I can appreciate your experiences because I've been there, done that. It looks like one of the things you missed was re-tubing a coal fired boiler and breathing in all that fly ash that's left over from the burned coal dust. It's everywhere and you can't avoid it. When it encounters moisture, it turns into hydrogen sulfide. If you're sweating, which you are, it eats up your clothes. About two weeks life expectancy for a new Wrangler shirt and jeans. Imagine what it does to your lungs. As far as the " foot literally on fire " thing, I never wore lace up boots on a job just for that reason. I've never worn anything but Red Wing Pecos boots. You get a hot one in your boot, it's easy to kick off.
Well I haven’t picked up a rod holder in years, maybe ten! But had to fix a brace today, so I dusted off my Miller A/C Thunderbolt cracker box and got after it! At least ten year old 6013 Lincoln rod. I removed the slag with my finger. Second pass.... wadda you think? Bones
I have one of them Miller boxes too bones. Haven't burnt a rod with her in about 10 yrs either. Thought many times about selling it. They ain't worth much so I figure it ain't worth getting rid of. Question for you tig welders, which hand do you run your rod with ? Your dominate hand? Or do you run your torch with your dominate hand?
I walked into my buddy's shop one day, He had his funnycar chassis on it's side with the wheels and tires still on it. He was laying on the floor on his side welding on the chassis with his TIG. Running the pedal with the side of his knee. You may know him Marty. "Nasty" Dave Benjamin.
Bones it looks like you still got it. Most guys welding 6013 will wind up with weld on both pieces of steel and a line of slag down the middle. And on the tig question I can stick weld well with either hand. I’m right handed and hold the touch in my right hand and filler in left. I can go the other way but it ain’t pretty. Have to grind the tungsten a lot. Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
I'm grinding tungtsen less, I see some guys snap the contaminated tip off before grinding I tried that but it tends to bend the tungsten before breaking lately I've been grinding the contaminate on one grinder wheel then finish cleaning it up on another I have a small bench grinder designated to only this
Right now I just grind the tungsten, I stick it in the puddle so often it would seem like a requirement to a complete novice welder! Once I figure out how to keep it out of the puddle I'll worry about contamination then.
Come on man,,, That much time and NOBODY showed you what to do with your old welding gloves? I’m sure you’ve been thru a few pairs yeah? Cut the cuffs off poke a few lace holes and no more hot foot - EVER. And an added bonus your laces last longer. Hot one in the ear, that sucks. Just happen to have a pair of cut off cuffs right here .
Crap, when I first started, mine looked like those coins recovered from a sunken ship, now I get an occasional dime or 2 but some asshole must be hiding behind me and throws a few quarters in there.
Lippy, I have never had the pleasure of meeting Dave, but have heard of his exploits for years. Often times, I find myself on the floor, running the pedal with the side of my knee. Of the two tig welders I have, the Lincoln has a far better pedal for that exercise. The treadle is lower, and has a lighter spring, making it much more user friendly then the Miller. As far a tungsten, I grind the contamination off, unless it is really bad. In those rare cases, I hold it on the edge of the table, and break it off with a hammer. Also, I never like using a full 7" tungsten, with the long quill, so I score them @ 3-1/2 " with a thin slitting wheel, then break it in half.
I did this welding today to avoid welding on my motorhome. This bracket was poorly welded , so I welded a piece of steel in and drilled it and bolted it back on. Worked out perfectly! The reason I did this, is the amount of electrical crap on board and I’ve heard of horror stories while welding on a vehile. I have never had any trouble and see hundreds of welding trucks running around. Just wondering if any of you guys have screwed up the electrical system on something you were welding on? Bones
They make variable switches for mounting on the torch, not cheap or sometimes user friendly. I didn't like the foot pedal; tried a variable slider switch but too heavy a detent so went back to control at machine and simple torch switch.
In the body shop industry, where you can't really avoid welding on the car, we use a surge protector that hooks to the battery. Supposed to prevent electrical spikes. Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using Tapatalk
If I’m welding aluminum and fester up the tungsten real bad I will snap off the end and start over but that’s with pure tungsten,green tip. I’ve never done it with 2% or anything else. On my older syncrowave 250 I have a torch mounted roller controller that I like but have definitely done the knee thing. Also I’ve had to stand completely on top of the pedal and Rock my body back and forth. At almost 200 lbs I don’t do that with the newer plastic foot pedal you get now. Welding on older vehicles I never had any problems. Just kept the ground as close to the weld as possible. When computers hit the scene I started disconnecting the battery and on some of the heavy equipment I work on I will unplug the computer. I was told that with the new aluminum bodied cars the OEM doesn’t want hi frequency used. MiG only. Anyone else hear about this? And I’m interested in the surge protector thing. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
This is basically the one that all the shops I've worked at use. Hook it up to the battery, LED comes on showing it's connected and off you go. When I worked at a Ford dealer I also heard mention of no HF TIG on modern aluminum cars. Sent from my LM-Q710(FGN) using Tapatalk
BUMP. Hey I need a welding secret. I'm an occasional Mig and Tig welder, and I have this habit of leaving the gas on, and subsequently emptying the tank. Told myself 1,000 times to remember to turn it off, but invariably I will walk away to grind down the weld or whatever, and forget. Both my machines will drain the gas if left on. Is that normal? Any tricks you use to remember? I may tie a sting from my helmet to the tank..
Need to get that issue fixed right away, don’t want to displace all of the air and asphyxiate yourself or some else Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Thanks guys. Yeah it's not leaking at the hoses, last I checked. I'll check out the valve. The Mig is for when my friends and neighbors come over for some free welding.
On my mig, I leave the gas on all the time because the last bottle of gas I bought has a defective valve and I can't shut it off. That was at least two years ago and I still have gas in it. Everything else, I try to remember to shut them off.
I’ve had several regulators fail and would leak. As well as the seats in the bottle valve. I have a spray bottle of soap and water and spray the tank valve and regulator when I change bottles. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Years ago, I put a list of stuff to do before I left the shop. Turn off the welding gas. Turn off the welder. Turn off the torch tanks. Turn off the radio. Turn off the air compressor. Turn the heat down (before the programmable thermostat). Turn off the trouble light. Turn off the lights. Lock the door on the way out. The list still hangs there, but its pretty hard to read these days. It may sound pretty dumb, but until I learned the list and it became a habit, I bet it saved me a bunch of money over the years. The welding gas may have been left on all day, but at least it got shut off every night. When my son started using my shop I told him on day 1 the rules for closing up the shop, if he broke the rules, he no longer could use the shop. He is over 40 now, I noticed a sign near his shop door the other day, it read a lot like my sign read. Gene
I always turn off the gas on my Mig an Oxy/Ace tanks and them purge the lines. May waste a wee bit of gas but I was told a long time ago that it helps protecting the valves from premature failure.
The Jalopy Journal
