Welding Tips and Tricks

How do you choose a cup size, does it depend on the amperage, type of weld, size of the tungsten?????

From the little bit I know about tig welding, all of the above. For the most part it depends on the size of the tungsten. Some joints might be too tight to get a larger cup in so you have to use what will fit. If you are welding a type of metal that needs more shielding then you may need a larger cup. The straight forward answer is it depends most of the time on the size of the tungsten.

CK Worldwide's manual Technical Specifications for Tig Welding has a chart towards the bottom of page 4 showing torch cup sizes for different electrode diameters. Here are some torch cup sizes taken from this manual.

1/16 lists 4, 5, or 6
3/32 lists 6, 7. or 8
1/8 lists 7, 8, or 10

If I had to pick two setups it would be a 7 & 12 cup with a gas lens. These will cover most of your needs unless stated differently in a wps. I would keep a diffuser and a 4 or 5 around for tighter areas.

Wes917 wrote:If I had to pick two setups it would be a 7 & 12 cup with a gas lens. These will cover most of your needs unless stated differently in a wps. I would keep a diffuser and a 4 or 5 around for tighter areas.

Very well stated.