I've been watching your videos for years. Now I'm learning welding, so I am going back and rewatching these old ones again. I doubt you could have any idea how much these videos have helped me learn.

You put so much care in explaining. This makes you a likeable person which is one of the most important characteristic to have to become successful on KZread (and probably in real life too).

Most probably, the potentiometer is being used by the welder as a voltage divider rather than a variable resistor. The welder applies a voltage across the 10K resistor and the slider gives the welder a variable voltage depending on its position. The voltage ranges from low to high (or high to low) depending how it is configured as the pedal position is changed. Pots can be made in different ways. They can provide a linear output or the resistor can be manufactured to not be linear. Audio gear (probably like the one you purchased at the music store) usually have audio tapers which try to mimic how the ear responds to power in sound. Audio taper pots are Log 10 based which is how our ears sense sound. That explains why you see more or less response at the ends of the slider travel.

You have come a long way and have taught us much. Not only in metalworking, but video production and humor. Love your videos. Try and put them out a little more often if you would be so kind

This old This Old Tony is fantastic. So glad you left everything up!

What an awesome video. I really enjoy watching everything you have produced. And most importantly, I learn and gather ideas for my own projects. Thanks for taking the time to share. Joel

^ Very much liking the "Long Winded" explanations. Love thinking through all of the steps and seeing reasoning for doing what, why and where etc. Thank you again.

@aserta

7 жыл бұрын

They are the best. It's soooo easy to pick up the thread and go with your own flavor.

Thank you so much for this updated video!! And I am just now seeing it!! I watched your first video probably a thousand times trying to figure out what you had done. I did end up building one for my Miller Multimatic 200 and it works great. I used a rack and pinion gear attached to the pot instead of a string. I don't TIG that often so I haven't used it that much but it beats the heck out of the torch mounted control. Thank you very much for your insight into this project!!!!!

This design is a very good way to avoid gears and sloppy mesh between them, very clever made! Also the releasing of the switch is brilliant. And the adjustable tension spring to move the pedal back up is a great feature. If you could get the workings of the pot string reversed, so the pedal provides tension instead of releasing, you could have a bit slop in the string to take up the movement used to release the switch. I think I will try to build a pedal that way, the SSC pedals are just too expensive for me, but I would love to see what's inside!

Instead of pressing pedal with toe turn it around and press with heel for more control. Your toes will bend easier while staying at low point while you press down with the heel and you can hold any position easier doing so. Try it without a pedal while sitting down lift heal while toes are on the ground and feel the motion, your still pressing with toes to raise heel but you can gauge how high or low and hold any position. Anyway try it backwards to see what I am talking about, there is no rule saying you must use the pedal the way everyone assumes you must.

@artthurman3446

5 жыл бұрын

Nice idea...will try. I am a stroke (brain) experienced engineer/welding hobbiest. My foot control is right foot only, but hand/torch can be either. My foot sucks. Most hand torch controls offer trouble, because they are on the torch. I am trying alternatives. Wire feed right hand with a middle finger (palm held) controller seems best for me. Can feed wire and control amps in comfort. Recently tried left control/right torch...not bad, but have WTF just happened issues. (uncontrollable flinches)

Great ideas here and I've only just watched this as I wait to buy my first tig to learn on. I love your production style. None the less, I've an electronic background and whilst building a helicopter simulator, I'd built rudder pedals of the sim similar to your pulley setup and was great until the pot's wiper picked up junk and ruined it mid-flight (no harm in a simulator of course but still annoyingly!) I'd imagine that in industrial setup this is a real hazard. Then I found Hall effect sensors! You seem familiar enough to electronics to make modifications etc to your tig so are likely already aware of these, but they work exactly like a pot but using magnetic fields (be aware: there are two types.. Schmit-type on/off - like in tachometers; and "normal" which magnetic field adjusts output) I could see that a Hall effect sensor installed on the baseplate of your footpedal, with a good neo magnet on the moving part will remove a lot of the complication in the mechanics of this design. As it has been said before "complicated things break reliably". Drive it with discrete components or feed it to an arduino that will manage your pot thresholds etc.. You'd need to get 5vc dc to it - but you could put the arduino in your tig base... *Shrug* (plenty of ways to skin a cat) Anyway, just thought I'd share an idea to see if it might help vs3 of your design - or maybe give someone else an idea to expand on.

