tig welding

I watched a guy on you tube tig weld with a DC stick weld machine. He had the welder set on DC - with the stinger hooked to a tig torch and run to an argon bottle. It seemed to work fairly well, but he lacked a foot control. Can anyone explain this process further? I couldn't tell if the torch was water cooled, or much about the actual hookup. I have stayed away from tig welding because of the cost. Thanks, Ellis

Ellis: take a look at the video below--it explains three different TIG start methods--scratch, lift, and high-frequency. With a bare-bones setup like you're describing, most likely he's using scratch start. I've got my old Lincoln Idealarc set up the same way, with a simple air-cooled torch, though I do have a foot control for my gas versus a hand control on the torch like the video shows. While I make no claims to be an expert welder, the setup works rather well for things that would be difficult or impossible for stick or MIG, such as very thin steel, stainless steel, and even some more exotic metals. I've also got a high-frequency box attached (all of this came with the welder when I bought it, and the previous owner was quite accomplished in its use but sold it when his health didn't let him weld any longer) that allows me to weld aluminum on AC mode with a change in tungstens--the high-frequency mode makes aluminum arc starts MUCH easier. Again, this is by no means an optimal setup, but it does let you get into TIG welding using existing equipment and for someone like me who only does occasional TIG welding it makes the difference between having that capability and not having it.
TIG start methods

I was trained to tig weld with a foot switch we made with two short 1"X 4" boards, a door hinge, a spring and two bolts to act as contacts. Just off and on. Later after the company see the advantage to tig weld in mold repair they bought a Miller with all the bells for the time and the foot voltage control. I bought the same deal when I started my tool shop.

I never liked the foot control, I have the thumbwheel on the tig torch. Like it much better.

Never used one to know anything bout that. Wish I could try one. My crippled left had leaves only memories for the most part. I know the difficulties of a one armed wall paper hanger working from a wheelchair. ^D

I have put the first pass in hundreds of boiler tubes and high pressure steam pipes with this process. It is only for ferrous metals and stainless,not aluminum.It is not rocket science. DC straight polarity, no High frequency.Air cooled torch. You control your heat by travel speed and the rate you feed the filler rod.When you have a 20 foot joint of pipe on each side of your weld sucking the heat out, it is not too hard to control the puddle. More Questions?

Commonly called scratch start tig, since you don't have high frequency start. It's how most tig welding in the field is done, hard to use a pedal laying in a tank, on a ladder etc.

(quoted from post at 22:44:21 03/14/18) I never liked the foot control, I have the thumbwheel on the tig torch. Like it much better.

Click to expand...

Friend of mine has one of those. He can weld an ice cube to a 2x4 with that thing.

Yes, more questions. I taught machine shop and welding for 30 years and had state of the art welding equipment, both tig and mig. I am not sure how to hook up the tig torch to the stinger for this application. Does a welding shop carry parts for this modification or is it all home made? I retired in '99 and since then it has been stick only, 6010 and 7018. Thanks, Ellis

That is how my Miller is --No foot control-set amperage where you think it will be good and "scratch start" not actually touching the work. Argon to torch which plugs in to welding lead. Except mine has high freq.

Ellis, As I said it has to be straight polarity. The tig torches that are made for this application have a separate gas hose with a shut-off valve on the torch handle to control gas flow and a power lead with a ring terminal on it. Hook the ring terminal to the negative post on the welder if it does not have polarity switch and the ground to the positive. Hook the hose to a gas regulator and that is it. This is touch start TIG, Turn your gas on and strike it like a match.