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As a nuclear tig welder working on submarines, we work in pairs, one man acting as the welder and one man is the 'button man', and we say 'on please, off please' when we want to arc up, this gives us the ability to concentrate completely on the job at hand and hold the torch any way we like without worrying about using the button, its also extremely helpful when needing to use a mirror. Just thought id share this 👍

Would love to see your take on if you can use 4T to have a higher start amps then settle on a lower consistent setting the drop off lower again at the end to prevent blowing out, great content love seing options for less than ideal situations 👍

Thanks for posting this up. I have REALLY struggled to learn TIG as a beginner. Years of MIG welding have given me a lot of counter productive bad habits. This at least gives me a "Process" to work on before I try to weld something that it will matter on. Thanks again!

Hey guys we’ve been tig welding with out foot pedals in Australia for years!!! Good to see you Americans have finally come around..... I learnt to weld with a foot pedal it much easier with a trigger....👍👍😁😁

Although I’ve only had my R-Tech 170 Digital TIG for a week, I am learning soooo much from these videos and the way you explain things (as our mindset is definitely the same)! The first 2 days after it was delivered, I just looked at it thinking ‘what the hell have I done!?’ ‘Why don’t I return it and get a nice new MIG instead and stick to what I know?’... But now - and thanks to countless videos of yours - and practice, practice, practice, I love being part of this TIG world! Justin, I thank you!!! Roll on tomorrow morning, when I can practice, practice, practice some more! :-)

Thanks for this great info, I am new at tig just bought myself a machine not new at welding but new at tig, and I love a challenge to do better,and your videos have helped me out alot, thanks!!🤘

Can't thankyou enough for sharing your knowledge .The way you execute your information along with the clips is bloody fantastic !! Thank you

Thank you for the tips on TIG welding with a switch. A few months ago, I bought an old Miller 330A/BP that has a switch and a foot pedal. It works but needs some TLC to get operational. It already has the switch wired into the torch; not knowing how to TIG (yet), I wasn't sure which option would be the best to use. Having watched this video, I now realize depending what I'm trying to do (welding overhead, out of position, on the table, etc.) will be the best way to figure out which control method will work best. Time=heat is a pointer I hadn't heard before and will not forget.

I watch your videos along with others, I have used the things many have shown! What I havent seen, is what I do on most fab projects. When i have to replumb a tanker trailer, or truck. I have to blow it down and mock up piping. I tack up the piping with a push/ pull mig pulse miller machine. Even though i grind back the tacks, clean everything with a new brush, I still get the pepper in the puddle near the tacks.

This was very helpful since I only have a fixed current TIG. Thanks Justin.

Thank you so much for the tips! Definitely going to need this when we start welding!

Great videos straight to the point, facts and information spot on no unnecessary conversational drivelling done.

I'm really glad to see you do a video off the pedal. Nobody uses a pedal in the field. I hope you will do a stainless steel no pedal video for tubing and plate soon

Thanks Justin I’ve been looking for this demo ! Your advice is best because I can 100% use it , cheers Pete

It still a joy to watch this knowledge.

You’re welding super fast and its looking good man

Always ran with a thumb wheel. Learned on it, and used it for years. I've never understood any benefit of a foot pedal or a switch. Everything is right there at your thumb.

Thanks! I have an old Miller 250 that won't take a foot pedal so this is how I had to learn. Your tips will no doubt make me better :)

Great footage of an operator in action. Cheers for the lesson.

I'm building my 2003 S10. I just recently heard about these switches. My welder is a Matco with both the 110 and 220 adapters. I'm definitely looking forward to trying out the switch.

Being that pretty much all the tig welding ive done is steel or stainless im use to a scratch start set up. when i was at Tafe (welding school) we had torches with thumb wheel variable control, and I found them so much easier to use than the foot control i used the following year.

Perfect timing! I've just bought a tig without a pedal, so this was just the video I needed! 👍😁

Forgot to say that I have learned lots from your videos! Never doubt that.

