[JustTheDad]

@Dad - LOL, I was going to tell you to go around to a few of the race teams and inquire if they had some machines for sale. I have a pal who welds for one of the large teams and has his eye out for a nice MIG machine for me. You scored a very nice deal on a great machine!

Go here: https://weldmongerstore.com/collections ... le-torches
and grab yourself a quality setup with all the cups, lenses and electrodes you need!

Hmmm, just realized, no idea what kind of torch it has.

[Oscar]

@Dad - LOL, I was going to tell you to go around to a few of the race teams and inquire if they had some machines for sale. I have a pal who welds for one of the large teams and has his eye out for a nice MIG machine for me. You scored a very nice deal on a great machine!

Go here: https://weldmongerstore.com/collections ... le-torches
and grab yourself a quality setup with all the cups, lenses and electrodes you need!

Hmmm, just realized, no idea what kind of torch it has.

Post a picture showing the torch dis-assembled.

[TraditionalToolworks]

Hmmm, just realized, no idea what kind of torch it has.

Looks like a Weldcraft cable. That's what Miller ships on them I believe.

Sorry your dad wasn't as good a dad as you. Kudos for being better!

Actually he was a pretty good guy, but since my parents were divorced, I ended up with a real POS Step-Father.

My Dad has been gone since '96. But I will say that my POS Step-Father indirectly made me a much better Father than I would have imagined. In his case he would have had me buy HIM a Miller Dynasty.

[JustTheDad]

Is this considered disassembled?

Also, those are the cups they gave me. Another 7, a 5 and a 4.

[Oscar]

Since that is water-cooled, that is considered part of the WP-20 series.

13N Series standard consumables (collets/collet bodies/cups)
45V series gas lenses/53N series cups

[JustTheDad]

So a 20 series torch. Will the CK kits fit the Miller torch? If it will, then something like this kit from the weldmonger store:
https://weldmongerstore.com/collections ... s-lens-kit

Or the CK. AK-4GS kit?

Should work. Right?
Any benefit of one of those kits over the other? The Weldmonger one is a few bucks cheaper.
Thanks

[TraditionalToolworks]

So a 20 series torch. Will the CK kits fit the Miller torch?

Yes.

Measure your collet, the size is there on the page. You should have a #20 torch as you have a cooler, so your torch is water cooled.

You need to look at the kits closely, some have gas lenses, some don't, some have wedge collets, some have slotted collets.

Without knowing which specific kit you're looking at it's hard to say.

The kit you linked to for $59.99 looks like the right kit for your torch. Make sure you get tungstens, at least a pack of 10 if not more. You need to have a way to sharpen them also, so you need to figure that out. The kit uses a gas lens, so your cups won't work on them. The cups in the kit will, but what's the point? You have what you need to start welding.

Honestly, before you start buying a lot of stuff you should just use the consumables you have, you have a few cups, you have the collets and holders. If I was you I would just first figure out how you're going to sharpen your tungsten and make some welds. You will soon find out you will need to sharpen your tungsten, why I suggest getting some tungstens. You can get them from your LWS if you like, they most likely carry CK Worldwide. You will probably go through a collet or two also, good to have a spare or two. That goes for the size you plan to use. I would stick with the 3/32", just get a pack of CK Worldwide 3/32" 2% lanthanated tungsten and figure out how you're gonna sharpen it, IMO. That said, I don't know crap, so go buy a bunch of stuff if you like, it won't help you weld any better though.

If you want to get something useful, get one of these, you'll thank yourself.

https://www.usaweld.com/Adjustable-Tung ... ts-adj.htm

If you don't want to spend $300, check out the thread on the diamond disks I posted, $30 if you have a 6" bench grinder.

Whatever you do, you need to figure out how to sharpen tungsten, IMO.

[VA-Sawyer]

I think you got a pretty good deal on that Dynasty. Congratulations.

I understand that you have a pro teaching your son how to tig. Good move.
I would suggest letting the instructor guide you on what to buy. They will probably suggest buying what works best for their style of welding. Once your son has a good understanding of the basics, then he should experiment with various techniques to expand his skills.
I have a wide selection of cups, Tungstens, and torch parts. Fun to play with, but only need 3 setups to do over 90% of my welding.
There are no magic bullets in TIG. The way to get good is 'grinding Tungsten ', and doing what causes the grinding. No fancy grinder needed, just put in the time.

