Thanks G-Dub, awesome input as usual. :thumbsup:

Made the first save with the TIG today repairing a guillotine tile cutter that was severely violated by one of our installers........$500 save. :unibrow:

Awesome. Good place to start by fixing equipment. I've done the same but with mig for some of our equipment.

Wes

I used to live on Yarrow Point - a "high end" little point of land... and the neighbors hated me - because, of course, I have loud rowdy hot rods... They loved me once they figured out I could weld up their garbage can lid and fix their gate etc....

.......or operate a screwdriver. It amazes me how many highly educated people have next to zero mechanical knowledge or skills anymore. :D

My smart neighbors are waiting for me to get a little more practiced. :lol:

PS - I'm very fortunate to have real good neighbors, of the 22 homes there's only a couple stuffies. :thumbsup:

I think one issue I was having was the grind on the tungsten with my high-dollar grider was too coarse, I've since modified the grinder wheel with 180 grit sanding disk on the side and that puts a nice finish on the tungsten.

A little funny - I switched to AC to practice on aluminum then switched the AC off and started running bead on 16 gauge to get a feel for the differences in metal..........I don't think the machine switches back without powering down........either way I proceded to securely weld 1" of that 16 guage to my 1/4" work top. :D

What Optrel are you running Greg ? Satellite or Orion - or one of the others ? They are sweet !

Thx !

Jim

I have the Satellite Jim.... and love it.


I'm old and need the range that this helmet gives me... since you're eyesight declines with age... and what I find is that my younger buddies will run say a 10 and I might be a 9 or an 8... Especially with low TIG settings... say 30 or 40 amps.

Thx !

I thought you'd prefer the satellite - the capability on that is pretty amazing !

I have the same issue with seeing the weld. I'm 52 and just about ready to get a prescription just for welding use. With a limited range of near distance focus on my glasses I just can't ever seem to stay in the range trying to weld anything on the car. While working on the bench - most of the time I can setup and config to compensate for the vision problem, but it's still tough to stay in position around a tube or something.

Jim

I wear bifocals -- overhead or that kind of stuff - I have to really plan my moves in advance. If you can't see - you can't weld. Well you can - but it looks like crap... I'm not good enough at it that I can just forge ahead blind.
Bifocals are a total pain -- move your head just a bit and you're out of focus.

Any updates or extended reviews of your HTP TIG ?