Quote Originally Posted by Dne007 View Post
Hi ya'll! I haven't really had the opportunity to practice with my pu205, but hopefully this week I will. This is probably a worn out question, but it's new to me, so~

The pedal: I will set no amps cause the pedal does that? how do I know how much to push? will it burn a hole through the metal if too far, or when is enough enough, and how do I achieve the mark, or once I establish the correct amp~ can I just leave it at that spot until I finish welding? There's very litte mention of the pedal other than how important it is to master it!

The trigger on the handle: I set my amps to what I think is correct, practice a bit to see if I'm at the correct amps to what I'm Tigging? This sounds much easier~ for me anyway.

Advice on this subject it quite welcome! the present setting I want to learn quickly is on the gauge metal of the dash on my '59 Apache truck. I need to repair the radio panel with new metal. I'd really like to do this with my Tig vs. my mig.

This is a table a bought at northern tools~ it's great, it's light and the sparks go down into the mesh(a lot of it) when I practice with my mig. It was about 80bucks. I need to go back to the welding supply to buy stuff; I have 1/16 red tungsten, 1/16 rod(filler), argon bottle. I just need to find some metal of the thickness I'll be welding. I thought I saw a man coming out of Northern tools with some small steel plates, or maybe Ace hardware may have some proper gauge.
dne'
Nice table!

I use the foot pedal about 90% of the time. I set my maximum amps on the machine that the material I am welding is needed. I then can use the pedal to control the arc better in areas of like edges where burn through may be a problem. When needed, I just mash the pedal down for the maximum amperage the machine is set for that material. I also use the pedal as sort of a pulse setting. With thin aluminum, I can weld, then cut back a bit and move the torch, then weld again. Sort of like beating a drum with a foot pedal. Pacing the weld.

When I weld thin steel, I can back off on the amperage with the pedal so I do not warp the sheet metal. Works really well on body work and small projects where a constant arc may make welding impossible.

If you get an aftermarket torch with no trigger, then you will be forced to use the foot pedal. No 2t or 4t to use. Using the foot pedal all the time makes you concentrate more on the weld and the way the puddle is worked. Sort of like chewing gum, walking and talking on the cell phone at the same time. Pretty soon it becomes natural.