Great informative video right up my street. I use a mig with a 4 metre (12 foot) torch to get around my bench. There are some welds I would like to try using a tig machine but a pedal is out of the question. Thanks from UK 🇬🇧

Thanks Justin, good info, especially where you're happy at a certain speed, and you slightly increase Amps to get better penetration, whthout changing anything else.

thx for the heads up on temp control , and just I'm my welds have improved thank you.

Hello Justin! Im Andrew, thanks for sharing this awesome video. It really is.I very much appreciate all of you informative videos, especially for Tig welding procedures .

Can’t wait to get out there for your classes.. 👍🏻👍🏻

I went and did a weld test with the boilermakers union and they had scratch start, I've never used one and it seemed like it went against everything I knew about tig welding, heat control and most importantly tungsten contamination... It was a 2" heavy wall coupon, tig root, 7018 fill. I had a LOT of "figuring out" in a short time. I ended up passing with flying colors to the point that the hall tossed their "example coupon" and put mine in its place. They sent me out on my very first job as a Forman 👍. This was my second card, now I'm medically retired Iron worker/boilermaker. I wish I could recover and get back at it. Loved my job.

Love these types of videos. Keep up the awesome work.

Keep the good work up man I'm learning a lot from your videos

Great video Justin! I'm an avid watch and a big fan. Would suggest you make a video that's focused on heat and the effects of heat. To your credit, you're always bringing up heat management but this is such an important factor that I think it deserves its own video. Beginners can get really thrown off by poor heat management and not even understand what's happening. That would be my suggestion. Keep up the terrific content!

I'va just got myself a little TIG w/o a pedal!! SUper timming!!! THANKS!

Id have to guess at least 80-90% of us down here in Australia use the button, I don’t know many people at all that use a foot pedal.. pretty sure majority of the welders we buy down here also only come with tig torches that have the button

if you've got a machine with a down slope, set it up right and you can use it to regulate heat a little. It really helps when you've been doing an long weld and the edge or end gets alittle hot, use the down slope to drop the amps for a couple seconds.

Awesome and concise video as usual! Thanks Justin!

Good info, nice arc shots, and making use of a handy tool.

I would like to see some steel Tig how to action on smaller parts or pieces and such. Love how he teaches, everyone related different but he's my style wish I lived closer to hit up his classes

Definitely find myself pulling out more bells and whistles on my machine(pulse, high/low%, frequency) when using the switch. It is great for out of position stuff where you can't stay planted on a pedal

I just started to use a switch which has 4 level adjustment. It is very useful when you’d have to stand on one leg and use pedal with the other

Thank you for the advice. My welder has an option for variable amp pedal, but I'm cheap and decided to forego purchasing it at first. I'll probably end up buying it, as having that control seems very handy, especially in the real world where metals aren't as consistent as practice coupons. Since I'm just learning though, I think I can learn to grasp the basics like this, it'll probably be good to strengthen my understanding of how the process works. Time to burn some coupons :D

This was AMAZINGLY informative -- I'm still just looking at all the videos I can *before* buying a TIG welder and this really locks in the *CONTINUUM* of choices and how they affect things (the "if there's more of this factor, then you want less of that factor"). Really starting to feel like I'm getting some understanding of the process. THANKS for ALL your vids!

I approve a lot of what you said, nonetheless I would like to leave a few words of mine about the topic. Towards my background, professional with TIGer, sheet metals 0.8 -3 mm (0.0315 - 0.11 inch) mostly stainless, but also aluminium and copper. We use torches with integrated switches, 2 of them, one for switching modes, the second to start or end the arc. As you probably already realized, this presupposes a digital welding machine... Our Machines cost about 10k per piece, due to them being top notch digital welding machines, you can define 2-4Stroke, HF or Arc, Startingpower, Endpower, Postgas duration etc and save them so you can simply reload your settings later. But if you don't have a digital welder, a foot pedal gives you the ability to modulate your arc and you need that to start/end your arc or lower your heat midwelding. There lies the weakness of digital/switch Welders, you can't adjust amperage midweld, so you have to adjust your speed instead. Absolutely possible, but as mentioned it needs a bit of training to adjust. All in all there isn't a good or bad welding setup in my opinion, just different ways to do things that have to suit to the needs of the user. Still I wouldn't use switches without digital welding machines. ^^

Hey Justin: Tjanks for the instruction! This is the situation that boat builders run into. When you are lying on your side or back in the bowels of a boat structure, foot pedals just won't work. In these conditions, a torch switch may be your only option.

