welds. Therefore, my engineering mind went crazy. Here is my question:

Why not have an amp controller that works on the wire feed hand? I am a bit of a thumb feeder by practice. (Across my mid-finger, with some index pressure control.) If I could control amps with another finger, any/all of the lower two or three, I could be smoother and more accurate.

I used a weed eater throttle- hand controller to "simulate" the feel. Not too bad! What I felt and saw was the potential to feed wire through an orifice, instead of my middle finger...thus having my mid finger for better arc control.

If nothing is out there, I will make one for myself...after all, that's what we do in our world! What do you say? Has this been tried before?

[motox]

if you get this devise operating I'm sure we all would love to see a video of it in use.
craig

[MarkL]

Why not have an amp controller that works on the wire feed hand? Has this been tried before?

I've thought about trying it. This amp control has good reviews and was recently made available for my model welder. I thought it would be relatively easy to attach it to a mechanical pencil style wire feeder instead of attaching it to the torch. I've tried a number of other amp controllers and found them difficult to control and keep the torch steady, but this product has a different style button that seems like it might solve that problem.

[ThaiGuy]

Thanks MarkL, nice looking touch control, but still on the torch hand. That won't work for me as well. I am looking toward torch in left, amp control in right...possibly with a wire "guide" hole. I am leaning on making a middle finger pull trigger. My machine has min and max settings already. Works fine for foot control. My problem is my brain. I have more issues with foot recall, post stroke. My simulated practice seemed better with finger pull control, but again...simulated.

Time to build a right hand trigger that actually controls amps. I found a potential donor hand control....just have to separate the torch leads from the amp controls, into two separate leads.

I gave some thought to "auto" feeding wire, like MIG machines. I will jump off that bridge when I need to. For now, I simply want to test and play. I do not have issues with feeding wire, but inconsistent with manual amp control.

[MarkL]

Thanks MarkL, nice looking touch control, but still on the torch hand.

The control is connected by a separate wire to the welder, so it can be mounted any place you want it. You could put it on your wire hand, or your leg, or wherever. The photo happens to show it velcroed to the torch, but that's just because most people choose to mount it on the torch.

[Graveyard]

Just throwing this out there for you, even though you would prefer using your right hand to trigger the current control as well as the tig rod, what about something you can use with your mouth freeing up both hands to do what they are meant for while welding. Of course something well insulated and water proof. just food for thought. good luck and I hope your project works out for you.