My projects with my Everlast 200DX Tig-a-ma-jig

I received my Everlast 200DX during the first week of November 2012 and so far have been enjoying practicing beads and making my first projects. I had a mig that I sold recently because it was pretty useless in making any small things that I wanted to make. My main hobby is flying RC airplanes and thought that having a tig welder machine can help me make small metal parts like engine mufflers, mechanical retracts and other small tools that will help with my hobby. To be honest I love having tools, I even have CNC machine I built, and small mini lathe that I rarely use. I just love having tools! :D. As with my mig I am basically self thought in welding, the online video really help me a lot and people like Jody from weldingtipsandtricks.com basically guides noobs like me in figuring things out, it got me started for sure. His comments about Everlast welders paved the way in making my decision to get one. I was actually looking at the Miller Diversion 180 but the price and a 5 year warranty on the Everlast cannot be beat. I was also told to get an used equipment, I looked at them and most that I can afford was the of my fridge, well maybe not as tall but its big. I have a small shop and space is a premium. I am not welding to make money but to make things for myself so it has to be reasonably priced.

So far I have around 12 hours of 'hood time' and some of them were not always good times for a newb. If I had a class in welding it would be great but I really don't have a lot of time to take classes, I have a day job, a family and of course RC airplanes. I would say its another hobby to help with another hobby.

Anyways here are some first pics during my first week noob welding.

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I got bored practicing welding scrap, I know I know it will help, anyway I made a welding cart/table, basically the same thing I did with my mig was make a cart. Since I have very little room it would also be a table as well. It probably cost me more money to make it but I know it will be a good practice run and will learn a lot from it.

I used 16 gauge 1.25" and 1" square tubing.

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Was very happy with the result that I actually painted this one. Tig is wonderfull and clean, no mess like tig.

While cutting the metal with my portable band saw, I thought it would be nice to have a portable base to hold it place so I can cut small parts. I have seen other with examples and made one that fit mine and it had to be easy to mount and remove from the base for portability. I have this cheap band saw from HF that actually replaced my industrial band saw which was way too big for my little shop. I wanted the base to be strong and lightweight so I made it out of 1/4" aluminum that I already have and some parts that I picked up as rems from a metal shop. The 200DX tig welded through the project without a hick-up and the only thing that is not perfect of course is my noob welding techniques. However it works, its not going to fall apart and its not like I will be riding on it at 150 mph. I can look back at that project and say to myself that I can do a lot better. The removable platform table was held on with 1/4-20 bolts on to the vertical post.

Recently I have been practicing beading thin aluminum and trying to make some welds. I know its not perfect yet but will practice on welding pipes together. I actually got a larger 80CF argon tank, that 50CF tank goes way fast. Its a little heaver so I might try and make a dedicated carrier for it.

I made a make shift torch holder that could really use some improvement. Making fillet joint is really hard for me and I struggle a lot trying. Getting better at the 1/8 plates but no so with the 1/16 as I can really burn easily through them.

Looks like you are headed in the right direction, For being new at this and just starting it looks like you are making very good progress. 12 hours is a lot of hood time and a lot of gas.You will overtime learn some little tricks and things not to do. It just takes time. I tried a little .025 and .030 sheet and had success using the pulse setting seemed like it helped warpage on the thin material. I learned on a 400 amp Lincoln barrel welder when i was 16 ( used to burn 1/4" 7018 36" long rods) and a year later was thrown into the world of mig that everyone then said the welds would not hold. ( we all know how that turned out ) After that an introduction to Heliarc on a giant old linde machine. Later running our plant was mostly .045 solid wire, 1/16" and 5/64" Flux core wire and stick for maintenance.

Looks good. I love that welding cart.

I went through 4 tanks for 50CF argon in a month, lots of gas for sure and its not cheap, cost me around 47-57 each time. Just recently upgraded to the 80CF, luckily filler is not too expensive.

I am still looking around for a thicker table top. Its only around 20"x 36". Currently the top I have now will bow a little with heat. You guys think a 1/4" plate might be okay for the top?

I'm planning to use a chunk of 1/4" thick aluminum for my welding table top, but it will be braced underneath and have adequate support. I used to use a 36"x36" piece of 3/8" aluminum plate at work for TIG welding on the wood layout tables/work benches, but that's pretty heavy stuff (read:costs lots of money!).