Enjoy and learn from all your videos, thank you. In my opinion the best upgrades to my welder were the SSC controller $160 and a $150 CK flex head #20 water cooled torch with 15' superflex hoses and a $ 6 push button and $ 5 matching plug for the torch for those hard to reach areas or just tacking. I feel I got a lot of bang for the buck and quality with that SSC controller.

I have an SSC pedal on my Miller Synchrowave 250. Those pins at the hinge point are spring loaded and you simply push both sides in to take the top off. The top of the pedal doesn't actually attach to anything else. There is a small ever inside it bears against with a little extra travel to take up some slop. When you pop the top that lever will spring up maybe 1/4". No flying springs or screws. I like how stout your homebrew pedal is, good use of tubing.

Great video. Thanks for sharing. You made this build very simple to understand and I'm going to design one myself. Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks. I built a wooden volume pedal for a guitar FX pedalboard many years back, and used the same technique for adjusting the potentiometer. Needless to say, mine was much cruder, but just about did the trick.

Love the videos, great job. Given you have three inches of pedal travel you could get rid of a lot of the pulleys for the round potentiometer and use a slide potentiometer attached to the pedal, this would then use the pedal spring as it's return spring. Also using a micro switch with lever and roller on an adjustable plate would give you better adjustment over the on/off switching.

I converted a Dunlop Crybaby Wah pedal to an amp control pedal for tig. I find that mimicking Hendrix’s intro to Voodoo chile is the perfect pulse setting for AC outside corner welds.

@SickriderSweeter

3 жыл бұрын

Hi Lee, could you please send me some more info about this conversion? I'm planning to do the same for my Rehm ACDC as it should have the same potentiometer. Thanks!

excellent. very helpful. going to build a torch mounted switch for upside down, under car, hanging off ladder welds. thanks again.

Lately, I have been watching your video's and Chris' videos over on Clickspring, and I am always impressed and amazed at the engineering solutions you both come up with to solve problems.

There is a type of resistors with switch built in. They putting switch to on at starting position.

Thank you for this video. This is my first look at a pedal for tig. It was good info for me. Cheers from Norway 🇧🇻

More videos!!!! I don’t care what they’re about just post one! Everyday would be great! Love the videos This Old Tony! I’ve watched them all many times.

Thanks for sharing your experiences Tony. I have a AlphaTig 200x and hate the foot control that came with it (love the welder though). I'm now tempted to look into hacking the odd feel of the one they send out or get one of the SSC models that you now have.

Thank you just saved me a truckload of questions regarding my purchase of Primeweld multi-function ability unit. Very 1st Tig and no real experience. Hoping to get good enough to be proficient enough to achieve beauty and quality.

After watching the new uploaded video today, I can’t help just to go back and recap on some of you golden oldies , I’ve been doing this for the past 7 months on TOT videos

Again with the cleverness! Nice. Thanks for the video.

Classic! Very helpful to share your pedal build.

Wow, pre "dry humor" Tony! That's what I get for watching your videos in reverse order. 😁 But seriously, I have an old (1970's) vintage Lincoln TIG-300/300 welder with a saturatable core transformer rather tham today's modern IGBT solid state units. It's new enough to use a 10K pot and a circuit board to control the core current but too old to find any documentation or even a used pedal designed for it. There must be some Google-foo cross talk between KZread and Ebay, because my searches for info and used pedals led me to this video. Great info! While I enjoy your dry sense of humor its also nice to see a more serious side. You sir, are a modern day Da Vinci in many ways.

Thanks again Tony . Excellent and very useful.

Thanks for the info .Sadly my old Miller dose have high frequency start but the amps are hand crank ajustable. Have make Harbor frieght

Volume control pots are usually logarithmic scale, so if you convert a wah-wah pedal consider changing to a linear scale pot. This might explain some of your range issues.

@aserta

7 жыл бұрын

Hm, that's an interesting observation.

