I’m a big fan of Jeopardy and even have the show set to record on my DVR. I watch it virtually every night– so much so that my five-year-old daughter does a special dance during the music portion on Final Jeopardy.

Last week for the 2008 Teen Tournament Champion show, Alex Trebek asked about TIG welding, specifically what the ‘T’ stands for. One contestant answered “titanium” which is incorrect. It’s actually a pretty good guess, since the symbol for Titanium is Ti, but as you probably know (and I”m sure that contestant will never forget!) the answer should have been Tungsten, for Tungsten Inert Gas.

So if you’re planning a stint on Jeopardy, you may want to check out our glossary of welding terms– you never know!

We here at JoeWelder.com wanted to take a minute to make note of the passing of a pioneer in the So Cal hot rod lifestyle, Boyd Coddington. I first heard about Boyd when my good friend Randy Haberman was building his ‘32 Ford 3 window coupe… that was back in the ’70s. Before T.V. when Boyd had more of a cult following, based on his ‘32 track roadsters. He and L’il John would come out to the races where they’d watch master sheet metal fabricator Steve Davis’ beautiful CRA Sprint Car run at Ascot Park.

Boyd Coddington was at the forefront of the whole “SoCal lifestyle” of fabricating and customizing hot rods, and he will be missed in the hot rod and metalworking communities.

Anaheim, CA (PRWEB) February 28, 2008 — Boyd Coddington, the creative visionary who took hot rodding to an art form and custom wheels to a new level dies at 63. Coddington who was a long-time diabetic died from complications that were brought on from a recent surgery. It was Coddington’s ever forward-looking view at the design of the hot rod and his unconditional desire to create the finest quality cars that became the “Boyd Look”.

“It is a major loss for the automotive enthusiasts and hot rod aficionados around the world. Boyd Coddington did so much more than create automotive trends, he also built the finest hot rods. He was entertaining on his TV Show (TLC’s- American Hot Rod) and an ambassador who educated,” said Harry Hibler, former publisher of Hot Rod Magazine.

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We have several large industrial corporations that we supply Plasma Arc Welding (PAW) torches and replacement parts to. One of them came to us for some help resolving inconsistent welds on a Thermal Arc® Ultima 150 Plasma Arc Welding machine with a 4A PAW torch and lead assembly. They were frustrated and had tried many different solutions from a variety of sources. I went through our basic PAW check list (which you can find in the Arc-Zone.com Welding Library– “Optimize Your Plasma Arc Welding Torch”). We did find two areas to improve, but the issue was still there. That’s when I asked “when was the last time you changed your lead set?”

“We just changed torches, we do that pretty often,” he said. “Why would we need to change the leads?”

With Plasma Arc Welding there are two important things to consider:

1. Plasma Arc Welding Torch Lifespan.
PAW torches have a life span of about three months. Now anybody that is familiar with automated TIG applications can’t understand why Plasma Arc Torches fail so often. There is no easy answer, but it is a characteristic of Plasma Physics. There are many more things going on inside that PAW torch than in a TIG torch — two power circuits, two gas distribution and flow paths, two water channels, tungsten electrode insulators etc. Bottom line is you should always have a spare Plasma Arc Welding torch on hand because when they fail they are junk. You’ll have no warning, and you’ll be down until you get it replaced.

2. The Lead Set
I call them leads because they consist of multiple hoses and cables inside a jacketed cover. And they wear out. Operators often don’t think to add the leads to their preventative maintenance schedules but they should.

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I got a call from Brad in North Carolina who was in a jam and needed a torch body right away. “I’ve been waiting for it for two weeks from our local supplier and now the job is way behind schedule,” he said.

A lot of local suppliers carry only the basics and not a full range of TIG torches. After all, they make most of their money selling gas.

Sometimes a fabricator needs something special like a Weldcraft® WP-18SP– a water-cooled TIG torch with a 180 degree head to reach a tight spot, the torch Brad was looking for.

“Depending on your budget you may just want to purchase a torch body,” I said. I recommended he just buy the torch body and add it to his existing Weldcraft® WP-18-25-R.

“You can do that?” he asked.

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I spoke with Carlos, a long time customer today. We’ve done business for so long that we just updated his address for the third time!

Carlos, a professional Certified Welder specializing in Steel Piping projects, takes his torches and accessories with him to most jobs. He called Arc-Zone.com to get a TIG torch for an upcoming project.

He was interested in a 200 amp capacity Flexible head TIG torch with a built-in gas control valve, specifically the Weldcraft® WP-26FV-25-R. The WP-26 is a rugged torch, and is fairly common out in the field. However, when you’re on a jobsite there are a couple of things to keep in mind.

You need a tough torch, with a flexible head, to get to those hard-to-reach spots. I suggested that he get the interchangeable (200CE) coil as an option, with a (1726P, 180 pencil head). That way he could carry the different heads in his pocket and swap them out as needed.

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I got a call the other day from a prospect who was researching the benefits of using a tungsten grinder verses a wheel grinder. He came across our site, read our tech articles and then called.

He said “We’re a couple of farmers that have been trying to do TIG welding for a couple years and have never gotten good at it.”

A friend told them about Arc-Zone.com and the Sharpie Tungsten Grinder.

