Scratch start tig setup

While some flip the electrode around after striking it on the metal, many tend to grind the tungsten into a sharp point and then strike it. The main challenge of course with scratch start TIG welding is keeping your electrode clean. Grind and sand down any impurities before starting up your welder to ensure there are no contaminants. Keep your grinder handy as well if you get any contamination into your weld while you work.

Scratch TIG welding is also extremely portable since you can take a basic stick welding machine anywhere and get to work. Many industries rely on this method for basic repairs since they tend to create clean, reliable welds.

Would it be possible to have the welder in dc stick mode, switch the leads, and use a tig power block with a. In order to use an ac power source for tig welding you need a separate high frequency unit to assist in arc starting and cleaning. If you want to run a scratch start tig setup off your existing stick welder or engine drive, simply switch the dcep positive setup to a dcen negative setup. First, try on a tiny piece of clean aluminum. Having a hard time finding high freq boxes as.

What can or can't you weld with it? The video shown above is by welding tips and tricks. Originally posted by walker view post. This is only to test if your tungsten gets dirty. Its best if you get an air cooled tig torch with a valve. How to make a tig welder. By dave ny i have never tig welded before but have been stick and mig welding for many years.

I like to use a forward and back technique because in case the rod loses contact and I get a keyhole I can easily back up and readjust. I got this question a while back and it asks the important questions everyone seems to have about scratch start tig welding. How do you set up a scratch start TIG?

Electrode Positive or Negative? Can you weld Aluminum? Can you use AC instead of DC? To the argon regulator connect the hose of the WP torch, you might need to either find the proper fittings to connect it or cut off the existing fitting and fit the hose directly to the regulator using a barbed fitting.

The WP torch might have an extra DIN connector or something similar you can just ignore that part, some welders can use that to control the start and stop but this welder set up will just have an always live torch. The size isn't too important as you can sharpen it to a nice sharp point or a duller point to give really precise control of the welding arc.

I cut the tungstens in half and sharpen them all so I have a bunch of pointy tipped electrodes ready to go. As when starting out to learning how to weld you will go through a ton of them, either by dipping the tungsten into the pool or burning them up. After sharpening, the tungsten can be loaded into the torch, it's held in place using a collet, collet body and tightened down with the gas cup and the long back cap.

I went with a 5 cup as it's a good middle of the road size for playing around welding thin pieces of steel. Load the sharpened tungsten into the welding torch. Attach the ground clamp to the work piece to be welded, I suggest just using a piece of scrap steel to test. Put on your safety equipment, position yourself in a comfortable position Turn on the gas valve to start the flow of gas to the torch head, you should hear it flowing. Hold the torch in the hand that feels the most comfortable.

Lower your welding shield Pull the tip of the tungsten from left to right, or right to left, depending on if you are right or left handed. You want to be pushing the torch on a slight angle to push the weld puddle. This will take lots of practice but get comfortable with starting the arc and stopping.