Convert TIG to Stick

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I know this may be a weird question, but I was wondering if there was anyway of converting a TIG welder to a stick welder, the reason I ask is I am attending welding school in a few months and would like to get some stick welding practice in, seeing as how I have never stick welded. I purchased an eastwood tig welder awhile back (http://www.eastwood.com/tig-welders-...dc-welder.html) and was just wondering if there was any easy way of hooking a stick setup to it. From my understanding I have almost all the components needed for the process, aside from the stinger. I just didn't know if anyone has ever attempted this or if it was even possible. thanks!
Reply:I dont know about your Eastwood machine- I am guessing its the cheapest of the cheap chinese stuff- but every miller tig machine I have ever owned was automatically a stick welder. You just hook up the leads, in the desired polarity, depending on if its an AC/DC machine or just DC, and weld.Should work fine.I stick weld all the time with my two current tig welders- one is transformer style, one is an inverter, both can stick weld naturally.
Reply:Impossible, you risk the chance of frying youself like s 80's anti drug commercial.
Reply:Originally Posted by thejonn2524Impossible, you risk the chance of frying youself like s 80's anti drug commercial.
Reply:In principle any TIG welding power supply can be used for stick. Both processes use "constant current" or CC power supplies.The main problem I see is figuring out how to hook up a stick welding lead to the power terminals on your machine.Note that TIG normally uses DC electrode negative, while stick welding works best with electrode positive. That means you'd have to connect the electrode holder to your ground connection, and connect the ground to the torch connection.It looks like the positive (ground) connection on your eastwood machine uses a DIN-type connection. You can find stick electrode holders with DIN connections at any welding supply store.  The torch connection is more difficult. You'd probably have to jury-rig something to connect the grounding lead.  http://www.toolfetch.com/Category/We...?per=15&sort=1
Reply:Most all dc tig welders will also stick weld as already stated.Consult your manual for your machine or Eastwood tech suport.I tig weld with my lincoln stick welder all the time.There are a few deticated tig welders that will not stock weld like the Miller diversion series machines.Last edited by snoeproe; 04-15-2012 at 11:20 PM.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:theres a reason there's a switch on a tig/stick machine to switch from tig to stick......maybe it will fry the high frequency start without the switch        thermal arc 252i  -  millermatic 350P -   miller XMT, cp300ts, 30a 22a feeders, buttload of other millers, handfull of lincolns, couple of esabs  -   Hypertherm 1250 G3
Reply:I wouldn't try it but;http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/...-tig-torch.jpg"ALL DAMAGE, NO CONTROL"
Reply:There's a misconception out there that all tig welders are high frequency start machines. That's just not the case. I prefer to use lift start or scratch start tig for steel or stainless myself. The only high time I will use hf start is to ac tig aluminum. That being said, if you have a high frequency start tig welder and can turn off the hf start and switch to reverse (dc+) polarity, bypass or turn off any gas solenoid, you can stick weld.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Originally Posted by snoeproeThere's a misconception out there that all tig welders are high frequency start machines.
Reply:Yeah it will work. Turn the HF off. If it has Dinse connectors bolt to stick lead and just connect em. If it doesn't have stick mode you will have to slap a paperclip or similar to close the contacts at the remote connector. If the HF doesn't have a switch I'd put one in or scrap the idea.HammerFile Big Hammer------------------------------Here, let me Google that for you...
Reply:Whether this will work or not depends entirely on the welding arc volts.  TIG welding requires a minimum of 12.6 to 14 voltsStick welding requires a minimum of 20-21 volts.Welders that do both Stick and Tig are usually advertized as doing both; They either have a Stick/Tig switch or automatic means of sensing whether you are stick or Tig welding.TIG-only machines will not output an arc voltage high enough to maintain a stick arc.  The normal way to tell if a machine does both is to look up it's specifications, failing that read the user manual.  In the case of the particular welder, the welding arc volts is not specified, only says 71 volts open circuit voltage - which means nothing as to TIG/Stick capability.  Further, the instruction manual provides no further information.In the case of this welder, it looks to me that it likely cannot do stick - else it would have mentioned it.  You can try it; either it will work or all you will do is create a line of sparks when you try to initiate an arc.Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:As Rick said, RTFM.Some machines can do stick and TIG, some can just do TIG (because of the output voltage while welding).  Miller Diversion 165 and 180 (current models) come to mind as TIG-only machines (not able to ouput the 'correct' voltage to run as a stick welder).  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...