Power I-Tig 200DX

Which gas lens are you guys using. Duncan told me the current model tig has a new gun design and it is smaller. It is still a wp26 but I thought I seen on welding tips and tricks that Jody was using a stubby kit from a wp17 to make the torch even more compact for tight areas. I have a project in mind with some aluminum tube and I know I will have to get into tight sections so I want to be able to get the tungsten close enough with out the cup getting in the way. Or can I just use a # 4 instead of say a 6 or 7 cup. Will that work.

The size of the cup is dependant on the weld current and the material: you need bigger diameters to shield a larger area. The higher your weld current, the wider the bead and therefore the wider your shield needs to be. The material matters a lot too: aluminium makes big beads, and materials like titanium need protection from the atmosphere at lower temperatures, so both require a larger cup.

That said, for tricky welding you really want to have a bunch of different cups and styles. Gas lenses are great in some situations because you can get a lot of tungsten stickout. Thats important for things like two tubes coming together at a narrow angle. For confined spaces, you want a little torch and not so bulky a cup. Fortunately sheilding confined spaces is usually pretty easy since the argon gets trapped in there. Personally I'm happy with a wp18 and a wp26 torch, with gas lenses and regular cups for both. I swear the WP18 with a gas lens gets better sheilding in general use, so it's the one hooked up most the time. 9 times out of ten I have a #7 or #8 gas lens on there, but sometimes I'll have a #4 regular cup with a button cap on the little torch for a confined space. But that #4 wouldn't be much use for aluminum.

One thing about the larger torches: it took me a long time to get good with the big torch because it's bulkly. The smaller torches are easier. I'm pretty sure one of thoes superflex torches are in my future, and I'll be putting in a call to Duncan soon.