Exhaust wrap as a sort of TIG finger

[AdrianH]

I am practising as much as I can with the stick welder and starting to find I get hot fingers. I end up being approx 25 away from the arc with the back of my left hand after using it to guide the rod if I keep it there rather then pull out of the way. So was thinking of using exhaust wrap to add a layer of heat protection as I have about 5 metres of the stuff.

Anybody else used it for this purpose.

Adrian

 

[barracuda816]

Are you using tig gloves? what about a gauntlet for the guiding hand?

 

[AdrianH]

I am using gauntlets, but after a few rods it still gets hot, so was thinking of adding a layer.

Adrian

 

[barracuda816]

I cant see why it wouldn't help, all extra insulation. What about a bit of tin foil (yes i am being serious, if there is no chance of touching it with the rod ) it may help reflecting a bit of the heat and its free(ish) to pinch some off the mrs. I would be interested to see if/how much that would help.

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Tin foil mate, or splash out on a pair of the hd stick gloves from Miller with the silicone patches on the backs, well worth the money in my opinion! You can get foil things like the foundry suits are made from, that just use a bit of elastic to hold them over, they reflect a lot of heat