What accessories do I need?

[Protraxrptr17]

I sure am glad I found this board!! I'm ordering my Dynasty 200DX this week(Hopefully) and I need some help with getting all the odds and ends I need to get started. I'm getting the contractor kit with it and an Elite Big Window. I'll be welding aluminum and stainless and a little bit of thin gauge steel. I need some help with tungsten and filler rods and all that stuff. Keep in mind, I don't know a thing about what I'm doing. I'm ordering it though my local welding supply shop and they are very knowledgable and can probably answer all my questions but I want to be prepared so I don't forget anything. I'd hate to get home with it and realize I need something else. I'm so excited about my new toy. From what I've read here it's one of the best. I also welcome any input on technique and what initial settings I need to try. I have alot of stick experience and used a flux core wire machine a few times. I almost forgot, foot control or hand control? I think hand control would be good because I'll be doing all kinds of projects with it.(won't be sitting at a bench all the time) Thanks for any help and I must say it seems as there are some real smart and helpful people here. I'll probably be asking many questions here in the coming weeks.

[Wheels]

Protrax

I am relatively new to tig welding also and when I ordered my Dynasty I got the contractors kit with the hand control. I think for inexperianced welders like you and I the foot control is much easier to deal with. I bought one after only a week or so later.
As for what else you will need beside what is supplied in the kit is a method for sharpening your tungsten , believe me you will need it till you get over the habbit of either hitting the tungsten to the puddle or to the filler rod.
Purchace some er70s-6 fiiller rod 3/32" and you are off to the races!
Also, you can look up Hawk`s advice on tig welding with this machine, he has guided me and others with very good advice.

Grab some steel or aluminum and have at it. Oops almost forgot a good pair of thin tig gloves would`nt hurt (sorry about the pun).

Mike

[dyn88]

Heres a bit of advise till you get used to holding a torch, use a gas lens, and on steel only, rest the cup on the base to steady your movement. Also a water cooled torch is much less cumbersome than an air cooled one.This meathod doesnt give you the correct angle unless you adjust your tungsten stickout, but it helped me till I realized that cofee in the morning is not tig friendly(makes you a littlre tense) Its important to relax. lastly I found that a foot pedal is much easier to use till you figure out the relax part. remember also that a super clean filter and cover plate make thins easier also.

[Protraxrptr17]

What do I need for sharpening the tungsten? I know there is probably a million ways. I want something that works good but I don't want to spend a giant amount of money. Keep in mind beautiful welds are a must, so I need to do it the right way. I also need something that is fast and easy to use because like you say I will probably hit the tungsten on everything. I also need advice on what kind of tungsten to get. I have seen several kinds discussed here. Does the contractor kit include any tungsten? The filler rod you reccommended is for aluminum? I tried to download the owner's manual off the Miller site but I can't get it to work right. Somebody said it is very helpful. I'll do a search for some of Hawks posts on the subject.

[Protraxrptr17]

Hey dyn88, we must have been posting at the some time. That's a good tip about resting the cup on the matierial. What's a gas lens?

[Wheels]

Protrax
I use a tungsten grinder from Arczone and it works well for me . It is the cheapest I could find, but if you have a bench grinder you can sharpen on it if the wheel is new and dedicated to tungsten exclusively so as not to contaminate your tungsten. I used a belt sander at first, but it was hard to manage.
About the aluminum I guess I got ahead of myself there , you will need aluminum filler for that. 5356 or 4043 would be a good place to start on al.

Read your manual and practice with your new machine and I can assure you will love it!!

Mike

[joebass]

Accessories

I would get a separate flowmeter, torch, cables, Tweco stinger, and Tweco ground clamp. You probably should start with the foot pedal also. Depending on what you buy this might work out for cheaper than buying the contractors kit, and you will have better accessories. The first thing I did when I got my 300 DX TIGrunner was get rid of that ground clamp and put a good Tweco on it. I also swapped the diamond back torch for a CK 230 Flex head torch. I highly recommend the 150 amp CK air cooled TIG torch with superflex cable. If you are doing any heavier aluminum then you might want to think about the watercooled CK 20 sized torch its a good deal smaller than an aircooled torch and will handle 200 amps and not get hot.

As far as other accessories you will want some Lanthanated tungsten in 1/16 and 3/32. Gas lense collet bodies and collets in 1/16 and 3/32. Also a few cups in differnt sizes.

As for some starter filler metals you will want some 70s-2 or 70s-6 (mild steel)in .045, 1/16 and 3/32, some 308L (stainless) in the same sizes, and 4043 in 1/16, and 3/32, and maybe some 1/8. If you plan on joining mild steel to stainless then you might want to get some 309 filler also.

