I hate to admit it but I don’t know how to weld. Sure, I know a lot about welding, the various processes, the equipment you need–  especially the high performance TIG welding accessories at Arc-Zone.com.  I even know a bit about plasma arc welding and cutting. But ’til now it’s all been book learnin’ and talking to a lot of knowledgeable people.

Finally I got a short one-on-one lesson in TIG Welding from Arc-Zone’s own Joe Welder (aka my boss, Jim Watson).  Wow. What an eye opener that was! 

 And fun.

First off, let me assure you, that contrary to popular belief, Welding is NOT for dummies.  You have to keep a lot of things in mind. And if you want to be any good, you’ll have to understand about electricity, metallurgy, a little geometry, joint fit up, and then there’s the hand-eye coordination that takes practice. And more practice.

Safety First.

Even though with TIG welding you don’t see sparks flying, you still need eye protection. We did not have one of the super slick fancy electronic welding helmets in stock so I had to go old skool and flip my lid up and down.  

At least the helmet looked good– the orange flames matched my long-sleeved  cotton t-shirt perfectly.

And check out these gloves. They’re the Firefly TIG Gloves made for women who weld, which means the sizing is smaller.  I was suprised at how well I could maneuver the TIG Torch and the filler rod.

Here’s Jim showing me the proper way to hold the TIG torch.  It’s heavier than it looks,  and this was a WP-20 water cooled TIG torch.  Though the torch body  itself only weighs 3 oz. you’ve got to take into consideration the weight of the cables and hoses which makes it a little awkward and it feels heavier than it really is.  Because this is delicate work, you’re using all those tiny muscles in your hand, wrist and forearm.  Of course I’m a bit of a wimp, I’ll admit it.

I let Jim set up the machine.  This is a basic Miller Machine upgraded with a Cool Kit so we can use the water cooled TIG Torch.  

First he opened up the Argon bottle-  slowly so as not to “shock” the flow meter.  

Next he plugged in the water cooler. It was a little noisy, but not too bad.  Kinda comforting to hear the hum and gurgle since the welding machine itself was so quiet.

Then he checked that the work cable was grounded to the work bench…  

Jim got me a coupon to practice on, 308L Stainless Steel, and some 1/16″ diameter  308L Stainless steel rod.  We cleaned the material with EZ Wipes to make sure there was nothing to contaminate the weld and mess it up (I figured I could do that all by myself without any help from dirt).  

Jim turned the machine to Electrode negative 150 amps, and I was ready to roll!

NEXT POST:  See the results…..

You may have dropped by the Arc-Zone.com eBay store and seen this message:

We’re revamping our entire eBay store.  We’ll be taking advantage of new tools offered by eBay and hope to be up and running before the end of next week.

In the meantime, don’t forget, you can purchase top quality welding accessories from our super secure Arc-Zone.com webstore.  In fact, we’re adding more and more items each day… from CK TIG Torches to MIG replacement parts and even posters, Weld Like a PRO (TM) decals and stylish welding apparel…  if you haven’t scoped out our online welding webstore lately, you’re missing out!

It’s been a long time coming…  a new Weldcraft Website.  What I especially like is the crisp clean graphics and the Help me choose a TIG Torch tool:

Appleton, Wis. December 15, 2008—Weldcraft unveiled its completely new Web site this week, featuring convenient product selection information, easy site navigation, valuable educational resources, and in-depth parts and accessories information.

An intuitive home page interface allows site visitors to quickly and easily learn more about which of Weldcraft’s two main product lines, the Crafter Series and the WP Series, best meets their TIG welding needs. The Crafter and WP Series’ pages let users further define their search based on product category: hand-held air-cooled, hand-held water-cooled, machine held and hand-held specialty (the last two categories are for the WP series only). Site visitors can determine exactly which TIG torch is right for their application based on detailed product descriptions. Downloadable product spec sheets with complete torch and replacement part information are also available.

READ the official Weldcraft press release–>

And don’t forget, if you want to buy a Weldcraft TIG Torch, Arc-Zone.com carries the most complete line of torches and accessories IN STOCK and ready ship.

In my last post, I neglected to mention that Arc-Zone.com is on YouTube with some great how-to welding videos.

Our most popular video so far, is How To Build A Water Cooled TIG Torch.  Arc-Zone.com founder Jim Watson will take you through the steps to putting your torch together…  and you’ll get a sneak peek at Rachel, our own Roxy Fuel (welding posters and calendars coming soon).