@anullhandle

7 жыл бұрын

aserta They're also nowhere close to being an actual log output.

@roamingcelt

5 жыл бұрын

He actually cut out the log circuit and was only using the pot. I've never seen a log pot. If you can find one I'd like to see it.

@brianterrell2180

5 жыл бұрын

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

@TheIntentionStudios

4 жыл бұрын

@@roamingcelt please look at the volume and tone controls of any electric guitar and you will find both linear and log pots

The SSC seems to be the pedal of choice for many welders. It would be nice to see how it compares with the one supplied with your new welder.

I use a pedal from a semi..... it already has a Potentiometer, on/off switch and is really comfortable..... you can buy different valued potentiometers also!

interesting and verry sturdy pedal , think you can make the springpart a little simpler by welding a piece of flatbar on the pedal part at about the same place where you mounted the metalwire , make the bar short enough it can make the arc inside the case and hang the pull spring on the end of it , should be stronger then the wire , you do need to make a slot in the pedalbase to give the flatbar a space to move in

All you need is a normally open switch and a pot. Use the spring to hold the pedal on the switch so that when the pedal is pressed the button on the switch goes up and closes the circuit. Then all you have to worry about is putting the pot on the hinge. Oh and make sure if the pot you need is linear or logarithmic. Linear basically changes resistance by the same amount for each degree of rotation. Logarithmic doesn't. Also you could cut teeth on the edge of the pulley and use it to turn the pot.

I gave binge watched all of your channel. You need more videos ^^

Thanks, very timely for me, well done

With a little reconfiguring. You could set your "pot" cable down the same path as your return spring and not have to cut a hole in the open end of your petal. To go one step further, you could go return spring through the pot and end at the heel of the petal.

Hi Tony, The 'Pot' is wired as a potential divider. One end of the resistive element will be ground and the other side will be a supply voltage (5v, 10v, 12v, something like that). The voltage on the wiper contact varies with position. The value of the pot won't affect the voltage output and the next value up or down in the range will often wok just fine. If you wire a pot as a variable resistor and connect it across the ground and supply terminals, you can measure the voltage as you decrease the resistance. When the voltage starts to drop significantly, disconnect and measure the resistance. You can use a pot down to that resistance. A pot of too high a resistance might not give you full range, but won't do any harm. On my Chinese TIG, the pedal overrides the main panel current control, rather than the panel control becoming max current. To fix this, I have a second max current pot on the side of the pedal.

@KnolltopFarms

8 жыл бұрын

Wow Paul that is exactly what I need! How can I contact you to discuss more on this subject? I'd love to have control of my machine's max amperage when using the pedal so that I can have a little more consistency while welding sheet metal. Thanks in advance and I'll try contacting you on your channel if I don't hear back soon, Aloha...Chuck

@EVguru

8 жыл бұрын

Knolltop Farms Hi Chuck, If you send a message to; guru@morini-riders-club.com I'll reply from my address.

@darkestdot2752

5 жыл бұрын

This really depends on the rest of the circuit, if you're going into a opamp this might not be the case and could change how the circuit works depending on if there are any filtering in the circuit..

Thanks that was really useful and well explained.

your videos have come a long way...

U can increase range electrically with two potentiometers seting max and min amperage. Then u have full mechanical ramge fit to your amp range, for example start=10A, max=30A

Gonna have to ask you to slow down: What exactly is a foot?

@aubreyaub

5 жыл бұрын

Do I have to say it. 12 inches. chuckle

@hyperhektor7733

4 жыл бұрын

@@aubreyaub 12 inches = 1 BBC ?

@nathancloke6551

4 жыл бұрын

My first guitar effects peddle worked at this and lasted 15+years. Looked pretty bad ass too lol

@shotgunsam23

3 жыл бұрын

@@aubreyaub “it’s 3 inches but it smells more like a 12”

Great explanation.

Clever made! Miss your vids ToT.

Thanks for the videos Tony. I was surfing DIY foot control videos to see what people were using. I have an idea how to put a foot control on a Tig that's not set up to have one.

