Hey up chasps, nice guy on Ebay accepted my offer of 150 squids on a 200A Tig with pulse (dont know what the hell the pulse does but I think I need it) which the kids said they would pay for my birthday (yeah right).
Its DC only but I cant justify the extra £250 plus for an AC/DC one.
Now I need some Argon who's the best with most cheapness and least hassle.
What does the pulse do by the way.
Cheers,
Bob

Pulse is pretty cool if you do not have a foot pedal, it pulses the current so makes it easier to maintain the weld pool without overcooking it and ending up with holes.

Tig is great, slow by great ! Make sure you get some decent gauntlets and a mask that really covers your whole face.

Also boiler suit done right up to your neck, its like standing in front of a sunray lamp X 1000, with mig the spark is on/off, Tig is full time.

Last thing, Argon is expensive, you only need enough to shroud the work, not flood the area so use a decent regulator and back it off until you can barely hear the gas flowing.

Regards Mark

They're a fair way from you but they may have other outlets nearer.

Try Keygas Wales, details in THIS link.

[Edited on 25/10/08 by NigeEss]

how close to wrexham are you,

Haha !

Beat you Mr Butcher.

I have given you the credit though

Good stuff, looks like I'll be taking the Dragon to a run out to Wrexham next week (Welsh type joke included their). Unless something comes up a bit more local.
Cheers,
Bob

Adams Gas

Not tried them but may be worth a go?

Doug

As a matter of interest, who would you suggest for welding gases up here for a light user like me ?

My mig has just died and It looks like I might just be having a go at this tig lark.

Unfortunately I get my gas from BOC
Silly rental and 'collection' charges - gas is quite expesive too
Argon is even more expensive... you can use lots with a tig.

I had seen the Adams Gas thing previously, but it's still 100 quid for your first bottle and 60 quid a refill after that.

Mmm.....

Air products, and linde, who now own boc if i remember right, but argon is not cheap whoever u go to, trust me u dont want to know when u see the size of my bottles, but ooooooo the finish!!!! might need a handy Tig welder to back me up soon, hint hint.

I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about.

Mind the clocks go back tonight

pulse welding minimises heat distortion,i'll get me anorak

Anorak!!! Pulse welding is for muppets that blow holes in ali (me)! Waste of time in mild steel or stainless steel. Handy when your welding your ali foil round the chicken/roast joint, to keep the juices in for Sunday dinner Told u my Tig was a clever machine, its not the Bam holding the torch
Shug

Hi All

If I may, a word or two to explain pulse welding.

Lets say you wish to weld a butt in 16swg steel.
This would require an amps setting of 55 to obtain full penetration. (ish)

To minimize the risk of blowing holes you may wish to select the pulse mode on your welder.

Welding plants differ in how this is set but all end up with the same result, that is...

a low background current, followed by a short blast of higher current,
e.g. 80% (in time) @ 40amps, followed by 20% (in time) @ 75 amps.

You will have worked out that this is almost the same as welding at a steady 55 amps. (shrug)

The speed at which these cycles occur is also selectable.
My Lincoln (at work) is adjustable from 1 pulse per second to 10 pulses per second.



None of the above is to be confused with with the frequency adjustment on an AC Tig,
which is the number of times per second the current changes from + to - , usually 50 per sec to 250 per sec.


Clear as mud?

ATB
Paul G

It's like a mosquito in the tent when you use the pulse.

pulse welding is not for ali hugh!!!
we weld up st/st bar worktops along the width of them (900mm) on-site and then sand off the weld and re-grain so you cant see the joints the pulse setting enables you to keep the worktops dead flat with no distortion