I'm thinking about taking up some schooling this winter...
I do a lot of welding and thought I would like to learn Tig welding...
Whould anyone here explain what Tig welding is and how it works...
Also ... Can a Mig weld do Tig welding with attachments???
Thanks...
Kevin

Think of Tig as gas welding, using an arc instead of flame.
The arc is gas shielded, and you feed the filler rod and
move the puddle just as in O/A. With a high quality Tig
welder, control of the arc properties to a high degree is
possible. There is much to learn concerning the tungsten arc
rod, and much 'hand' to learn to produce consistent high
quality, uniform welds in different materials.
JR
Dweller in the cellar

Kevin Beitz wrote:

I'm thinking about taking up some schooling this winter...
I do a lot of welding and thought I would like to learn Tig welding...
Whould anyone here explain what Tig welding is and how it works...
Also ... Can a Mig weld do Tig welding with attachments???
Thanks...
Kevin

--
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Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth
If you're not the lead dog, the view never changes
Doubt yourself, and the real world will eat you alive
The world doesn't revolve around you, it revolves around me
No skeletons in the closet; just decomposing corpses
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Dependence is Vulnerability:
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In article , Kevin
Beitz wrote:

I'm thinking about taking up some schooling this winter...
I do a lot of welding and thought I would like to learn Tig welding...
Whould anyone here explain what Tig welding is and how it works...
Also ... Can a Mig weld do Tig welding with attachments???
Thanks...
Kevin

TIG machines and MIG machines are very different.
There are machines that can do both, but none that do both really well.

You can TIG weld off of any Stick welder, but if you want the full
process you need a real TIG machine.

You don't need a big or fancy one, but a real TIG machine is set up for
passing the shielding gas through the machine and allowing a foot pedal
to control your power contactor and amperage level.
Also a TIG machine will have a built in High Frequency transformer for
initiating your arc.

TIG is basically striking and arc between the base metal and a
non-consuming tungsten eletrode.
A inert shielding gas is used to protect the tungsten and the molten
puddle from air.
The current is controlled by a foot pedal, and the filler rod is fed
by hand just like gas welding.

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:
In article , Kevin
Beitz wrote:


I'm thinking about taking up some schooling this winter...
I do a lot of welding and thought I would like to learn Tig welding...
Whould anyone here explain what Tig welding is and how it works...
Also ... Can a Mig weld do Tig welding with attachments???
Thanks...
Kevin


TIG machines and MIG machines are very different.
There are machines that can do both, but none that do both really well.

You can TIG weld off of any Stick welder, but if you want the full
process you need a real TIG machine.

You don't need a big or fancy one, but a real TIG machine is set up for
passing the shielding gas through the machine and allowing a foot pedal
to control your power contactor and amperage level.
Also a TIG machine will have a built in High Frequency transformer for
initiating your arc.

TIG is basically striking and arc between the base metal and a
non-consuming tungsten eletrode.
A inert shielding gas is used to protect the tungsten and the molten
puddle from air.
The current is controlled by a foot pedal, and the filler rod is fed
by hand just like gas welding.

What keeps you from getting a nasty shock from the high freqency?

In article , Jim Stewart
wrote:

Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:
In article , Kevin
Beitz wrote:


I'm thinking about taking up some schooling this winter...
I do a lot of welding and thought I would like to learn Tig welding...
Whould anyone here explain what Tig welding is and how it works...
Also ... Can a Mig weld do Tig welding with attachments???
Thanks...
Kevin


TIG machines and MIG machines are very different.
There are machines that can do both, but none that do both really well.

You can TIG weld off of any Stick welder, but if you want the full
process you need a real TIG machine.

You don't need a big or fancy one, but a real TIG machine is set up for
passing the shielding gas through the machine and allowing a foot pedal
to control your power contactor and amperage level.
Also a TIG machine will have a built in High Frequency transformer for
initiating your arc.

TIG is basically striking and arc between the base metal and a
non-consuming tungsten eletrode.
A inert shielding gas is used to protect the tungsten and the molten
puddle from air.
The current is controlled by a foot pedal, and the filler rod is fed
by hand just like gas welding.

What keeps you from getting a nasty shock from the high freqency?


