Hi John R. West!
As a welding instructor with over 15 years experience, I agree with you, and I'm still interested in reading a straightforward answer to my question from 3.2 because, I know that the question I posed to 3.2 was not answered - simply put!
Do you think it might have something to do with the very high quality rum, and now that I mentioned those particular spirits as well as being a retired professional drinker with a wide enough amount of exposure to various grades of rums from different countries; the best rum by far was the original Cuban rum made by the Bacardi family although there is some rum made in the Dominican Republic that came in a close second such as the Bermudez brand's limited reserve... Certain Jamaican Rums did give it a run for it's money back when I was still a professional drinker (heck! If 3.2 can change the subject, then so can I!). However since my retirement, I can no longer back up my claims as an expert. ;) ;) ;)
Getting back to the topic with regards to this thread... An Austrian company has come up with both an automatic, and a semi-automatic version of manually held GTAW/TIG torch mechanism that incorporates an improved version of being able to feed the filler metal into the location where the torch establishes the weld pool either as cold wire fed or hot wire fed as this technology has been around, and available for quite some time now... However, this system is designed so that if one were to use it for pipe welding then, only one hand would be required to weld with it!!! :) :) :)
In fact our old friend Ed Craig is pushing this system through his website, and will be available for commercial use tentatively after =July 1st, 2009... The system is called "TIP - TIG and here's the links to this advancement of an idea that's been around for quite some time already:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TIPTIGhttp://www.weldreality.com/TIP-TIG-Welding.htmhttp://www.weldreality.com/TIP-TIG-welding-information.htmhttp://www.plasch.at/Over one thousand companies are using this system in Europe already... Here is one of the lesser known French models:
http://www.elektrosta.com/gb/pages/01.htmlHere's onr from Italy:
http://www.trafimet.com/Ing/Prod_23.htmlThese are some of the cold & hot wire systems for both semi & fully automated applications that have been available here in the states for quite some time:
http://www.ckworldwide.com/coldwire.htmhttp://www.jetline.com/product.aspx?i=14525&c=30&pp=8&sb=0&p=0http://pdf.directindustry.com/pdf/jet-line-engineering/cold-wire-tig-feeder/27577-35521.htmlhttp://www.ap-automation.com/products/tig-wire-feed/This torch is from Fronius (I wonder how Stephan is doing these days?):
http://www.welder.by/files/TTW_4000_KD.pdfhttp://www.ametinc.com/brochures/AMET_XMS-HWT.pdf Here are some turnkey robotic systems available:
http://www.integrated-robotics.com/PDF_Files/Robotic%20TIG%20Welder.pdfhttp://www.motoman.com/products/welding/plasma.phphttp://content.lincolnelectric.com/pdfs/products/literature/e10300.pdfhttp://www.reisrobotics.de/reisrobotics/us/APPLICATIONS/Welding+technique-p-124/Tig+welding-p-365.htmlSome cool stuff here:
http://www.blueshield.ca/en/docs/pdf/marketingInfo/brochures/PlasmaTigTraining_E.pdfHere's a plasma TIG torch that could be used in conjunction with the TIP-TIG system in order to improve on the arc characteristics especially when welding certain pipe metal alloys:
http://www.water-joint.com/e/swf/pt_teile.swf So is this what you're referring to 3.2?
Enjoy the reading folks!!! :) :) :)
Respectfully,
Henry