Welding Tips and Tricks

I watched Jody's video yesterday about the CK Flex Lock torch. Really neat. While browsing the CK site I came across the parts list for these torches. Among the items listed was a "WEDGE" collet. Just wondering what the advantages are over a standard collet?

TIA,

Ken

p.s. CK Worldwide will not tell me the price unless I contact them and get an account so I can login. I guess they do not want to sell me a torch

The wedge style collet are awesome. Just started a new job and the new shop is using them I they work awesome. They do not seem to warp up at all compared to the standard style. Back at my old job it was no big deal to burn up two collets a day when welding at high amps for long periods of time, at this job I have been welding with the same one for over three weeks now and the thing still looks brand new. Another thing that I like about them is they really hold the tungsten in, which is nice because it gets annoying when that torch cap loosens up and the tungsten changes lengths or fails on the floor. I have been really impressed with them and got a bunch for my shop at home.

I hoped someone would respond to this with actual experience.

I, too, tire of weak collets. When they start to lose their grip, they twist up when you tighten them more, making it difficult to adjust stick-out, which I have to do very often for the difficult reaches I often encounter.

Thanks, ajlskater1

Steve

ya they are sweet. I don't beleive that we use the ck brand ones, I'll try and see what brand they are.

Do they work with standard collet bodies and gas lenses, or require matching parts?

Steve

We are running the small style water cooled torches with the small hardware and yes they do work with the defusers. I will try to get the brand for you when I go to work on monday. They come in a lot of sizes all the way from .020 tungstens up to 1/8 might even go bigger but we do not use anything that big. Oops forgot that we have one machine that is a small air cooled torch that we also use the wedge style in.

http://www.ckworldwide.com/wedge_collets.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSgysqH_jcY