New to tig - progress log

Iv always been interested in welding and at school i did a fair bit of oxy welding and a bit of mig.



Till now the only machine iv had was a small ozito 130amp transformer AC stick welder



Recently peaked my interest again searching the web on welding aluminium

for a potential project i was considering to build and what skills it would likely take.



Started off searching MIG, watched a lot of videos (welding tips and tricks, weld.com, chucky2009 etc) and read plenty more.

Was seriously considering an entry level pulse MIG but as i kept searching it lead me to videos of TIG.

Iv been interested in TIG for a long time as i loved oxy welding and the controllability really interested me.



Started looking at cheap lift arc units with the idea of getting some experience before making the jump

but in the end i decided to buy a machine that i could keep and do all that i might need.



I ended up with a Tokentools Metalmaster 256 during the cyber sale last week.

Really only needed the 215 but was out of stock.



Also picked up so far:

Cigweld prolite auto helmet - rated for 5amp tig, 4 sensors, 1/20,000 etc all for $130 which i thought was decent

E cylinder of Argon from power10gas

Tig gloves

2x 2.4mm Thoriated tungsten (couldn't wait for my online order :p)

10x 2.4 and 1.6mm 2% Lanthanated tungsten (online, taking its time to arrive)



Still need to get some filler rods - Seems BOC are the cheapest place i can find locally.



Started off playing with stick mode a few nights ago.

Its so much better than the transformer machine.

Arc strike is super easy, arc is super stable and will run easy with lower amperages.



Hopefully tonight i should have all the gear to give TIG a go and ill get some photos up of my first beads...



Any advice welcome