If the potentiometer is being used as a voltage divider (likely), then this would be an ideal application for Arduino technology. One could use any sort of peddle position measurement approaches, and program the Arduino to put out the desired voltage. The position to signal voltage to welder amps could all be perfectly mapped in a table in the software, thus allowing tweaking to perfection. Presuming that the welder emits a voltage on one of those pins, then that might be sufficient to power the entire peddle project.

the switch you need is adrive switch from a crown RC forklift. costs 2 dollars

@ThisOldTony

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks Alex!

@CSSIandAssociate

7 жыл бұрын

HI Alex where do you get one? Do you have a part number? Tried to search came up with nothing.

@romoalex

7 жыл бұрын

www.newsourceforkliftparts.com/products.php 88294 crown part number you can change the arm, or redesign to use a different actuator

@romoalex

7 жыл бұрын

William Ward i posted a link

@captcarlos

5 жыл бұрын

Looking at that cattledog I'm thinking the micro switch with the roller arm and comes with wiring would be easier to set up and functional.

The switch from your home made pedal look like a Omron Z series, check it out on their catalogue, they come with different variant actuators. Hope that help

Very useful , greatly liked

love how you used the symbol for ground to signify stable/tied down

@nanab256

4 жыл бұрын

Fixed to ground with serial resistor

@nicksantos9234

4 жыл бұрын

That's what that symbol means in mechanics

Having needed to disassemble my foot pedal, the top housing flexes enough to "pop" over the hinge pin on one side. Your pins may be peined over though.

Some one said it a little bit further down, but a hall effect sensor would be a way to take a lot of the mechanical complexity out of this project. don't know how well a magnet would do in a metal shop, but it would certainly be cool. If you would be open to it I would help This Old Tony to build one.

Tony I didn't read all the replies but it seems like you could tune the pedal motion without worrying about the pot and switch timing and take care of that with gain and offset in an op amp circuit with an adjustable set point for the trigger. Did you ever measure the voltage across the two outside legs of that pot when it's plugged into the machine? I'm and assuming the welder give an actual not set point amp reading so you could measure the actual voltage off the center (wiper) that gives you 0 and full output. you could also mount the controls off the pedal if it's something you would want to tweak during use.

TOT I am watching this because I got a Lincoln Tig 175 today,without a pedal. Thinking if I should make one or buy one.

Very usefull. Been thinking about acellerator for electric go kart, the speed control uses a pot, the internet is awash with hall effect witchcraft.. keyboard volume pedal, top tip.

Thank you for making this vid.

By the way Tony that SSC pedal should be able to come apart if you press the pivot shaft in on both sides as it should be springloaded to be able to remove the rocking cover. Just press a screwdriver and they should pop in and once you release they should pop out into position again just like wrist watches bracelet springs. Show us the inner guts on that one as i would be interested on having a look inside. That is exactly the setup i need to make a pedal for my Kemppi unit

@ThisOldTony

6 жыл бұрын

thanks WW, I'll give it a try.

Having trouble isolating my problem with my Miller tig welder. I've lost amperage control all together. My welder is either on or off to the heat I've set it to. I have tested the part that controls the amperage up and down but cannot find anything wrong. When I tested the three wires coming from it, (two at a time of course) they were opposite each other in resistance. Is that the way it should be? Any ideas what the problem could be? Thanks in advance for your time and help, Andy.

Think I'll redo my pedal now. Thanks.

I think the switch you want is made by Kissling - something like d-72215?!

A brake switch from a motorcyckle mounted pararell with the big spring

One small change would maybe help you a bit- there are potentiometers with built in switches on the same shaft that work from the zero position. I.E. the first part of the rotation closes a switch built into the pot body, but as the rotation continues, the resistance changes directly with the amount of rotation. The wiring for the pot is discreet and has 5 pins which you can combine or use independently. These are cheap and can be found at Mouser or similar electronic supply houses. Also, there are pots that are linear with the rotation or another type called "logrythmic" which comes on slower but builds faster at the far end of the rotation.

My Klutch 220Si has no provisions for a foot control. I'm considering using a Yamaha 7221 chain drive foot pedal for drums. Maybe a low voltage switch for the hard stop in the up position with relay buffering.

