Newbie is going to need help

I haven't tig welded since the mid-1970s when it was still called heliarc, but I have had so many things lately that need welding, that I figured it w as time. I have ordered one of these

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AHP AlphaTIG 200 X along with an assortment of tungstens and rods to get going. Tomorrow, I will trade in the rented nitrogen bottles (from another project) for a purc hased 80# argon tank. The deposit refund from the rentals will pay for the argon.

All this should be here by the end of next week, and we'll see how it goes. I do have a welding shop nearby whose owner said he'd help me out, but I'l l likely be back here for help.

By the way, the most negative reviews I've seen about the AHP referred to h aving to pay shipping in both directions for warranty repair after 30 days. I bought the 4-year SquareTrade plane from Amazon that will (if need be) c over that. Other than that, it seems that the AHP provides a lot of bang fo r the buck.

jpb

Reply to
Jesse Bear
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Where are you located? Looking over someones shoulder for a couple of hours can help a lot. I struggled trying to teach myself to weld aluminum for quite a while. A metalworking club that I belong to had a daylong welding talk/demo and once I had seen how the heatup and initial fusion looked, I was able to take it from there.

BobH

Reply to
BobH

rc, but I have had so many things lately that need welding, that I figured it was time. I have ordered one of these

formatting link
AHP AlphaTIG 200X along with an assortment of tungstens and rods to get going.

I'll likely be back here for help.

I'm in northern NJ. Our county technical high school has welding classes, b ut not for adults. They used to have welding classes for adults, but all th at equipment is now (grrr) locked up in storage somewhere, and replaced wit h a pile of 3D printers.

I have watched so many youtube videos that I feel like I'm already "there" without having yet picked up a torch. Also, I am an electronics guy, and ha ve soldered some pretty "impossible" stuff by hand, and some of that skill will translate. A few years back, I got bored while on the phone with a cus tomer and started playing with solder, building stacks of solder (soldering solder to solder) in excess of a foot tall. Also soldered pieces of wire s older to each other. Again, I have to believe that at least some of that te chnique will translate.

I'm going to a scrapyard today to pick up some practice materials.

Reply to
Jesse Bear

I'm in northern NJ. Our county technical high school has welding classes, but not for adults. They used to have welding classes for adults, but all that equipment is now (grrr) locked up in storage somewhere, and replaced with a pile of 3D printers.

I have watched so many youtube videos that I feel like I'm already "there" without having yet picked up a torch. Also, I am an electronics guy, and have soldered some pretty "impossible" stuff by hand, and some of that skill will translate. A few years back, I got bored while on the phone with a customer and started playing with solder, building stacks of solder (soldering solder to solder) in excess of a foot tall. Also soldered pieces of wire solder to each other. Again, I have to believe that at least some of that technique will translate.

I'm going to a scrapyard today to pick up some practice materials.

=======================

I had a lot of trouble learning to TIG aluminum, even with a night school instructor. Steel is much easier to practice on.

-jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Did you get an auto darkening hood? If not then you should. I have a Viking "Real Color" hood made by Lincoln that I really love. But I am going to be buying one from HTP that is getting really good reviews. I want the new hood mostly because of the larger viewing area. But it has other advantages too over my Lincoln. And the price is right, about 90 bucks.Auto dark hood technology has improved very fast in the last few years, and prices have really dropped on some of them. Eric

Reply to
etpm

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