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

[cbmkr]

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.

[225]

Looks good. I love that welding cart.

[vicrc]

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?

[youngnstudly]

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.

[vicrc]

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!

[vicrc]

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

[vicrc]

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.