[DMCForum] GTAW Inverters...

["checksix3" <jetjock11@xxxxxxxx>]

I have a Thermal Arc GTSW 250. A Dynasty DX? Geez, that's a heck of a 
nice machine for a guy who isn't a pro or welds for a living. It's 
serious overkill for someone at your stage of learning but you 
couldn't ask for a better machine to own. I'd love to have one. Learn 
to use the pulse and variable frequency features and you'll be able 
to do some nice work with it.

Since you have such a capable machine I suggest you study up on GTAW 
fundementals. Miller has an excellent book on the subject. You want 
to understand wave balance and how it affects cleaning and 
penetration. Get a good torch and use a gas lens to keep your Ar 
consupmtion down. 

Use Lanthaned electrodes for most work. You can stay with the old 
standby thoriated but you know they're radioactive right? Be careful 
not to breath the dust when grinding them. And get a second hose to 
back purge things when you need to. (Use aluminum foil for 
backpurging if it's not pipe or tubing you're welding and always 
backpuge SS. Cleanilness and details matter in Tig, it's why they use 
it for high zoot work like x-ray quality for nuclear and and 
aerospace. It's a great process, I used it to solve the inherent 
failure mode of the blue fan fail module. (My D still has one and I 
trust it completely.)

Get proficent on steel first before you try aluminum. AL can be 
tricky because it doesn't turn color like steel, it just suddenly 
turns into a mirror and drops through. If your not careful you'll be 
picking your Al up off the floor. It also sucks up heat so you need 
to back off on the pedal as you go along. The nice thing is you can 
watch the the electrode distance in the "mirror". (No matter what 
you're welding always watch the puddle, not the arc or electrode tip.)

Learn about metallurgy, metal classifications, and heat treatment, 
you can't be a good weldor without knowing these side lines. And 
practice, practice, practice! With a nice machine like that it would 
be a shame not to become good. Remember, there is a lot to know about 
everything technical and the level you learn and understand it to is 
what will make very good at the task. Knowleadge is power.

As nice as GTAW is there are some things you can't do with it and 
some alloys that are just unweldable. 2024 aircraft alloy comes to 
mind, too much copper content. Its why you need to know metal 
classifications, you must know what you're arcin and sparkin on if 
you want a good weld. Not to mention it helps in selecting the filler 
material.

Sorry for the length but there is a lot to know about this.

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