On the subject of hand controls, my first was a CK North/South type I got in 1996, which did not have the %$#@!!! bump at the on/off end. When I got a nice welder for the house many years later, I bought the Lincoln tractor tread type and found that really needed both thumb and finger to make fine adjustments which was very not handy in a few places. I bought another CK North/South, and after about two minutes just sanded the bump off and life has been good ever since. I started TIG welding with scratch start in about 1980, bought my first big Lincoln in 1996 and got the remote amp control, but the first time I ever used a foot pedal was at Lincoln’s Basic Motorsports class in 2010. I have a foot control at home now, but I am 99% using the thumb controls. It is pretty rare that I can weld “In position”, so the thumb control is very handy.
September 29, 2016 at 10:19 PM
On the subject of hand controls, my first was a CK North/South type I got in 1996, which did not have the %$#@!!! bump at the on/off end. When I got a nice welder for the house many years later, I bought the Lincoln tractor tread type and found that really needed both thumb and finger to make fine adjustments which was very not handy in a few places. I bought another CK North/South, and after about two minutes just sanded the bump off and life has been good ever since. I started TIG welding with scratch start in about 1980, bought my first big Lincoln in 1996 and got the remote amp control, but the first time I ever used a foot pedal was at Lincoln’s Basic Motorsports class in 2010. I have a foot control at home now, but I am 99% using the thumb controls. It is pretty rare that I can weld “In position”, so the thumb control is very handy.