He told me they had a little fabshop and a small dirt track in southern Indiana.

“What’s the name of the track?” I asked.

“You probably never heard of it– TriState Speedway,” he said.

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Arc-Zone carries a wide variety of remote amperage controls for TIG Welding, and we’ve found there’s a lot of confusion regarding which remote amperage control you need for your Miller welding machine. We have customers ordering the wrong part all the time.

Older Miller machines have what is called a 5-pin plug. This plug is smaller in diameter, and has only 5 pins, all loaded and active. The picture on the left shows that this plug is smaller in diameter than the 14 pin shown below. You’ll find these plugs on our:
popular Hot Foot(TM) Foot pedal for Miller,
the “East/West” or Side-to-Side Rotary motion amp controls for Miller welding machines,
and the “North/South” or In-line Fingertip Amp controls for Miller.

The newer Miller machines utilize a 14-pin plug. You’d think it would be easy to count the pins. If you’re lucky you may have a connector with 14 pins installed– but you’d never know that only 5 of those are “live.”

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Getting the right TIG Torch is important, but all too often TIG welders either stick with the package that came with their machine –often a general purpose WP-17 TIG torch, or a heavy duty WP-26 torch– which may or may not be the right torch. Or, a TIG welder may be relying on information from their local gas supplier….

This morning I got a call from Aubrey, a small business owner in Virginia. He was looking for a torch to weld roll cages in sport import cars. He told me the local supplier was not helpful, and expensive. “We drove over to the AirGas and they showed us a [picture of a] torch,” he said. He arranged to buy the torch, but by the time he and his welder got back to the shop “they called and changed the part, then the price, so I said ‘forget it’ then I went to Google.”

Aubrey found us online and called. “We need to talk to someone who understands what we are doing, and make a suggestion,” he said.

This is just the kind of customer we like–a great opportunity to get someone the right torch.

The first thing I suggested was either the WP-24-25-Pro or the WP-24F-25-PRO. (note: the WP-24FV is pictured here)

The WP-24 TIG torch body has a low profile and is easy to maneuver. Rated at 80 Amps, this air-cooled front loading torch has a 60* degree head. As an Arc-Zone.com PRO package, it comes with the teflon nozzle gasket, a Number 6 (3/8″) gas nozzle, 1/16″ Collet and Collet Body, Pre-Ground 1/16″ ArcTime Hyperformance Rare Earth Non-Radioactive Tungsten Electrode and 25′ (7.6m) One Piece FeatherLite(tm) Flexible Rubber Power Cable.

Bottom line, it’s Ready-to-Weld™

Aubrey was even more excited when I told him he could go with a water cooled TIG torch. “I thought I had to buy a new machine, and I can’t afford that right now,” he said.

There are a few options for upgrading, the least expensive being to hook right up to city water– with about thirty bucks worth of the the right hoses and fittings. Next option would be to purchase a water cooler (or build your own). You can also buy a ready-made welding water cooler, like one of the ones we have at Arc-Zone.com , or go with the Cool Kit™ (pictured here). Finally, your expensive option would be to purchase a new machine with an integrated water cooler.

“I thought [water cooled TIG torches] were big and heavy,” he said.

Because of the technology of water cooling, the torches are actually more powerful, can run more amperage, and they’re smaller.

“Hook me up!” he said.

If you want Arc-Zone.com to hook you up with the right TIG torch for your job, give us a call: 800-944-2243 (US) 760-931-1500 (worldwide) or check out our selection of TIG torches, IN STOCK and ready to go!

We have evolved from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age and we are nearing the end of the Age of Oil. When historians look back at our time, that is how they will refer to us, to our time on this planet. It is in everything we do and use.

Last night My Wife and I were invited to the Del Mar Country Club for a presentation, a “fireside chat” with T. Boone Pickens it was very interesting and gave me some insight as to the future of energy, and the world energy markets.

Pickens advocates we pursue all forms of alternative fuels and move towards reducing our dependency on imported oil. He believes we won’t ever eliminate oil, and we shouldn’t as he believes we need to maintain relationships with the oil suppliers.

There were some 270 people there and the discussion was moderated by Sandra Maas from KUSI News. I had the chance to speak with Boone after the event and he was very informative and funny! He is currently developing natural gas for transportation, a giant wind farm for power generation and a water company. more info on his site. . .

So HOW does this relate to the Welding industry?
Consider the opportunities for each one of those forms of energy, and natural resources.

They all need to be manufactured and delivered — this takes infrastructure, storage tanks, pipelines, transportation vehicles, distribution hubs, terminals, and dispensers. All of these items are heavily fabricated metal products which require engineering, raw material production, welding, finishing and assembly. Work that can’t be done overseas.

It is going to take thousands of skilled welders, pipe fitters, welding and manufacturing engineers, and others to build the needed infrastructure. Additionally we will need welding equipment, safety equipment and much more.

No matter what your political affiliations are, the opportunity to pursue these energy resources in a creative and thoughtful way will pay huge dividends, provide thousands of good paying jobs, and supply the needed energy to power us well beyond the next several generations.

These are exciting times!

(Grangemouth Oil Refiner courtesy of Bryan Burke)