Welding Tips and Tricks

have a job coming up and all the welding is going to be done out of position on my back etc figure it is a good time to pick up a finger control unit. any suggestions? the machine is a dynasty 280 with the wp280 torch looking at the ck linear and rotary control and also miller NS and EW

That would be one way to do it but if you have a firm grasp on how to use a pedal then it's really not too difficult to control it with many parts of your body. People who don't know any better trip out when they see me using my heal, knee or thigh to control the pedal. I just call them the "unitiated".

I've not tried a finger amp control and I don't know of the specifics of the welding you'll be doing apart from the fact that it will be out of position...would up and down slope get you through?

I've done a bit of OOP work recently and have seen good results using 2T, up and down slope and almost 'switch pulsing' as it were to control the heat, but then your job might be more complex than what I've been working on.



Kym

I regularly switch to a thumb control when welding in awkward positions.
I did it the other way, working the pedal in bizarre ways (even like the Thighmaster, if you remember that bit of exercise junk).
I like the thumb control, it just takes some getting used to.
I use a rotary E/W style, ProFax, I think.
I always set my amps way higher than I need, so the power I will use is all in one sweep of my thumb, rather than scrolling the knob and shaking the torch.

Steve S

Otto Nobedder wrote:I regularly switch to a thumb control when welding in awkward positions.
I did it the other way, working the pedal in bizarre ways (even like the Thighmaster, if you remember that bit of exercise junk).
I like the thumb control, it just takes some getting used to.
I use a rotary E/W style, ProFax, I think.
I always set my amps way higher than I need, so the power I will use is all in one sweep of my thumb, rather than scrolling the knob and shaking the torch.

Steve S

Excellent tip on the amp settings

MinnesotaDave wrote:
Excellent tip on the amp settings

+ 1

Well,

The newer CK SteadyGrip hand amptrol is outstanding, even though it's somewhat costly. I use one on an Everlast 210EXT, but I think you can find one easily enough for a Dynasty model.

I don't use a water-cooled torch, so the pistol grip does make the torch temperature less of a problem, and the pistol grip actually makes for a great prop too.

Otherwise, the trigger-style action of these units is surprisingly "steady", almost perfectly so.

I will add though, that care must be taken after terminating the arc to prevent the slide switch from getting knocked out of its forward most off position or else you'll lose argon in-between the next arc initiation. I mean, you can usually hear the solenoid and gas flow if you inadvertantly do, which is usually enough of an audible cue to immediately put it back. I'm super-cheap with argon anyway, so very little argon ever gets away that way, so I hate to even have to wait for the post-flow to stop when it does though. Ha, ha, ha...

Rcc wrote:have a job coming up and all the welding is going to be done out of position on my back etc figure it is a good time to pick up a finger control unit. any suggestions? the machine is a dynasty 280 with the wp280 torch looking at the ck linear and rotary control and also miller NS and EW