[TraditionalToolworks]

I understand that you have a pro teaching your son how to tig. Good move.
I would suggest letting the instructor guide you on what to buy.

I agree 100%, you're paying them for their guidance, you should heed their advice. Not many people can afford to have such a pro help them, many people struggle just to buy a machine and consumables.

[JustTheDad]

I opted for lessons when the community college course went online. Found a couple of young guys starting their own welding business while they were already working full time as welders. They're both very nice, so it's a win win. They make some easy money and we learn from pro's.

I'm probably going to go with the belt grinder/cordless drill method to sharpen electrodes for now. Saw that in Jodi's video. I'll just make sure to reserve the belts only for tungsten sharpening only, and I can make an angle guide for 20, 30, and 45 degrees or whatever works. Will pick up some 3/32 2% Lanthanated electrodes this week and stick with the cups we have for now.

Any difference between zirconia or silicon carbide contaminants in an electrode ? I thought Silicon carbide might be better since it doesn't contain aluminum. Zirconia has aluminum carbide in it. Guessing it's six of one/half dozen of the other, but wanted to check.

Edit: read silicon carbide is a bad choice, so will just stick with zirconia and aluminum carbide belts on my old 4x36 belt grinder.

[LtBadd]

It's good to keep it separate, but if not I really doubt you'll have any problems. Tungsten being so hard, I just wonder what it would take to actually embed other alloys into it...

[Oscar]

I use both silicon carbide and al-O2. Al-O2 is rough grit for fast shaping, silicon carbide is fine grit to grind to a smoothish finish. No problems here.

[TraditionalToolworks]

Whether rough or fine, I recommend Aluminum Oxide for metal.

[Spartan]

I like the 100 grit ALO2. For me, it's the best balance of both material removal and fineness of the scratches without having to use 2 or more grits. Great for general purpose.

[v5cvbb]

I like the 100 grit ALO2. For me, it's the best balance of both material removal and fineness of the scratches without having to use 2 or more grits. Great for general purpose.

Are we talking flap disc, belt sander or what?

[Spartan]

I like the 100 grit ALO2. For me, it's the best balance of both material removal and fineness of the scratches without having to use 2 or more grits. Great for general purpose.

Are we talking flap disc, belt sander or what?

I use various methods, but the 8" disc sander is my favorite. Just need to come in perpendicular with the rotational axis to get those nice longitudinal scratches.

I demo'd with a red tungsten just to brighten TTW's day a little bit.

IMG_2182.jpg (78.64 KiB) Viewed 1441 times

IMG_2183.jpg (58.79 KiB) Viewed 1441 times

[BugHunter]

You are going to die by morning from radiation poisoning, which in and of itself is not all so bad but you're going to do so because you ground a .040 tungsten that will hardly weld something thicker than a piece of aluminum foil.

It's all good!

[TraditionalToolworks]

Are we talking flap disc, belt sander or what?

Belt sander works better, IMO, as there is no radial direction to be concerned about.

A lot of people use belt sanders, some even use portables held upside down in a vise.

Todd, you might want to order some of those red 2% Thoriated tungsten, Spartan uses them!

Doesn't bother me what anyone uses or sharpens, I use 2% lanthanated, and the only other tungsten I have is a gray that just came with my Primeweld. I've never used it and most likely won't as 2% lanthanated does everything I need to do. I'm not actually sure what a gray tungsten is, maybe it's zirconiated per discussions here recently.

But you won't find me making an excuse for my crappy welds being due to using the wrong tungsten, that much I can assure you...I will take responsibility for my crappy welds myself, they have nothing to do with the tungsten.

That also goes for running high amperage through a small diameter tungsten, no finger pointing on my part.

[JustTheDad]

I'll be using a small belt sander, although it's a bench top type, so maybe belt grinder is correct. (Not addressing you Alan, I typed that before I saw what you wrote. I think you mentioned 2% lanthanated in another thread, and Jodi also recommended it, so I ordered a pack. The guy at the Miller warehouse gave me two gray ones, and said they were Ceriated. I guess Miller thinks those are the most forgiving for beginners, but I'm pretty sure the tungsten isn't what's going to be the problem. Kind of like my bicycle is never the reason I'm slow... I'm with you, no excuses.)