The base metal is a better ground than you are, most of the time.
Honestly everybody who TIG welds get bitten by high freq. a few times.
No big deal.
You jump out of your socks, but that is about it.
High frequency electricity goes through your skin, not your heart.
So it makes you jump, but does no damage.

I have been hit maybe 5 times in 20 years of TIG welding.
Most of those times were when I was using a thumb-wheel controller
instead of a foot pedal and forgot I had the power on.

On 1 Sep 2003 16:51:12 -0700, (Kevin Beitz)
wrote:

I'm thinking about taking up some schooling this winter...
I do a lot of welding and thought I would like to learn Tig welding...
Whould anyone here explain what Tig welding is and how it works...
Also ... Can a Mig weld do Tig welding with attachments???
Thanks...

One can't do the other. Mig is constant current and tig is constant
voltage, IIRC. With a tig you can also stick weld. Mig uses feed
wire that acts as the electrode, melting as it is feed into the weld.
Tig is just an inert gas sheilded arc that can do fusion welds where
no filler is added or used with filler rods like A/O welding. I've
used tig to do fusion welds on sheet metal that were less than 1/16"
wide with 90% or better penetration. Unless you're into a production
type situation tig is the way to go IMO. It produces the most
beautiful welds, depending on operator skill, and is the most
versatile and can weld the most number of materials. If I want to
weld the occasional heavy piece I use the stick for that, not as
convenient as mig, you have to chip the slag off and it makes a lot of
smoke, but I don't do heavy stuff very often. Of course mig is by far
the fastest and most common method of production welding.

I would get a real tig machine if you can afford it. They really do
come in handy if you're halfway serious about metal working. Miller
has a 25% down 0% interest deal going on now in which they will not
only finance the machine itself but all the necessary assessories like
tanks, helmet (get an autodark), regulator, etc.

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.

On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 21:17:45 -0700, Jim Stewart
wrote:

What keeps you from getting a nasty shock from the high freqency?

"Skin effect".

High frequency AC at megahertz frequencies (RF) does not travel "thru"
conductors except at and near the surface. If you are the
conductor, it travels on your skin but not thru the bulk of your
body. The result is more like a burn than a shock. The HF in a TIG
welder is very low power. When (not if) you get "bit" it's annoying
enough to motivate you to wear gloves, but it doesn't jolt you like a
sparkplug wire does.

I'll add another effect - though not normally seen.

"bone effect"

Low frequency AC at 40 or below HERTZ that is - 28 was the actual
frequency
the (AF) tunnels through a limb to the bone and travels down the marrow.
It pops out at the exit point - burning the blood generation cells up.

This is one reason it wasn't used on Ships. To many demonstrations
led to the ban. My Dad doesn't have marrow in his right forearm.

He was bumped into a generator and broke his fall with his arm...

He was into Ship and Air borne Radar - circa 194x in a Western Electric
plant. I think the reason for 400 Hz in airplane is small
transformers/inductors.
Ships needed ballast anyway - and it was felt (likely true - never
thought to much)
that lower frequency was more efficient or something. Guess they stuck
with
60 cycles/sec - Hz - like the ground forces.

Martin
--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder


Don Foreman wrote:

On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 21:17:45 -0700, Jim Stewart
wrote:

What keeps you from getting a nasty shock from the high freqency?

"Skin effect".

High frequency AC at megahertz frequencies (RF) does not travel "thru"
conductors except at and near the surface. If you are the
conductor, it travels on your skin but not thru the bulk of your
body. The result is more like a burn than a shock. The HF in a TIG
welder is very low power. When (not if) you get "bit" it's annoying
enough to motivate you to wear gloves, but it doesn't jolt you like a
sparkplug wire does.

On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 14:27:42 -0400, Gary Coffman
wrote:

On Tue, 02 Sep 2003 06:35:53 GMT, (John Flanagan) wrote:
Mig is constant current and tig is constant voltage, IIRC.

You've got that backwards. MIG is constant voltage. TIG is constant
current.

I knew that. Really. Dyslexics of the world, Untie! :^).

John

Please note that my return address is wrong due to the amount of junk email I get.
So please respond to this message through the newsgroup.