Anyone know of a good place to learn the basics of TIG welding? Im lookin to buy a tig soon and would like to do some research and learn a bit. I have been reading a ton on here like "Walking the cup" and some other tig threads but what about the basics..

What does backpurging do?
What filler rod for what metal?
Tungsten sizes?
When do you not use filler?
How to on welding a collector??

Im really wanting to build a set of custom turbo headers for my 69 Mustang, no one makes anything.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 8mpg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

What does backpurging do? Eliminates oxidization of the backside of the weld
What filler rod for what metal? [B]there are far too many metals to cover this, our website has most of the header materials covered http://www.burnsstainless.com[/B]
Tungsten sizes? depends on what your doing
When do you not use filler? varies
How to on welding a collector?? variety of different ways and techniques i can't give all the secrets away


.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Our website has a great tech article on basic header construction tips

http://www.burnsstainless.com/....html

 

Look at http://www.millerwelds.com
good writeups from professionals with illustrations, references, and lots more. Go to the education menu, then welding library and start reading articles

also
http://www.lincolnelectric.com...t.asp
has a bunch of good articles

I heart my PT185.

Absolute best thing to do: Talk to someone with a TIG and get them to let you run a few beads. everything makes way more sense after that.
Then if you can; try the machine you're going to buy, and don't be afraid to buy something a little used, a lincoln or a miller holds its value pretty well, and you'll get more for your money used. They are pretty much bulletproof.
Best of luck. and post pictures to keep us entertained when we should be working.