Low Cost TIG Welder Foot Switch Aux Start

Andeli TIG-250 Welder First Impressions and Adding an Aux Start Switch
I start using my low cost inverter TIG welder, and compare it to the tiny bit of other welding methods I've tried.
Not a review though 😉
Later I add a foot controlled start/stop switch to make my life easier (call it training wheels if you like). Also there a brief look at storing filler rods, a torch holder and a light duty welding table.
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00:00 Not improving by not practicing is a vicious circle
03:00 Adding a footswitch to make my life easier
05:00 How it works
06:55 Bonus Feature - DIY Torch Holder
08:00 Bonus Feature - Filler Storage
09:27 Bonus Feature - Light Duty Welding Table
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The laser cutter I used can be found on ebay.co.uk, seller ID custosig-0
Aside from being a very satisfied customer, I've no affiliation with the company whatsoever.
www.ebay.co.uk/usr/custosig-0
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A note about argon gas:
Obtaining gas almost made a 4th bonus feature, but I didn’t have enough video to cover the dialogue so it went on the cutting room floor! After a query from a viewer this is more or less what I was going say (this is my experience of the situation in England. Your mileage may vary)
100% don’t use disposable bottles. The small grey ones hold about 60 litres of gas, that’s about 10 minutes of welding time (less at a higher flow rate). I can get through that messing about before I even attempt my first weld! There are larger capacity disposable bottles (often green) that hold twice as much (for almost twice the price). Again, a very expensive way to do it.
If you’re a heavy user (think commercial / industrial), a rental account with one of the big gas suppliers (BOC, Air Products etc) works out cheapest.
For the occasional (hobby) use, Google rent free gas in your area. There are a few of nationwide firms (notably Adams, SGS and Hobbyweld) and often local firms too (depending where you are in the country). Do your homework though: The cylinder is often the same physical size, but some suppliers only part fill it, so be aware a slightly more expensive competitor may be supplying a 200Bar bottle versus 100Bar (i.e. double the gas).
You’ll have to pay a deposit on the bottle, but no monthly rental. With some companies the deposit lasts indefinitely and you should get it back provided you return the bottle in good condition (sometime less an ‘administration fee' 🤔 ). Other companies have a diminishing deposit that evaporates over time. I guess this is to encourage you to return that bottle you’ve had in the shed for 10 years and never use anymore. If they’re local you can go and exchange in person. If not you may need to consider the delivery / collection cost and the possibility of renting two bottles (the full one you’ve just got and the one that you’re sending back empty).
My welder didn’t come with a regulator of any kind (I’ve seen some small MIGs come with a disposable bottle reg in the bundle) so I bought a standard reg. In the interests of making your precious gas last as long as you can, I’d recommend a floating ball type flow meter (either at the bottle or a pea shooter at the torch) as the pressure based one on the reg (on mine at least) is pretty inaccurate. This, plus gloves, tungstens and filler all add to the initial outlay but should last some considerable time.
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Manually subtitled for accuracy -click the CC box.
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For the material I couldn't capture myself, my thanks goes to the following: Whoosh by Aysonny freesound.org/people/_bepis/s... Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
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Shot: HDC-HS700 1920x1080 50P AVCHD
Edit: FCP7 ProRes 422
Mic: DR-05

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

Take a look at the video description for additional information 👍 🇬🇧

[@leslieaustin151]

I like your stuff, all very practical and VERY helpful. Your welding table was especially so, would have saved me a lot of trouble if I’d seen it 9 years ago!! Thanks. I think I might be doing something similar. Les

[@chrisquinn3751]

The welding table is a thing of beauty! I've not that long ago finished a bench for my workshop made up of "stock" materials. The top ended up as a 4' x 2' piece of 1/2" hot rolled plate that I must have had for about 40 years! There was a fair amount of surface rust and I came to the same conclusion as you as regards painting the underside. The top was wire brushed then done with a random orbital sander to get the best surface finish that I could. To finish it, I gave it two coats of Kurust ( to deal with any rust left within the surface finish that I'd achieved ), another light orbital sanding to get it more or less bright again then a couple of coats of solvent based anti-spatter spray. After nearly 12 months there is no sign of any rust and I'm fairly confident that if it gets the odd coat of anti-spatter it will last as long as my pre 1963 Record No. 23! Your videos are just right from my point of view, very useful details and techniques and some well thought out designs combined with a clear commentary - keep it up Fella!

