I'm new to the forum here but I'd like to start off by saying that welders get screwed a lot when it comes to supplies and equipment. Welding gas, hoods, tungsten grinders, consumables, specialty clamps, cleaning solvents, even tig coolant can be a total rip-off for welders if they aren't careful. This thread was meant to share a few tips with other welders so they don't get scammed, starting with a method to avoid the need to buy any more gas lens collets.
There is a myth that welders do not represent a meaningful market to gas distributors and other retailers and therefore there is not a lot of profit made off of welding gas and supplies. This is a complete misunderstanding. If you walk into a LWS and buy without calling around, you are going to pay several times the amount you could be paying. Argon comes from the air. No matter how many resources become scarce or unfeasibly expensive, there will always be argon in the air, so jacking up the price of argon and other fractionally-distilled-from-air gases cannot be justified. Just don't give a LWS business if they stick you with high prices and hazmat charges.
If you are already using a gas lens you are probably aware of either the fact that welding gas cost can get expensive, or the need to provide better shielding to stainless and titanium parts. Welders just use these gas lens collets until they get clogged-up with spatter, then they toss them and use another one. This is money thrown down the toilet. There are these stainless and brass mesh screens known as pipe screens which can be purchased online or at what is known as a "head shop" or a place where tobacco pipes are sold (call them first to check). I recently purchased 1000 brass screens from Amazon for $14.95 with S/H included-- that gives you an idea of how inexpensive they are. I recommend the stainless ones over the brass but either can be made to work.
Punch or drill a hole just slightly smaller (or the same size if possible) than the diameter of the tungsten you will be working with in the center of each screen and stick one on your tungsten between the alumina cup and the gas lens like a stainless sausage patty on a shish kebab. When you start using these more often you will probably find a more sophisticated way of holding the screen in place. If the diameter of your screen is the right size (buy the right size screens so you don't have to cut them down) they will fit right in the back of your cup and will be stopped at the constriction in the front. If you have an oversized cup you may not have that constriction as a backstop. What an easy way to save expensive gas lenses from the rubbish bin!
There is a myth that welders do not represent a meaningful market to gas distributors and other retailers and therefore there is not a lot of profit made off of welding gas and supplies. This is a complete misunderstanding. If you walk into a LWS and buy without calling around, you are going to pay several times the amount you could be paying. Argon comes from the air. No matter how many resources become scarce or unfeasibly expensive, there will always be argon in the air, so jacking up the price of argon and other fractionally-distilled-from-air gases cannot be justified. Just don't give a LWS business if they stick you with high prices and hazmat charges.
If you are already using a gas lens you are probably aware of either the fact that welding gas cost can get expensive, or the need to provide better shielding to stainless and titanium parts. Welders just use these gas lens collets until they get clogged-up with spatter, then they toss them and use another one. This is money thrown down the toilet. There are these stainless and brass mesh screens known as pipe screens which can be purchased online or at what is known as a "head shop" or a place where tobacco pipes are sold (call them first to check). I recently purchased 1000 brass screens from Amazon for $14.95 with S/H included-- that gives you an idea of how inexpensive they are. I recommend the stainless ones over the brass but either can be made to work.
Punch or drill a hole just slightly smaller (or the same size if possible) than the diameter of the tungsten you will be working with in the center of each screen and stick one on your tungsten between the alumina cup and the gas lens like a stainless sausage patty on a shish kebab. When you start using these more often you will probably find a more sophisticated way of holding the screen in place. If the diameter of your screen is the right size (buy the right size screens so you don't have to cut them down) they will fit right in the back of your cup and will be stopped at the constriction in the front. If you have an oversized cup you may not have that constriction as a backstop. What an easy way to save expensive gas lenses from the rubbish bin!
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