For what it's worth, when I took the advanced welding class 10 years ago, I was already decent at MIG welding, Stick welding, and Gas welding, but had no experience with TIG at all. The second semester (TIG portion of class) required us to sit in the TIG booth from 7am to noon, twice a week for an entire semester. We welded steel, stainless, and aluminum (unless you brought a "home project in of another metal type) and practiced fillet welds, inside/outside corner joints, lap and butt joints, and any position we could come up with . In my experience, picking up on the basics of TIG welding was fairly quick and simple, but really becoming proficient in TIG (welding different types of metals, different thicknesses, and different positions, etc) took that entire class and then some! I even went in and welded during the other (beginner) classes' lectures to put myself ahead of my classmates and make me that much better/more comfortable with TIG.

I think a big portion of the learning curve comes from experience, and learning to recognize an issue or problem quickly (tungsten or base metal contamination, ground or shielding gas issues, arc length, torch angle and position, etc) is the key to success. Being "someplace else", tired/hungover, preoccupied (etc) is a quick way to create issues while TIG welding. Even on a good day, it can take a second to realize the tungsten you've been welding with all day needs to be "touched up" due to a blunt point or whatever. My point to all this is, you might have 10 times the weld time under your belt before you feel confident welding a complex project or repair. It all takes time (like that's the first time you've heard that!;)). As cbmkr mentioned, you're off to a great start! Keep practicing and you'll pick it up soon enough! :) I find that welding really thick material, really thin material, or welding thick to thin materials together are some of the biggest challenges I encounter. Out of position welds can be very tough as well, but I try to make things comfortable for myself when I can. Things just go smoother that way.

Thanks for the tips, I started to actually note down things when I get them right so I can remember and refer back to. Most things wont need to be noted down as most of it is done by seeing and getting used to. I have a repair or mod that I am putting off doing till I get better at it. I have small gas engine cylinder head that I want to reposition the spark plug hole, I wont touch it till I am competent of course. I will practice filling on scrap material first. I know there will be difference with materials and conditions that I am hoping to overcome. I have a few other projects that I want to make, one of them a custom aluminum awning for one of my patio doors. I love making things and Tig welding is a lot of fun!

Got tired of my make shift wobbly torch holder so I made one from 1/8" aluminum plates.

I saw an articulating arm clamp on another forum and so I made a copy of it. I would say its pretty darn good as it holds small pieces together. It wont hold 5lbs+ items in the air but great for prevent weld pieces from moving around. It was specially handy making the torch holder. I also made a simple magnetic type clamp to hold down parts to the table. The trouble is getting the magnet to move around the table. I know they have those off/on magnet holder but these are fairly cheap to make.

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I am practicing for my next project, why on earth did I have to pick a round tubing?!, I should have been fine with square easier to weld ... :mad:

1-1/4" OD aluminum tubing, 1/16th thickness, 1/16 tungsten, 1/16 filler 70 amps. This is my first practice and it aint pretty... you can laugh but advice and tips would be more helpful, lol.

The fit up is pretty good but having a hard time working my way around the circular tubing, not to mention keeping the tungsten close enough to the weld area. I started to just practice welding 1/4 of the tubing and not so easy either.

Maybe if I do 30 more joints (welding of course) I might be able to make them nicer.

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Originally Posted by vicrc

I am practicing for my next project, why on earth did I have to pick a round tubing?!, I should have been fine with square easier to weld ... :mad:

1-1/4" OD aluminum tubing, 1/16th thickness, 1/16 tungsten, 1/16 filler 70 amps. This is my first practice and it aint pretty... you can laugh but advice and tips would be more helpful, lol.

The fit up is pretty good but having a hard time working my way around the circular tubing, not to mention keeping the tungsten close enough to the weld area. I started to just practice welding 1/4 of the tubing and not so easy either.

Maybe if I do 30 more joints (welding of course) I might be able to make them nicer.

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Make sure you have the best access to the joint and can see it well. Don't try to go too far in one go, re-position the work as often as you need to, and don't get into a bind. It's not square so don't try to do it in four setups. Try to keep the tungsten centered on the joint and follow the curves, don't square it off with a series of straight lines. Sometimes having a curved surface to prop on can help. I've often propped on the side of a can to help roll around a curved joint. It just takes practice. Also make sure you have a way to roll the joint into whatever position you need to, don't make it harder by just laying it on a flat bench. Make up some vee blocks or a vise or whatever to allow you to rotate the part. Practice your tie ins on flat material until you can do them well, as you will need to do a lot of them .

Ram thanks for the tips, I do need to practice them tie ins because I have not really done them well enough.

Thats better than a lot of people can do on round aluminum. Keep at it.

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Originally Posted by agent4573

Thats better than a lot of people can do on round aluminum. Keep at it.

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Thanks I got another 10 foot rem that I will cutting up and practicing on.