I have only MIG welded in the past but became paralyzed and lost my business. I want to learn to TIG weld and this has helped me, thank you.

There is a technique when you can adjust you amperage on the fly using switch on torch. You need to configure your up-slope and down-slope for longer time and kinda surf between them, put in 4T. It's not really convenient, but in some cases can help. For example welding stainless thin tubing.

I have a CK sliding switch. Really like it.

Enjoyed that video. So true practice practice practice. Get the feel. Going to win the 80 million this Thursday and first I’m buying is a AC tig welder 👨‍🏭.

Still working on the skill of watching the puddle and adjusting. Unfortunately I also do alot of welding that needs to just get it done. Cleaning is not always a choice also. I still use the peddle for Tig though.

Good job explaining how and why... Thank you!!!

No mention of pulse settings on a machine here, seems to be a good place to cover it and show how it could be used with a hand switch. Totally agree about the practice element though, no substitution for time with rods!

Here in Denmark (prob same in EU) we learn to weld with continous amps and i was amazed to even see a footcontroller for the first time. but to be fair its only a "problem" when welding aluminium.

Years back when I was welding and the shop manager involved very intricate and detailed welding. My welding test for new applicant's was to weld Two sheets of aluminum foil back together.. 😬👏 When they said that's impossible, I showed them how. 😁 Only met Three other people who were able to do it besides me. 😳 Would love to challenge you and see it done again. 👍👍👍

Don't forget 4T setting. You can have 2 levels at your fingertip. But honestly, the tig button from 6061 is just fantastic. It took less than 3 or 4 hours to get used to it. I may never use a pedal again.

Great explanations, this is very helpful

Whenever I have to do multiple welds on a relatively small piece, I preheat the piece and start at a lower amperage. This creates great uniformity and repeatability from weld to weld.

Your on to it Justin Practice,practice,practice I’m a new bunny 🐰 at welding and I have the small Miller trig machine I don’t have the foot pedal,but I like the switch method you have which is more constant ✅ Great 👍 videos Justin Thanks Frank

if you have slope up or down you can control the heat with a button,throttling on and off to control the heat,useful for site work where a footpedal would be impractical

Thanks a bunch, another great aluminum lesson.

If you ain't skeered of a little wiring you can and I did add a potentiometer of the same spec (I forget the rating as I did it about ten years back) as that in my ESAB TIG pedal inside the pedal housing and a SPDT toggle switch. That turns the TIG pedal into an adjustable remote amperage control. Tack weld ~1 inch long pieces of tubing to the housing to protect the pot and the toggle. That avoids buying an expensive remote which may not be available for some machines. Guitar pots are reliable and cheap. (Do some reading on whatever musicians currently use as they are very hard on their equipment.)

thanks for that quick lesson.

Thanks great lesson . Could really use a Lesson on budding Up then sheet-metal

great vid this will help me at work big time cheers mate

If you use the switch in 4 strokes, with most machines you can set a start current, a main current, a secondary current and an ending current: it's not as accurate as a foot pedal, but if you work on the field it's more confortable. Not to mention that if you have a machine in with you can set and save jobs and switch between it with a dedicated button on your torch, you can litterally emulate the foot pedal, without using it

I've never used variable control, and im still learning. Maby I through myself in at the deep end

Very helpful video. Would you consider doing a video where the slope up and down is set to 2-3 seconds and you trigger the switch on and off to control the heat.

Great info, thanks for the tips.

