just brought a TIG

[jonnyBMX]

Right, so ive just brought a new TIG invertor and have been reading up a fair bit plus watching all the guides on this furum!

so i wont ask the question everyone else has! ahha

but what i do want to know is what kinda extra consumables do you guys think are usefull to keep in stock?

i got 1.6, and 2.4 tungstens for stainless and ally, and some filler rods 1.6 in both aswell!

is there anything else you would recommend getting?

 

[Shox Dr]

Stainless steel wire bushes - mark them up for Ferrous and Ali
Collets
Shrouds
oh and lot and lots and lots of practice

 

[jonnyBMX]

thanks for the advise! where do you reccommend buying them from? places such as weld equip? maybe rapid ?

oh yeah gunna need to get hold of a load of scrap metal to get some practise in! thinking about buying a metal bench for it aswell recommended?

 

[Shox Dr]

Consumables are much of a muchness for price. I would see if you have a welding supplies in your area. You are going to need them for Gas anyway.

That way you might call in when a local steel company is in and you can dorp it in to conversation you are looking for off cuts, you might even find someone to help you learn

 

[jonnyBMX]

thanks, yeah i get my MIG gas from the local welding shop so i shall go in and ask! yeah altough i am fully qaulified in MMA and MIG i havnt even run a bead in TIG yet so plan to start on steel without filler rod to get the hang of it all, then instroduce filler rod, then move onto ally!

 

[Shox Dr]

Good. Work on getting arc length right first. Once you can write your name, start with the rod.

Happy days

 

[jonnyBMX]

will do cheers

 

[Seano]

Stainless steel wire bushes - mark them up for Ferrous and Ali
Collets
Shrouds
oh and lot and lots and lots of practice

Not to mention some dedicated means of re sharpening tungsten ..... You are going to be doing a LOT of re sharpening .......

Sean

 

[ChrisJohnsSculpture]

Gas lens shrouds are well worth getting, they basically improve the flow of shielding gas around the electrode which means that you can use a much lower flow-rate of argon and can have the tungsten sticking out significantly further which can be very useful for welding in awkward spots.

 

[jonnyBMX]

Not to mention some dedicated means of re sharpening tungsten ..... You are going to be doing a LOT of re sharpening .......

Sean

i would asssume a grinding wheel would be adequate? otherwise my dad also has tool grinders etc which i guess he could make me a jig up for to get the same everytime :P

what do you guys use to sharpen them? will i have to be carefull not to get it too hot while grinding down?

as for the gas lens i will have to get my hands on some of these!!

 

[Seano]

i would asssume a grinding wheel would be adequate? otherwise my dad also has tool grinders etc which i guess he could make me a jig up for to get the same everytime :P

what do you guys use to sharpen them? will i have to be carefull not to get it too hot while grinding down?

as for the gas lens i will have to get my hands on some of these!!

You really should be looking at a Silicone Carbide (Green) grinding wheel to sharpen tungsten's, and only tungsten's, not drills, not chisels, only tungsten's....

Sean.

 

[Premiershipman]

I would get a bench grinder purely for tugstens, don't use tungstens on a general use grinder as they will get contaminated.

You can get cheapy bench grinders from b&q that will do the job, pop the tungsten in a hand held drill and then hold the tungsten to the wheel while slowly rotating it with the drill.

Check on youtube for tungsten grinding videos, also the miller welding website has good tutorials and videos.

Shady

 

[Paul.]

You really should be looking at a Silicone Carbide (Green) grinding wheel to sharpen tungsten's, and only tungsten's, not drills, not chisels, only tungsten's....

Sean.

Its a bit of a myth, although they will do the job, green silicone carbide wheels are for grinding tungsten carbide tools, welding tungstens are perfectly ok if ground on an aluminium oxide wheel,

 

[jonnyBMX]

okay got plenty of all kinds of grinding wheels, plus for some reason we have 2 grinding wheels (bench type) one that isnt currently in use so ill comendeer that one :P thanks for the advice!

 

[Seano]

Its a bit of a myth, although they will do the job, green silicone carbide wheels are for grinding tungsten carbide tools, welding tungstens are perfectly ok if ground on an aluminium oxide wheel,

Cheers for putting me right on that Paul, it's what I was always taught.....although that's what I specify at work when ordering, with a notice under the grinder, more to keep the mongs from grinding drills and lumps of bar end on it.

Sean.

 

[jonnyBMX]

okay guys, spoke to my dad... he said that a diamond wheel could be used? any ideas??

 

[c4tini]

yo jonny bmx.
I like bmx as well. what do you ride?
get good at welding and make a frame!
i recommend downloading ron covels stuff on making choppers to help learn.
i can tig but dont have my own set yet.

 

[jonnyBMX]

atm i have a dan lacey frame, subrossa bars and forks, purple proper front and back wheels, s and m stem, mcneil cranks etc etc ahha hardly ride now! i cant tig and do have my own set!

anyways back on topic! any one know if i can use a diamond impregnated grinding wheel to sharpen these tungsten tips... reading the spec it is suitable to do it and my dad seems to reckon i can! otherwise ill use one of these green ones? maybe a silicon carbide ? dad said summin about that! also.... regarding the contamination could i dress the wheel clean and then use the same one as for sharpening drills?

 

[Shox Dr]

A Diamond wheel will be fine, most of the Tungsten grinders use them. If you are using a grinder keep the wheel just for Tungstens, that way you will not contaminate.

 

[jonnyBMX]

yeah thats fine, if the wheel is dressed i.e the surface totally ground back to clean (more on the aluminium oxide wheels) would this not be sufficient? its not a problem keeping one wheel for the tungsten just easier not to change the wheel everytime ahah!