Tig ONE, your first TIG (GTAW) welding class

This is a fast paced class.  Take welding for noobs before taking any TIG instruction.

Until you have welded for at least a few hours, or, more realistically, about 50 hours, your brain is not very good at processing, (seeing) the arc, and this will make your first TIG experiance a bit like trying to ride a motorcycle blindfolded. The results will be similar, but significantly less expensive.

MIG (aka wire feed, GMAW, FCAW, wire -feed) is much easier to learn, please start with MIG. It is fair to say that if MIG is a car, TIG (GTAW, or Tungsten Arc Welding) is more like operating a commercial airplane.

If you are dead set on learing to fly before learning to drive, we applaud your unrelenting drive to do it the hardest possible way and ignore the advice of sympathetic professionals, because suffering will always have merit. We offer private instruction for this kind of experience, for to truly suffer, you must be alone...

We teach TIG in a sequence of three classes in a total of nine hours. We teach with the expectation that you will learn the concepts needed to guide your further development. We can equip you with what you need to know, it will still take considerable practice before your hands can do what you brain is instucting them to do. Think of it like learning guitar. It requires fine motor skills and practice.

Women typically excel at TIG welding. We are unrelentingly committed to making this skill accessible. Everyone is welcome here.

We supply all gear and materials. You are welcome to bring your own helmet or materials.

This class will orient you to the machines, their applications and components.

A brief discussion of welding safety will follow this.

We will begin with fusion (autogenous) welding of mild, cold rolled steel, then move into lap welds in 16 and 18 gauge steel.

After which we will demonstrate problems, solutions, and a variety of welding positions. 1-g 2-g etc.

The bulk of the class will be spent welding.

You will leave class knowing how to safely set-up and operate DC functions on a TIG welding machine.

TIG class size is never more than six people, and it is typically fewer.

If your machine weighs 60 lbs or less, you are welcome to bring it to class so that you can learn on your machine.  Please bring your regulator, leads and any power adapters you may need for it.

This is not a project based class.

In order to meet the objectives in this time-frame, we have to teach in a very focused fashion.

Available Machines:

(3) Everlast PowerTig 255EXT with water chillers, these are a very popular, full featured ac/dc Tig welding machine.

Lincoln 200 tig w pulse unit. ac/dc, the perfect mid range TIG machine.

Miller Diversion 180, comically simple ac/dc unit. The Golden Retriever of TIG machines. 

Esab with somewhat strange Tig torch

Miller Dynasty 300 amp machine, a huge old transformer beast, large, but friendly.