I'm 90% done with the welding area. Just hung the last blanket. The ceiling is cement board and obviously I hung welding blankets on four sides. Lots of mistakes made here. The uncoated fiberglass and makes me itch and sneeze. So it's got to go. Also, the welding curtain, the clear vinyl one, is much lighter and less claustrophobic, so I'd wish I'd gone with those on three sides, or at a minimum for the entire side it's on. Oh well...

I have a hanger that the 2x4's on the hood hook to. It's behind the two stacked curtains, and the duct goes into a window well. Far from perfect, but it seems reasonably safe.

Editing to add that the only uncoated blanket is the one that looks gray and doesn't go to the floor.

[Spartan]

Belt sander works better, IMO, as there is no radial direction to be concerned about.

The other end of the spindle on that disc sander is a belt sander (6", I think). It works well too, but hard to get a good angle on it when trying to do sharp points on the tungsten...at least with my setup. Therefore, the belt is relegated to everything but tungsten, whereas the disc is for tungsten only. At least in theory

[TraditionalToolworks]

I think you mentioned 2% lanthanated in another thread, and Jodi also recommended it, so I ordered a
pack.

That's all you need, and even if you eventually need other types of tungsten, you can live on 2% lanthanated for most all welding and not worry...that goes for both AC and DC. In that sense why use anything else? I didn't get any tungsten with my Everlast, for some reason many of the imports don't include tungsten in the box, has something to do with import regulations so Everlast told me. From the get-go I ordered 2% lanthanated. Odd thing is the Primeweld include one gray.

I'm 90% done with the welding area.

Looks good, IMO. Better than the area I use. I have one of those clear type shields, I used to use it outside in case any of the neighbors were watching when I welded with stick, but lately have been a bit lazy do don't always put it up. I have one welding blanket, but mostly use it to cover my lathe when I use a toolpost grinder. I have used it a couple times, but I find them the most handy to cover stuff not hang on the walls.

I've been meaning to hang my red shield in the garage to separate the door and the area I weld as occasionally my wife will get stuff from the 2nd refrigerator we keep in the garage. Not a real problem, I just stop welding when I hear the door. She goes to the other side of the garage from where I weld.

Spartan,

Yeah, I have a combo Delta belt/disc, mine is a 6x48 belt and a 12" disk. I keep pretty course grit on it as I mainly set it up to be used for sanding handsaw handles and smoothing out the brass/wood evenly, but it would work ok for tungsten. I can see that the angle and/or how high the belt sits could be an issue. I have seen a number of people using belt sanders online, including bench top, standalone and hand models in a vise. Not a bad option, better than an actual grinding wheel dust wise, but for me it seems the Dremel is the easiest and now I can easily clean blobs off with the large diamond, but the Dremel attachment is the easiest for me. I would like to get a TechSouth/Sharpie some day, if I was doing more TIG I probably would. I have what I need for the time being.

[JustTheDad]

15 hours later and my arms still itch even though I scrubbed them off in the shower several times. I am regretting hanging that uncoated welding blanket.
Sadly, I have 3 of them. The one in the picture, and two in the garage. Harbor freight coupon ...

I hate to waste things, so I may try thinning a little RTV caulk in Xylene or MEK and painting one of the blankets to see if it fixes the issue. Probably a waste of time and money, but I'd be satisfying my curiosity as to whether it will work.

[TraditionalToolworks]

15 hours later and my arms still itch even though I scrubbed them off in the shower several times.
...
Harbor freight coupon ...

Note to self: "Self, if it ain't the smell of 2 week old Chinese food that will make you nauseous, it's the Wuhan rash that will stay on your arms...stay out of that place."

There's nothing much to find at HF, IMO, most of the crap breaks or falls apart in my experience. I do have a couple things from there, but I detest going in that place. One thing that will never be in my shop is welding consumables from HF, I use almost all CK Worldwide exclusively whenever possible.

My red curtain is a Radnor! My welding blanket came from my LWS. No itching here!

Stay safe, keep taking showers.

[Oscar]

Should have gotten the other harbor freight welding blankets. The lighter color fiberglass ones are much better at not shedding off fibers.

[BugHunter]

Go to your local auto parts store and get exhaust manifold paint and paint the blankets. Not only would it stop from shedding fiberglass, it might also actually increase the fire retardant properties. That stuff will take a ton of heat.