It's beautiful

[Protraxrptr17]

I unpacked and assembled my 300DX TIGRunner yesterday evening. I am very impressed with the craftmanship. Today I played with it a little and I think I did pretty good for a rookie. I used the ceriated tungsten first. Later switched to lanthanated and it made a huge improvement. Seemed like it was much harder to contaminate. I'm having trouble with back stuff floating up. I guess I need to clean my filler and workpiece better. Hawks advice to setup the pulser to get a rythm worked great. I have alot to learn on machine setup. I'm going to town tonite to get a diamond wheel for my Dremel to sharpen tungstens. Also going to get some aluminum to scratch on. All I had today was some old scrap stuff. Real dirty. I cut an old A/C dryer in half a welded it back together. It was full of oil and sludge and I couldnt really clean the inside real well. I didn't have any acetone either. It looked pretty good to me all things considered. The filler didn't want to mix with the puddle real good. Do I need a different kind when it does that? I was using 1/8 4043. It would just drop a big glob. I would run the torch up over the glob and it would seem to start mixing in OK until I stopped and restarted. What is the right way to stop? I would end up with a crater. I used the HF start. Should I be using touch start?

I decided to go ahead with the ArcOne hood. It wasnt the Eagle, it's a Vision. Looks pretty cool. I'm worried about one thing though. I see a green spot when I stop welding. I hope I haven't burned my eyes. I had it set on on 12 TIG (the highest setting). Is this normal?

[Bendaman]

Congrats on your dynasty 300!
you mentioned in your post that your going to get a diamond wheel for
your dremel. Does it do a good job sharping tungsten??? Just wondering
I have a dremel I never use might have to dig it out tomorrow.

[HAWK]

Protraxrptr17,

I hope you enjoy your 300 as much as I have mine. As for the filler globing off in big drops a smaller filler like 3/32" or even 1/16" would probably help you there. You might also turn up the amperage some and see what happens w/ the 1/8" filler.

Definitely clean your material as well as possible: a good mechanical cleaning followed by a chemical cleaning w/ acetone is typically best. Since your base material has a lot of oil content it will constantly bubble up into and around the weld when heated. A good preheat to about 300 degrees F should help. Also try setting the pulser around 350-500 PPS with a 50% background amperage and see if the trash does not float up and away better for you. You may have to increase the amperage over what you used w/o pulse.

You HAVE TO USE HIGH FREQ TO START THE ARC ON AC TIG. The "Lift Arc" mode can be used for DC. I always use the HF on the Dynasty when possible. I have found the "Lift Arc" nice in the field on the Dyn 200 when a pedal was not practical.

To avoid cratering out slowly back off the foot pedal and add a bit of filler as you do. Some TIG welders like to work the torch back into the weld bead just a little when ramping down on the foot pedal. I never found it made much difference for me.

[Protraxrptr17]

I don't know how well the diamond wheels work. I was going to try them, but Wal-Mart and Lowe's didn't have any. I could've swore I seen 'em at Lowe's but not tonight. There wasn't any employees around to ask where they went. Hope they didn't discontinue them. If anybody out there finds some pick up a couple and I'll buy them from you.

My eyes still feel OK. I read the manual that came with the hood and it claims that you cannot burn your eyes with this hood. Even if it doesn't darken. Anybody agree with that? I'll probably wake up at about 3:00 AM feeling like I got 40 grit sandpaper in my eyes

[tackit]

Glad you like your 300DX Protraxrptr17 and good luck with it.

If the hood directions say you won't get flashed i wouldn't worry about it.

[fun4now]

dimond wheel for dremmel

i found this set in the H.F. catalog i was thinking of getting untill i can save up for a tung. grinder

1 is a set ov dimond disks 1 of them has a V shape

the 2nd is of a wet dry grinding setup for $100

bolth look like a good starter set till i move up to a real tung. grinder


any of you pros. out there could chime in and let us know what you think about the 2 choices


you can call there 1-800-423-2567 to order eather of them if you like them

P.S. if you do go with 1 of them let me know how you like what you get

[HAWK]

fun4now,


It looks like these wheel are very thin. It seems to me it would be difficult to hold the tungsten in place accurately. As for the grinder I think a dry bench grinder at $30-$40 would be a much better bargain.

I have found the aluminum oxide wheels work well to shape and sharpen the tungsten. The diamond wheel just adds a final surface finish.

[fun4now]

thanks HAWK

As for the grinder I think a dry bench grinder at $30-$40 would be a much better bargain.
I have found the aluminum oxide wheels work well to shape and sharpen the tungsten

thanks ill go that rought

P.S. might get the wet dry for my chisels and stuff anyway

always nice to have an extra tool laying around

[Blown S-10]

just how important is this "final surface finish" ?

[HAWK]

Blown S-10,

A rough tungsten surface is usually easier to start the arc, produces a less stable arc, and has a shortened life. Too fine of a surface can be hard to start unless the power source has an extremely strong HF generator. The super fine high polish finishes are used in orbital and other automatic applications where extreme stability and long life are a consideration. For manual TIG welding a happy medium works well. A good aluminum oxide wheel in the 60-80 grit range produces a nice finish. If you have a smooth diamond wheel to give it a final polish so much the better. Otherwise don't worry too much about the final finish.

Most tungsten grinders on the market produce a 20 RA finish. This is perfect for manual TIG welding. These units range from 250-2000 dollars. The most important aspect is not so much the finish as it is the repeatability of the finish, taper, and flat. A great tungsten grinder for hobby and medium production shop is the Piranha II from Diamond Ground Products.

Here is some great tungsten information

[Protraxrptr17]

After reading that I see what is causing some of my problems. I think my finish is too rough. I need to get something that is made to grind tungstens the right way. I don't know enough about it to be guessing.

My eyes didn't burn last night. The instructions that came with this hood are possibly the vaguest I have ever seen. I had trouble getting it to come on this morning. The instructions say nothing about how to operate it. All they do is mention the features in a very confusing but shallow overview. It has an on/off button and a select button. I assumed that to turn it on you push the on/off button. When you push it the lense goes dark for a split second. You would think that indicates it is on. I started the arc and it didn't darken. I pushed the button again and it momentarily darkened again. Struck arc and still didn't darken. I pushed the select button and the led indicators for tig, delay, and 12 lit up. Still wouldn't darken. I kept pushing buttons and it finally worked. Anybody know how this thing is supposed to work? The first time I used it I just pushed the on/off button and started welding with no problems. It was straight out of the box so I know it isn't a charging issue. I guess I'll call the manufacturer tomorrow and see if they even know how to operate it.