Tig consumables

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At 61, I am currently the oldest guy at my welding school, and am halfway through the stick part of the course. I recently bought a tig/stick/plasma machine, to paractice in my hobby shop. Although I've had no previous tig experience, I am laying tig beads like crazy on alu and stainless and I like the results so far. There were very few consumables with the machine, and I got some more from my LWS in Montreal, nice service at reasonable prices. However they had nothing in gas lenses, so I placed an order from an internet supplier in the US, as they were giving the stuff away at their prices. For example 5 alumina nozzles for a wp20 @ 2.45$; less than what I am paying for one here. Today I received my package from Canada post, and I was not even charged taxes on the invoice. UPS usually collects the 15% sales tax plus 30 to 40 $ in brokerage fees, so I am way ahead. The threads on the nozzles and collet bodies look clean, and the fit is smooth. I will try them tomorrow and post some pictures of my work.I did not post the name of the supplier, I do not know the policy of this site, and I am very sensitive to accusations of shilling.
Reply:Hello and welcome. Glad to hear you found a good deal stateside. I am not the oldest student at the college welding program I'm enrolled in but I'm close. Age is just a number to me anyway, not a state of mind.How are you enjoying the stick (SMAW) welding? For me its a very close tie between that and TIG (GTAW). I've always wanted to visit Montreal. From what I've seen from photos and Travel sites its a truly beautiful city.Have fun with the schooling and the welding.Eric
Reply:Originally Posted by yul m6At 61, I am currently the oldest guy at my welding school, and am halfway through the stick part of the course. I recently bought a tig/stick/plasma machine, to paractice in my hobby shop. Although I've had no previous tig experience, I am laying tig beads like crazy on alu and stainless and I like the results so far. There were very few consumables with the machine, and I got some more from my LWS in Montreal, nice service at reasonable prices. However they had nothing in gas lenses, so I placed an order from an internet supplier in the US, as they were giving the stuff away at their prices. For example 5 alumina nozzles for a wp20 @ 2.45$; less than what I am paying for one here. Today I received my package from Canada post, and I was not even charged taxes on the invoice. UPS usually collects the 15% sales tax plus 30 to 40 $ in brokerage fees, so I am way ahead. The threads on the nozzles and collet bodies look clean, and the fit is smooth. I will try them tomorrow and post some pictures of my work.I did not post the name of the supplier, I do not know the policy of this site, and I am very sensitive to accusations of shilling.
Reply:hey old man, post some beadsESAB Heliarc 252
Reply:Thanks for the warm welcome, I've been lurking for a couple of months, and I've learned as much here as I have from 40 or more hours at welding school.Eric: I definitely prefer tig, so much cleaner with no spatter or fumes in my small air conditioned shop. As a first project I built a welding table, and all the welds on the 2"x1/8" square tubes were tigged. I only had to brush and paint afterwards. The picture shows one of my first tig welds ever, maybe it is not code, but that table is real solid. I had to turn the table upside down to stick weld the 1/2" top ( I am doing vertical up at school now, haven't done overhead yet). I used 7018 on the 12" wide flat bars. I wish I could have gotten a 3'x4' half inch plate, but as everything else steel is so d### expensive here, and they would only sell me a 4'x8' plate, too heavy and too expensive.Vinnie: You got the YUL part, that was my previous hobby, used to rent from Dorval or Cedar a/p, and ended up with almost 1000 flight hours and a multi IFR rating until I lost my medical. Any way flying post 9/11 wasn't fun any more. My most memorable flight was going down the Hudson river to the statue of Liberty  VFR, radio on for safety but no ATC whatsoever. I'll let you guess the M6 part, another expensive hobby. There is an Air Liquide but it is way up north east and I live downtown. and they treat hobbyists like sh##. There is a small Linde shop nearby, and I get good service and 15% student discount, cannot complain. However nothing compared to welding city prices.My next two projects are going to be a fume extractor/filter, and maybe a water cooler. The filter is a must, and I find that commercially available ones are way over priced. As for the cooler, I am running my wp20 on city water, the sink is next to the welding table and you can see the hoses in the picture. So if I build a cooler, it's only because I have nothing better to do. Attached Images
Reply:YUL  M6 beamer ??Tig cooler I built my own.Nice easy project .Small and compact.As a matter of fact the pro con pump on ebay came from a fellow in yul.$100.00 bucks stainless tank adjustable pump and motor same as any tig cooler.Comes from a soda machine caller a carbonater pump.They are always on ebay.I worked on A/C base in the power plant shop in Dorval.Have assembeled JT8d  JT3d RB211's JT9d's Finally gave up on the political environment and moved back out West.Yul is a beautiful city.Nothing better than a Saturday evening downtown on Sainte-Catherine Street the women are some of the best lookersI am also a still real HABS fan.Back in the Ken Dryden era.V.Last edited by Vinnie; 08-12-2011 at 11:04 AM.