I’m not so naive to think that big companies go green for purely altruistic reasons…. but I’m sure happy when I see changes. At Arc-Zone we do what we can to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (check out the video about it over at JoeWelder.com)

And now, Lincoln’s new packaging is green:

Cleveland – The Lincoln Electric Company has introduced newly redesigned, eco-friendly packaging for its consumable products, resulting in added benefits to the customer and the environment.

Beginning in late 2008, all cardboard packaging will be made out of non-bleached bio-degradable cardboard. The new packaging drastically reduces the amount of harmful chemicals used in the production process, while providing a package that is 100-percent recyclable.

In addition, the labeling used on packages has been revamped. New labels are designed to be easier to identify at first glance and from greater distances. Brand, type and diameter information is now more readable and accessible.

“We wanted to make the product easier for everyone to read, from the welder, to distributors and forklift operators,” said Lisa Byall, consumable portfolio manager, Lincoln Electric. “The increased overall productivity combined with the reduced environmental impact of the new packaging offers our customers an added value to what are already the best performing consumables available.”

The Lincoln Electric Company, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, is the world leader in the design, development, and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc-welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. For more information, visit www.lincolnelectric.com.

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I was invited to guest blog over on the Miller Viewpoints blog…  while I appreciated the opportunity, and am truly honored that they asked, I have to say it was a little different blogging through a corporate machine.  First off, they wanted 250 words.  Two hundred-fifty words?  Are you kidding me?  that just gets me started! “The 250 words is just a rough guide,” they assured me.

So, I turned in my 876 word piece, Weld Like A Girl: Tips for Women in the Welding Industry. And waited.

Five days later, word came back. “Because it’s longer than we typically use for a single post, we’re going to make it into a series…” said my Miller contact.

Sounded fine with me.  I was proud of what I wrote, and three posts is better than one!

And so I waited some more as the edits, the approvals, and the blog post itself wended its way up the corporate chain of command. Word finally came back a week and a half later, “….they would only approve uploading the first topic, covering ‘Knowledge is Queen’”

[sigh]
(more…)

At Arc-Zone.com we get a lot of requests for tungsten electrodes made in the U.S.A. And until recently, we weren’t able to offer that.

Sylvania (yes, the lightbulb people) are at present the only US source for tungsten electrodes. Nearly every tungsten electrode comes from China (75%) or Austria, Bolivia, Portugal, and Russia.

If you’re interested in learning more about tungsten production, there’s a great new website that offers some of the most comprehensive information about tungsten and tungsten electrodes for welding that I’ve seen in a while. (Yes, I may be a little biased, but there really is some good information about tungsten there.)

Now, Arc-Zone.com offers Sylvania Tungsten Electrodes, made in the US, and ready for immediate delivery:

• PURETUNG® / Pure Tungsten (Color Code Green)
• 1% Thoriated (Yellow) Tungsten Electrodes
  
• 2% Thoriated (Red) Tungsten Electrodes
  
• 1.5% Lanthanated (Gray) Tungsten Electrodes
  
• 2% Ceriated (Orange) Tungsten Electrodes and
• ZIRTUNG® / Zirconiated (Brown) Tungsten Electrodes
  

Arc-Zone will be stocking the standard 7″ length in diameters, 0.040″ to 1/8″ though other diameters are available. Contact sales –at– arc-zone.com for details.

We did our first video shoot at Arc-Zone.com last week. We’ve seen the rough cuts, and we’ll be posting them online soon, but in the meantime, check out Joe Welder’s write up on how the day went –>

Arc-Zone.com has partnered with Master Fabricator Ron Covell to bring you some terrific DVDs on How To Weld. Ron himself worked with us to select the premium DVDs he felt would best serve our customers:

• Basic Techniques for Working with Steel
• Chopping and Sectioning
• Hammerforming Techniques
• MIG Welding Made Easy
• TIG Welding Basics and
• Working with Tubing

These DVDs should get you well on your way to Weld Like A PRO™!

Over at JoeWelder.com we’re running a contest of sorts. A way to get a Free T-shirt:

We’re starting a new regular feature:  Ask Joe.

Each week we’ll feature real questions from real customers, and answers from our own Joe Welder.

Joe, aka Jim Watson, doesn’t like to toot his own horn, but he has a tremendous amount of expertise in TIG, MIG and Plasma Arc Welding and Cutting products– you can read the details over at Arc-Zone.com or read some of the About Joe Welder posts.

And, if you have a welding question you’d like answered, go ahead and Click on the Contact Joe link.

If your question is featured on an Ask Joe post, we’ll send you a t-shirt!