Tig amperage control

[safetydave]

Foot pedal or hand control on the torch, which is most popular with the pro tig welders?

Safetydave here and I prefer the on-off button model that fits right on the torch head because it give you more freedom of movement when your in-out of position and also i'm not the type to sit done when welding and when I have used the foot pedal it feels weird to me with my style. so this is why I prefer on the torch control.

[safetydave]

I am frustrated by the lack of variety in finger controls for 6-pin. It seems like there could have been a standard or adapters.

Hello tasslehawf
I was just looking in the miller book and they really don't have much of a selection for tig controls, I have a 14 pin east-west control and seem to like it very well but in years past i've used the on-off button type and like that style much better because I do alot of custom work and seem I have more movement and can get a better arc control. this is only my opinion and you need to use what works best for you. Safetydave

[FusionKing]

Most the time you can get by with just the foot control but if you have to lay under a pontoon boat or bend excessively to weld a commerial sink and anything else that is out of postion then the finger control is nice to have. It all back to what your jobs are but being in a field that requires a lot of different tasks, it is nice to have the convience of both that is why I have both in my operation. I personally use the hand held slider control all the time so that I don't get too use to just the foot control. You might get rusty by not using the finger controller if you use the foot controller all the time and when you need to switch because of a certain job, you you could have a problem for a short time. Trials of variations are good to know.

This pretty much sums up how I feel as well....If I had to depend on a foot pedal to do my job it would be a joke a lot of the time. Yea you can make a foot pedal work just about anywhere but in some situations the weld quality WILL suffer because that is where you are putting your effort.
I have worked in a few factories welding pontoons and ambulance bodies and trust me is is far to fast paced for someone to use their foot pedals
On the boats we used the button...you just set max amps and bust @$$!!
On the ambulances we used the east-west style fingertip controllers...they have a faster action than the north-south and you can simply flick them off when you get used to them. The north-south is too slow...for some reason almost everyone tries them and it seems Miller tries to sell them the most...they TRULY suck IMO..they do NOT work the same.
Both (button and figertip) were a little hard to get used to at first but I will assure you there is no way in God's green earth a man with a pedal could ever keep up in a situation like that. You would simply be fired or never even hired. They DO test you with what they use there. We have a half dozen or more factories in my area that tig weld aluminum products exclusively and only ONE uses the pedal and they DO sit all day...lucky ba$t@rd$. (my son worked there)
I like the pedal... it is just not practical to use while in the field and besides I'm getting old enuff that when I'm crammed back in a hole under something lower than my head while sitting but still can't lay down I tend to get tired way faster trying to make something work that just don't. You might do say a bead or two but after say 2-3 or more hours you'll be looking for a better way. Besides in the field it is one more cord to get tangled up...the button or fingertip control is run in the sheath.
All that said if you can sit down and weld in a shop and don't have a boss/customer pushing you to get done or have the time to stop and work thru how to position yourself perfectly then by all means get the pedal!!
BTW do a search on this and the other site and you will find this an ongoing subject that will never go away!!

[tasslehawf]

if you are learning i would start with a foot control then move on to the others. the foot is the easy-est to learn on.

Heh. I've been learning on the foot pedal for 6 years. I got the N-S rotary a few years ago for my Syncrowave 180. I didn't know there were any other finger controls when I got that one.

I noticed the cheap welders have a on-click off-click switch and concluded that I would prefer that when I'm out of position. I am about to pick up a maxstar 200 dx and am definitely going to get the momentary control.