The Home Machinist!

steamin10 wrote:When I says 'Pops too much', the arc is not a smooth bacon fry sound. It literally has a crackle that is different.

Are you referring to MIG?

I've only ever used decent sized transformer type TIG machines though.

Yes, Aluminum in MIG. only heavy welds. 1/8 sheet and such. I dd not do any TIG on AL for fear of failure without freq. Lots of steel tho on the robot transformer machine.

I used tiny balls of 4x steel wool as arc sterters. They blow away in the flow but I never have to scratch the electrode.

I guess it can be said I used and made due with smaller homey machines, not being able to afford $3500 for a decent electronic machine with wave controls and all the whistles for limited home use. The Industrial sized machine is old technology, and a bullet proof performer, even on single phase. It was a factory trade in, and the case was beat up badly. The top was dished in so things could rest on it without sliding off, and it was sprayed with gorpy silver boiler paint. When I bought it, it was demonstrated to work well, so the price was steep, but they threw in all the cabling and tig equipment around this poor beast. So I stripped the case panels, bumped them out, and restored the top to its pyramidal glory, and painted it fire engine red. It has been the workhorse for nearly 20 yrs, and except for a mouse nest in the fan, has never given me a minutes pause.
a renter that was a thief cost me a set of 4/0 cables, that were replaced with lighter stock, but he got his over due course of social action.

As far as the eyes, it is a developing problem based on My diabetic problems. Diagnosed in 95, ihave been in the control fight for that long, and only recently has my visual accuaty began to fail. Sugar is the major contributing factor but not the only cause, as it is rooted in age too.

Thanks for the clarification on the MIG Big Dave!
I was not understanding the crackle either.....all my TIG machines, even the Linde HF box, and the little Hobart I had....hummed. That's true with all I have run. (Guess they don't know the words)


Bill