New to TIG, need suggestions

[Travis Beste]

Hi guys, just ordered myself a Dynasty 200DX, foot contractor kit, and a Big Window Elite helmet. Hopefully it will be here the end of this week. I ended up ordering online due to a local distributor treating me like crap. I got off the phone and was flat out pissed at the way I was treated. Called a place on the east coast where I was treated like my money was as green as anyone elses and I hung the phone feeling good about my decision.

Along with the welder, kit, and helmet I got a couple pounds of filler. A pound each of 4043, ER70S2, and ER308 all in 3/32". I have no real projects in mind but want to practice all 3 materials. If anyone has any other recommendation on fillers to get me started practicing I'm all ears.

Now for the real question- What do I want for shielding gas? I've read the first 6 pages of these forums and couldn't really find what I was looking for. I see Hawk talk about upping the amount of He when he need more heat on his D200DX, but I doubt this is of little importance to me. Again, I'm open to all suggestions, but would prefer suggestions that will be most flexible. Can I use the same gas for AL, SS, and mild steel?

Outside of what I listed what else can I expect to need to lay down my first bead?

A little background on my skill set- I have been welding since my freshman year in High School, 9 years ago. I'm decent with stick and mig, and learned to use the O/A torch to braze but haven't done that in years so I'm sure I'd be pretty rusty. I currently own a Lincoln buzz box that is 3 times my age... It is a 3rd generation hand-me-down that gets the job done, but I'm hoping the new machine will allow me to better my skills.

Thanks In Advance,
Travis Beste

[timw]

I hope you ordered from BR Welders, they have been great for me. I bought a MM 210 and a Spectrum 625. Someone will probably give you better advice on gas but a basic rule is no gas with oxygen in it for Aluminum. I use Argon for Alum and either 75/25 or a local gas they call Stargone for steel.

[kid]

Get some argon, used for for aluminum, steel, & stainless, my favorite size rod (on steel) is 1/16". Remember, the cleaner the better

[revpol]

Straight argon for tig. will do carbon steel,chromes,stainless and aluminum fine. revpol

[H80N]

timw
you may be looking at this from a Mig perspective not Tig..... and some of the gases that you listed are MIG gases... and would be really bad news for TIG... the most used gas for all around TIG is straight Argon... Argon or Helium are both acceptable and special purpose mixes of both are used to help "up" the heat as you may have seen from HAWK's posts on the subject............
straight Argon is the way to go, in my opinion, for general purpose TIG.....
hope this helps
Heiti

[Travis Beste]

Originally posted by H80N
timw
you may be looking at this from a Mig perspective not Tig..... and some of the gases that you listed are MIG gases... and would be really bad news for TIG... the most used gas for all around TIG is straight Argon... Argon or Helium are both acceptable and special purpose mixes of both are used to help "up" the heat as you may have seen from HAWK's posts on the subject............
straight Argon is the way to go, in my opinion, for general purpose TIG.....
hope this helps
Heiti

This helps very much. I was pretty sure I didn't want 75/25 as that has CO2 which is bad news for TIG. I was pretty sure that straight argon was what I wanted, but I had seen others(mainly HAWK) talk about varying the % of He, so there was a thought in my mind that it was an Ar/He mix all the time and he was just varying the amount of He to expand his usable heat range.

I had checked with the local gas supplier last night and came back with these prices. Are they reasonable?

$115 for 10 year lease on any size bottle, or pay $4.25/month per bottle.

and

$31.25 for 122 FT^3 of straight argon.

I had also asked the guy I didn't buy the welder from how much gas would be and his price was $115 for a 5 year lease and $40 for 154 FT^3 of straight argon.

Looks like I'll just order up a some straight argon and that should be plenty good to get my feet wet until I have a clue as to what I'm doing.
Travis

[ASKANDY]

Travis,
You are on the right track. Like Heiti said, 100% Argon is the way for you. $31 is a good price and if you go with the long term lease, check to see if there is a refund if you turn in early. If not, tell them you want it in the contract to prorate the lease if you terminate early because of performance issues or if they choose to raise prices too high.

The only other thing I would add to your filler selection is 5356 for alum. The Dynasty likes the 5356
Also, you may want to get all your alloys in 1/16. It will really make welding stuff under 1/8" easier especially steel and SS.

Good luck and Have fun!

Andy

[Travis Beste]

Thanks guys for the tips. I'm really getting excited and the UPS man is still a couple days away

Good thing I only bought a pound each of the fillers. I don't have alot of money tied up in them. I'll definately take the advice of you experienced folks and go to a 1/16" in all flavors, as well as getting some 5356 for AL work.

As far as the gas situation goes. We get our gas here at work from the same place as I stopped last night and have been happy with their service for the past 15+ years, long before I ever started here. There are 3 companies with trucks that service this town every week so I'd think it's fairly competitive. I'm not too worried about the long term lease as my only other option is buying my own cylinder at a much higher cost. I'm going to call them up so I have a cylinder waiting once the welder gets here.

Hopefully this weekend I'll be burning metal!!!

Travis

[Wheat]

Places where you know your are going to be treated like crap are car dealership service depts. and junkyards. Going to KMart you expect pi$$ poor service but really not at a welding store. I too have been treated like crap at a LWS. I just walked out the door and spent my 2K at a LWS that treated me like a human being. Really it's no wonder the online faceless, low price leader are making a mint to the hobbyist welder. Good luck with your new 200DX. Give us a detailed report once you get it going....

[Travis Beste]

SWEET!!!! Emailed BR Welder and got my tracking numbers within an hour of sending the email. They are on schedule and should be delivered on Friday. I called and I'm picking up the gas on Friday after work as well. I'm really getting excited now!

Travis