Home made TIG welder

[shadylane]

I've been thinking about making a TIG welder.
There's an old Lincoln 225 with a home made bridge rectifier that I build in the shop.
I have a regulator with a flow gauge. But I haven't bought a TIG torch or a argon tank yet.

[firewater69]

That sounds cool shady, i love to tig weld but. The electricity part is way over my head. I'll be watching this thread!

[bearriver]

Seen my friend weld with slightly modified jumper cables hooked up to his truck's battery.

I'm confident you can make something that will work really good. Keep us posted.

[WooTeck]

go's straight over my head. although welding is a skill i want to add in to my arsenal. i have a friend that is studying in a oil comp. at the moment that could teach me the basics. interested in how this works out for you.

[corene1]

That is a good power source, and I have heard about people using them for TIG welding , but they have to use a scratch start to get the arc started. This means that every time you start an arc you must touch the material with the electrode thus getting a tiny bit of contamination every time you start an arc. Most commercial setups have a starter arc assembly in them so you don't have to scratch start. I am no electrician but I don't see why it couldn't be installed in the Lincoln 225. This would be for Stainless and ferrous steels only. To do aluminum you would need to run it on AC and have a high frequency unit for it to keep the arc going.

[Halfbaked]

I got an old 225/125 lincoln AC/DC buzz box. Works great. Is it poss to use this as a power source? Cost to convert to tig if possible???

[corene1]

I got an old 225/125 lincoln AC/DC buzz box. Works great. Is it poss to use this as a power source? Cost to convert to tig if possible???

I certainly am no electrician. I just know how to use them, we have a service person come and do all our work so I will ask him when he comes in. I know to do aluminum it must be set at AC with high frequency unit on and starter spark on. By the time you did the conversion and purchased the Amptrol and torch it would probably be cheaper to look for a decent used rig. Check around at some local welding shops a lot of times when they upgrade they will store the older units . My brother just bought an older Lincoln 300/300 complete with regulator , torch, and foot pedal for $600 dollars. It is a good solid machine with no electronic circuit boards like the newer models. We have one at our shop that was new in the mid 60's and it still runs great. We have changed the pedal and torch but the power unit is original.

welder.png (88.86 KiB) Viewed 1751 times

[Halfbaked]

Thanks Corene Don't worry about it. Id say you are right. Get one already done is correct answer for me.

[ShineRunnah]

I've used a scratch start TIG run off a stick welder. Not exactly easy to run, as there is no pedal and thus power is constant, but they do work and will give good results if you've got the skills. My TIG skills are minimal, but my buddy is quite good with it.

If you've got it all but a tank and torch, go for it!

[corene1]

I've used a scratch start TIG run off a stick welder. Not exactly easy to run, as there is no pedal and thus power is constant, but they do work and will give good results if you've got the skills. My TIG skills are minimal, but my buddy is quite good with it.

If you've got it all but a tank and torch, go for it!

I am pretty sure you can wire in an amp control unit , but you will still have to scratch start it

[shadylane]

The plan at the moment is to use the welder on light gage SS.
Scratch start will have to be used since I haven't researched how to build a high frequency start.
But that shouldn't be too difficult, there's an induction transformer in my junk box from past Tesla coil experiments.

Trying to figure out how to control the welder better than the switch on the Lincoln.
Wonder if a Phase Angle controller would work on a input side of a welder?

edited
bought one of these
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/ ... _200485165" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[shadylane]

I'm redesigning the choke coil and filter capacitors, originally used to convert the Lincoln tombstone welder to DC.
My wife "once upon a time certified welder" said "just buy what you need" I don't need a TIG welder, I want to build one.
She doesn't understand why, I'll spend hundreds of hours, to make something that can be bought cheaply.
Sounds' kind of like home distillation don't it.

[shadylane]

The home made DC welder is working quite well. I've been playing with 1/16 and 3/32 308L SS welding rods.
I can lay a pretty bead, and the arc starts easily and is stable at 40 amps. The 1/16 rods are being over powered a little.
I'll be making mods to the input of the welder to lower the amperage for tig welding 16 ga and thinner SS
Figured it was time to buy a argon tank. Called the local welders supply but when I got there.
They had made a mistake and didn't have the size tank I wanted. Left with a 200 cf tank at a 125cf price.
When I got it home the fitting on my old regulator didn't match. Now I'm waiting for amazon to deliver a new regulator.

[Halfbaked]

I'm redesigning the choke coil and filter capacitors, originally used to convert the Lincoln tombstone welder to DC.
My wife "once upon a time certified welder" said "just buy what you need"

I am thinking that you had better hang on to that lady. Maybe you could get her in the stillin room after you convince her to help make mods on her new boiler. A FAMILY THAT STILLS TOGETHER STAYS TOGETHER!

[shadylane]

Wife's world revolves around kids, grand kids and the "NEW" Great Grand Daughter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Edited:
Starting a new post about "Rose"

[goinbroke2]

One thing I'm confused about, how do you scratch start a tig welder? Wouldn't touching the tip burn it or make it a blob on the end instead of a sharp point? And if you don't have control over the amps, how do you control it so you don't burn holes? When I run the tig at work I try to not use any filler rod unless necessary as it makes a nice even bead. I've used crude welders in the field to gob stuff back together to get a mud truck out of the woods, but I'd never use that as an option if I didn't have to. Whenever I weld in a cage or roll bar etc I always think, "in 6 months nobody will know or think it's cool that I welded this with booster cables or how fast I got this job done, they will just see the gobs and think of how terrible my work is".

If it's because you want to do it, then do it. But if it's because you need a welder, buy one.

[shadylane]

Scratch starting only works for a DC welder.
It also dulls and contaminates the point on the tungsten rod a little bit each time.
Once the arc is started, the welding is the same.

"And if you don't have control over the amps, how do you control it so you don't burn holes"

The big nob on the front of the welder that says amps.

[shadylane]

I had a lot of fun converting a Lincoln AC225 into a DC welder and using it as a scratch start TIG welder. Also making a HF starter for it was a learning experience to say the least. But it's time to buy a ready made TIG welder. I'll probably buy a Hobart EZ-TIG 165I. It's not the best welder, but it's in my price range. I'll keep you'll posted on the projects it's used for. And I have a bunch of them.

[bearriver]

Nice job Shady. Like they say, it is the journey. I'm looking forward to your future projects.

[jb-texshine]

Wife's world revolves around kids, grand kids and the "NEW" Great Grand Daughter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Edited:
Starting a new post about "Rose"

wow shady,great grand kids???

[shadylane]

Yep, I wasn't born yesterday

[shadylane]

I made enough money working part time for the local farmers, to get the Hobart TIG welder.
The harvest season is still young, so now I got my eye on a plasma cutter
On a side note: Since I don't drink much Uncle Sam has made a hell of a lot more money from the sales taxes for equipment and supplies
Than what I've cheated him out of on liquor taxes.

[frodo]

I made enough money working part time for the local farmers, to get the Hobart TIG welder.
The harvest season is still young, so now I got my eye on a plasma cutter
On a side note: Since I don't drink much Uncle Sam has made a hell of a lot more money from the sales taxes for equipment and supplies
Than what I've cheated him out of on liquor taxes.

I want a plasma cutter so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

they have one called the Drag gun it is the size of a small buzz box and is 120 volts
with the air built in

i have used it at work and am in lov




Good luck on your build, sounds interesting