A good reference, but not an absolutely critical thing....

http://www.millerpowerclick.co....html

Where they say 70 degrees, I'd 45-70 in most situations, but not more...

 

Thank you very much. This may or not be the right place to ask, but people often say "gas shield" and i was wondering if thats the same or different than your collet, gas collet body, and ceramic gas cup? If it is, what exactly are each's purpose.

 

Miller has an entry level Tig book you can buy for 25 bux. It has this + alot more basic tig information.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jailwarm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This may or not be the right place to ask, but people often say "gas shield" and i was wondering if thats the same or different than your collet, gas collet body, and ceramic gas cup? </TD></TR></TABLE>

It would depend on the context that the term "gas shield" was used in. Myself, if I use that term, I'm talking about the area that is shielded by the inert gas (protected from contamination). Imagine if the argon was a green gas....while welding, the area that is green would be the "gas shield"

As for other terms...

the collet is the small part in the inside of the torch that has the slice down the side and pinches the tungsten to hold it in place.

The collet body is the part that encases the collet.

the cup is the ceramic part that directs the gas towards the weld. There's actually glass cups available, but they're not cheap and usually not needed.