I also highly reccomend getting the Miller TIG book it has a wealth of information.

[Protraxrptr17]

Thanks fellers, but these answers raised more questions. I see now that I don't want the contractor kit. I'm confused on the torch now. I will be welding all different size material, the whole range of capabilities for this machine(maybe exceeding it occasionally). I think maybe now I need a watercooler. Another $700 right? Maybe I should try to swing a 300DX. My wife will freak when I tell her about the cooler that I might need. I don't know what she'll do when I suggest the 300DX idea. I guess I should forget the air cooled torch all together??? 1/4" aluminum will be pretty common for me. I love overkill but $6700 for a 300DX Tigrunner....OMG!! Please tell me I can get by with 200DX. If so, which Coolmate do I need?

Oh yeah, how much was your grinder from Arczone? Do they have a site?

[joebass]

Dynasty

If you plan on doing alot of 1/4 inch aluminum you will want the 300 DX, if its only occasional then you could probably get by with the 200 DX a cooler and a helium/argon blend. Hawk would be the expert on this as I only run straigh argon but am thinking af picking up a bottle of 50/50 and 75/25 to expiriment.

You could use the any of the coolmates or a bernard. You could even buy used sometimes they show up on Ebay.

I don't know where yopu are getting your prices from but here some links:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57039&item=3836932815&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=45031&item=3837279721&rd=1

http://store.cyberweld.com/mildyn200dxa.html

When I bought my TIGrunner in May of 2003 I printed the ebay auction out and showed my dealer. He not only matched the price but he beat it. I then asked if he would come down even mor if I paid cash. I walked out of the store with the whole deal for $4800! Keep in mind that Miller raised the prices of machines in February so you probably wont even get close to that price., but 5,000- 5,250 might be reasonable. By the way the machine I had before the Dynasty was a Lincoln Invertec V205. I had the machine for 1 month and sold it at a 500.00 loss to get the Dynasty, I have never looked back. This machine is just awsome. I hope this helps.

[Blown S-10]

300DX = $5400 on ebay.

[dyn88]

I posted this statement somewhere else about purchasing equipment- My ABCO dealer wiil meet or beat any price on ebay for new equip and you dont have to pay shipping. also I bought my grinder from ocean state job lot(A discount crap store, like flee market) and just make sure that my wheel is used by only me. any questions you may have about tig practices and accessories could probably be answered by the downloadable and printable tig handbook on the millerwelds home page.

[Protraxrptr17]

Yeah, those prices seem better. I was just going by Miller's website. My local shop quoted me $2700 for the 200DX air cooled with everything but fillers, tungstens, and helmet. If I can get the 300DX tigrunner for around $5000 I'll probably do that if my wife doesn't die of a heart attack when I suggest it. How thick will the 300 go?

I have the good digital Dremel and am very proficient with it. Is there an attachment I can get for it, or can I just check the angles with a protractor or something? What about that chemical stuff? I was reading one of HAWK's posts about it. I forgot the exact name but he seemed to really like it.

Dangit!! I gotta get the big one now!!

[joebass]

Dynasty

I'm not sure about the thickness. The thickest I've done is 1/4 inch. I'm sure Hawk or Andy will know for sure how thick. I would guess 1/2 inch maybe more?

What are you building? Are you repairing thick castings or something?

I use a cheap bench grinder with a coarse wheel and a scotch brite wheel for final polishing of my tungsten. This setup works great for me. I think that the chemical sharpener would be nice for work in the field. I bought some and never used it so I sold it on Ebay.

By the way Ebay is a great place to get tungsten and torch parts. Check out his guys store and auctions. I would try to buy as much as I could at one time because he combines auctions. http://stores.ebay.com/AGLEVTECH_W0Q...enameZl2QQtZkm

CK also has some really cool looking stuff but I have not tried it yet:

http://www.ckworldwide.com/Gas_saver.htm

http://www.ckworldwide.com/Fuse_block.htm

http://www.ckworldwide.com/2_series.pdf

Their short collet bodies and cups look like a cool deal to get into tight spaces without having to go to a 24 sized torch.Also the clear pyrex cups look pretty slick too

[Protraxrptr17]

Yes, I might work on some castings. I race ATV's if that tells you anything. I'll might be repairing engine cases, repairing swingarms, frames, a-arms, building oil tanks and fuel tanks. If I get good enough I might start building my own frames, swingarms and, a-arms. What about chrome-moly? That's what alot of these parts will be made of?

Yeah, I keep fogetting about e-bay. I thought that CK stuff looked pretty cool too. Going to e-bay now.