[@alexrains1893]

I loved that TIG vs Mig comparison! It's exactly how I feel also.

[@ollysworkshop]

Hi, you may have already found this out, but the pulse mode is for when you are doing thin metal for instance. If you ran continuously at the current you need to melt your filler rod, then you may blow a hole in the material you are welding. By setting the pulse to a higher current for a part of the time, you can introduce the filler rod as the pulse kicks in, then remove the rod and flow the joint during the lower current part. Hope that makes sense!

[@OmarrMcinnis]

I agree. Especially with the new hybrid tungsten rods out there now it'll make more confident in his mig welding as a result of your suggestion. Also there are new gas head dissipator that create a swirling vortex of shielding gas instead of just the standard blanket of the work. This will greatly reduce burn through just you stated earlier. It's very nice to see welders help each other out instead of just "taking the piss" on each other.

[@icarossavvides2641]

A couple of good, 'appropriate for use', constructions well illustrated with just enough dialogue to get the job done. Well done.

[@wizrom3046]

Smart pedal design with that 3 way switch. I have a little 200A DC TIG that looks a lot like yours, it might even be a rebranding of the same basic machine. And I recently bought a pedal switch so I might be copying your project, hope you don't mind! 🙂

[@TERRYB0688]

Hi thought I’d throw in my experience of welding, I started as I’m sure most do with a cheap stick welder, it stuck stuff together , then invested in a flux core mig, not bad but lot of clean up, eventually I progressed to a gassed mig welder by a company called ROHR, they seemed to be well priced and have a good write up, this is also a stick MMA welder, must say I’ve been very pleased with it, nice clean welds, ok so now to Tig, after buying cheap welders in the past I decided to go for a ROHR 200amps A/C. D/C pulse etc £299 but there was a voucher available for £70 so got it for £229, this is a brilliant bit of kit, after many hours of you tube watching on learning Tig and some tuition from a pal I’m producing quite nice welds, I found that after a while the mystic of Tig welding is finally being cracked, nice channel have subscribed👴🏻👍

[@ACYONE98]

This video is really high quality ! you are clearly under-viewed and subscribed

[@GiovanniCarloIglina]

Really happy to have a peek in your shop, love the added graphic and camera work. Cheers!

[@dizzolve]

1:23 love the double wheel set up on the grinder ....... I'll have to look into doing this ...thank you for the idea.

[@AaronDengler]

Love your videos and ingenuity.

[@videogalore]

A lot of time has passed since this video, so perhaps the comment is too late now, but I can tell you that the difference between flux core and gas MIG welding is night and day! Well worth testing a setup with a gas bottle if you get the opportunity as it really is a completely different animal when you're not using flux core wire.

[@nweston5070]

Great stuff - I’ve been tempted to get a welder for a while, having tried stick and gas didn’t think either suited me (stick is nasty but easy, I found gas very hard). I think you’ve convinced me to try TIG - eventually.

[@tomthompson7400]

handy wee projects , well done.

[@josseman]

Great work! This inspires me to start welding as well! Thank you.

[@MrHuntnfish]

You Bloody Beauty....already found the foot switch, this is a great lockdown or lockup build... Regards Beagles

[@Kyran31]

Really enjoy your videos, thanks for uploading

[@ivanwalker3391]

Perfect timing. Great video. Keep 'er lit Bro!

