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memories of youth

by Richard Smith
(Vancouver BC)

I have an old Miller econo tig hf . It has no pedal and it has no argon valve . I believe it dates from 1980 or so . How might one get a tig torch with the valve or is there an alternate ? I have a slide on HF switch for the torch .

( jody here...you should be able to replace the torch with one that has a valve. CK worldwide can hook you up. just an fyi, tig torches with valves usually have a V in the model number.)


As for stories: Circa 1980 ,I worked as quality control in one of Canada's biggest dairies . Part of my job was to search for cracks or pits in tanks and lines and to passivate the stainless with a mix of nitric and hydrofluoric acids after welding .

All of the welds were done without a pedal.... perfectly.

Many of the welds were done from a ladder as the lines were connected 10 feet in the air .

The two welders there earned more than the president of the company with their overtime and they were worth every dime .

Later I worked as a federal dairy inspector and witnessed welds that had been polished to make them look good on the exterior . The interior of the pipe looked like a cluster of grapes .

There were only about 3 welders in our province that were any good in dairy . Quite a measure of the skill it took .

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