On Tuesday, January 7, 2014 4:09:37 PM UTC-5, Jon Elson wrote:
stryped wrote:



I have wanted to experiment with Tig. I have a miller Bobcat 225+. Can I

just purchase an air cooled TIG torch and a bottle of argon and connect it

to my welding leads? I know I would not have voltage adjustment capability

and I would have to use scratch start because of no HF. I am assuming this

would work for mild steel or stainless steel.



Scratch start contaminates the electrode. But, it mostly will work,

but may require a lot of fussing to keep the electrodes clean enough to

weld. Mild steel should be no problem, it is very forgiving. Stainless

may be a lot tougher to get good welds.

Would there be a way to use this set up for aluminum?

Generally, you need some kind of AC for Aluminum. Without AC, the

surface of the aluminum gets an oxide layer. The best is square-wave

AC with continuous HF. I have heard of people welding Al with DC,

but I find it tough enough even with the best equipment (Lincoln

Square-Wave TIG 300).



Jon