[@Thewatson77]

Great little table 👍🏼👍🏼

[@HobbyweldUk]

Well! Really enjoyed this video, super informative. Shame the bonus feature didn't make it in 😆. You've got a new subscriber either way 👍

[@OmarrMcinnis]

Excellent modification for the foot pedal. That's good basic welding know how with schematic breakout. I might suggest that you work with the hybrid tungsten rods. The metals that work with like brass, copper, and gold it'll give superior control of your arc and not over penetration in work material. Look online the give samples for free. It looks like you're on the right track. Steady on, mate... You are now Jedi level machinist...

[@wetcatfur9982]

nice video learn a lot thanks

[@TheKnacklersWorkshop]

Hello Matt, Your setup would be perfect for my needs... and not knowing how to weld would be a reasonably inexpensive way to experiment. Thank you. Take care. Paul,,

[@junchang132]

Speech sounds very comfortable

[@1956vern]

Nice!

[@footrotdog]

Nice! I probably would have looked at mounting the rotary switch in the breakout box though instead of the foot switch. It would be close to the rest of the welder controls then but honestly, I find it's a very long way down to the floor these days. :)

[@matter9]

When I got my everlasting I found myself unintentionally triggering the pedal or torch switch and losing at least 1 post flow worth of gas. I had planned to do something similar to what you’ve implemented here. Proof of a good idea I suppose.

[@donmittlestaedt1117]

Thank you.

[@trollforge]

Awesome job! Though I think I would prefer the selector switch in the junction box, rather than down on the floor...

[@MHR1001]

Lovely video, you've a very similar style to the old uk 'how it works' narator. I've just got a sealey tig180s to learn with and looks pretty similar to your machine it to has only the 2 pin on/off switch, So I think I'll be making something similar. Plus the comment about the pulse function gives me some hope that It'll be a little more controllable on the heat side. How are you getting on with it now?

[@sween187]

That's a great wee table top, you should include the link to the company, it's hard to find steel tops at the min at a reasonable price.

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

I've added a note in the video description 👍

[@ifell3]

Keep the flux for thick stuff and buy some gas for MIG for thin stuff

[@peirossmallhomemachineshop5364]

Great video and interesting projects. Where have you ordered the laser cut steel for you welding table ?

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

I've added a note in the video description 👍

[@titojomzvlog6203]

Every minute enjoy

[@MartynDavis]

Another great video! I'm in a similar situation, I've done arc and mig and have been wanting for ages to get a budget tig. That looks a promising machine! Can I ask, did you just put a 13A plug on it with the intention of not turning it up too high? Also, are you using disposable bottles of argon? What regulator did you go for, and did you need any special connectors? Thanks!

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

I’m running a blue 16A IEC 60309 to 13A extension lead. I’ve briefly welded up to 180 amp without anything tripping, but I think I’m pushing my 1.6mm tungsten at that. Argon supply almost made a 4th bonus feature, but I didn’t have enough video to cover the dialogue so it went on the cutting room floor! I’ve added some information to the video description for you.

[@MartynDavis]

@@TheRecreationalMachinist Thanks so much for the extra info, I appreciate your help! Keep up the good work, your sense of humour is great in recent videos... do we finally have a UK answer to This Old Tony? : )

[@ARIFINLATHE]

Halo kawan..kita satu profesi Hello friends..we are one profession🤝🤝🤝

[@Bobs1Models]

Hi there have you got a link to the 2 pole 3 way switch I am damned if I can find one in the UK Thanks Great video I have been thinking of this idea for my tig you have spurred me on

[@TheRecreationalMachinist]

It's one I had in a box of bits -not sure where it came from. 4 pole 3 way are readily available, just don't use the spare contacts. Good luck!

[@phildxyz]

www.rapidonline.com/taiwan-alpha-sr2611f020638f5bd-break-before-make-rotary-switch-2-pole-6-way-79-0221 and set the rotation stop to 3 way.

[@Bobs1Models]

@@TheRecreationalMachinist Yeah I ordered a 4pole 3way

[@spenmac]

Shame about that 1mm bend in the table.