I always looked at tig like gas welding, and I grew up with gas. With gas, you have a few tip sizes to choose from and you can adjust your flame a bit. Your travel speed changes as you weld. Tig is the same way without a pedal. The stuff I weld on doesn't really allow a foot pedal, so "no pedal tig" makes me right at home.

This Old Tony has had a switch on his tig for ages. Defo something I want to try 👍🏻

we love you Justin.....

Thank you. Really educational. One question. I assume with thin material like this you should only use 1/16 filler to keep up travel speed. Would thicker filler slow you down too much ??

I would like to see any of you guys do a video on welding aluminum fuel piping, like I have to, with multiple pieces tacked up in different directions. 2",3", or 4". Most of my couplings are sch80 aluminum pipe to say 16th".

All your videos are great, helpful, understandable and even medium to good visibility. One question I have is don't they sell a better/adjustable trigger? 2nd question is, won't you please do some videos on older style machines, transformer style, 1997 old toy's? HELP PLEASE. And as always thanks for the videos.

Have you ever tried the "tig button" from 6061? Never tried it but having used a switch a bunch before I could see it being really convenient

Thank you so much

Thanks very much - very helpful!

Nice explanation bro

This is how I was taught to TIG, the college didn't have a single peddle in the place 🤣 but just about to get my own basic kit, and one of the first things I am going to get is a peddle lol

When I do use the tig I often use the 4T mode. Primarily because I 'm working on or in a boat and the foot pedal wouldn't be practical. I don't recall you making Video on using 4-T , might be worth doing.

thank you!

Depending on the machine but alot of machines use downslope these days or have I can weld pretty much as good as a footpedal with about 1 to 3 seconds of downslope dialed in and you just pulse the switch. I used a footpedal once or twice in 20 years of welding and hated the things unless your at a bench welding they are hopeless.

Could you do a similar video using thick aluminum? 1/4 to 3/8. I can't seem to get consistency. Sometime nice weld and shiny and other times chaulky and hot. Thanks for the video. I'll try to apply the speed/amp technique to thicker stock and see if I can figure something out.

Thanks for the valuable information! I just got my first TIG welder...of course, it has a switch (couldn't find one that has a pedal in my price range). I feel much better about the chances of being able to do a good job with it until I can afford a machine that has more "bells and whistles."

I've been using the Miller rotary switch for years. it's the only way to crawl around and repair aluminum boats. I don't think I could go back to a foot petal at this point.

What does this teach us? Even the Pros shop and use Harbor Freight tools. :P. The Store we all love to hate. But I love it. Its my favorite store.

Wooooow! Thank You!

What is a list of good Welding Helmet to look at or the list that are not aloud at your school thank you for your time and advice

Hi Justine l am also from Aust, we are so far behind the rest of the world with our domestic welding machines still donot have pedals on the magority just scratch start. problem if you buy U.S made warrenty is an issue, we will just have to like everyone says practise more love your channel.

Cool, in my country (Colombia) ussually we have theses torch.

I might have to try a switch and or hand slider. It really sucks trying to do tight areas in my cars with the foot pedal. Its very awkward to use like that

Good evening, what brand of trigger switch do you recommend? I have seen some of the button switches on tight torches. Your trigger switch looks like a better idea to me. Thanks and take care.

When I was building aluminum truss, it was all 1/8 and I was welding each joint at 265. Try that and show the results

just a quick question, hopefully the answer is quick too! how do you traverse any tacks so they blend with the weld and don't end up over or under size compared to the main body of the weld?

I personally use the Steady Grip from CK. Im in a wheelchair and can't use my legs/feet. I can only use a finger controller for welding. For the past 2 years of self taught welding, im finally starting to make some ground up.

Good video.

allways learn something from your videos

Switch is all i've ever used. Foot pedal wouldn't work for my line of fabrication as it's mostly in-position welds on stainless. The one big advantage that I can see from using the pedal is that gripping the torch is much easier in awkward positions as you don't have to reach and press a switch with your finger or thumb.

hola ;gracias por tus videos!

I use a trigger every day at work! it makes life so much easier than driving to work to drive at work, to drive home from work XD