Great explanation

Late to the party, but one could always consider building the start/stop switch as a toe switch on the pedal itself(like some flight sim rudder pedals). Then you can press or release it without having to move the pot.

Thanks!! Awesome Video!!

I love your videos. They're funny and very educational. Were you aware that the last episode of The Rifleman was called "Old Tony"? That's what caught my eye when KZread suggested your videos. When did you start injecting your special brand of humor?

chinese machines have two plugs a 2 prong for the switch and a 5 prong for the potmeter other thing , there volumepots for radios that have a switch at the start . would that be strong enough to switch the welder on and off ?

Nice one Tony and not to long to hear how a fine mind thinks! Your mechanisms accounted for all the variables quite ingeniously, but you forgot the first rule of electronics design and having at least a 3 year availability of parts. ~¿@ I'm sure you can find a replacement for it and have seen similar on E-Cabinets but with 1/4" spades instead of screws. Most of them of similar VA have similar thru hole mounts too. Always a pleasure! Thanks for Sharing your time and insights. ~PJ

i love that red pencil where can I find them?

I know this is old but...those pims on the mptrol type foot pedal are spring loaded. You just press them in and it will clamshell open. Micro switch anf pot inside with a rack amd pinion type deal.

As always, yes, was interesting!

You should consider adding capacitors, like the OEM, to the potentiometer to smooth out the signal going back to your machine. Pop that SSC pedal apart by depressing the hinge pins in, one side at a time. Nothing will come out flying at you, I promise.

I know this is an old video, but have you done any more to control the wave shape (Arduino?) using the foot pedal? It seems to me the wiper wire on the variable resistor is only providing a voltage and it should be possible to provide a triangle, square or some other shape voltage signal to the welder and control it that way.

Very cool Tony, I was just out in the shop running a few beads and making a 3rd hand out of re-bar and scrap steel...and TIG brazing some Copper onto the contact surfaces to increase conductivity. Brazing with electrical wire is fun, the puddle looks trippy and the Copper melts like Gold does, especially if you're not careful with the heat. It's pretty easy to control the heat with my footpedal now that I've gotten in my practice, but since the pedal defeats the amperage control, it does take a bit more brain power to keep in check. I was wondering if you knew how to add a dial to the foot pedal to control the top end? If not I was thinking about adding a bolt I can adjust to prevent the pedal from going too far, but reducing the pedal's range wouldn't be ideal, and I am sure you feel me on that. Aloha...Chuck.

@ThisOldTony

8 жыл бұрын

Thanks Knolltop. Re: limiting the machine, all depends on the machine. Rather, all depends on the potentiometer setting. Usually 0 ohms = full machine current. If you add a 2nd pot in-line with your foot pedal you should be able to cap the current. Say your machine uses a 0-10k pot. That's your whole current range. If you add another potentiometer somewhere, so it adds to your footpedal, then you're bumping the 0 ohm setting away from zero (can't reach full amps). Say your second pot is also 0-10k. If you set that to 1k, then your foot pedal is now 1k-11k. So your machine can never reach top amps (0 ohm). If you set it to 5k then your foot pedal is 5k-15k. Make sense?

@KnolltopFarms

8 жыл бұрын

Yes, that makes sense, and so I think I can figure out which wires run to the pot and where to install the 2nd one...just so you know, I've got an Everlast 160sth and I really enjoy it. The only thing missing is AC for Aluminum... Oddly enough even after years of working with sophisticated machines and all the control in the world, I have gotten used to not having amperage perimeter controls. But, I'm sure I'd spend less time on testing/practicing just where to hang my foot, depending on thickness, if I had a dial. Plus, welding is a little more fun for me when I don't have to concentrate on feathering so much, and can just bury the pedal... I'll let you know how it goes, and thanks again...Chuck.

@carlhoward5469

Жыл бұрын

@@ThisOldTonyjust an observation: When the resistance at pin E is 0 ohms relative to pin B, then it's 10k ohms relative to pin D... and vice versa. So you could say max amperage is at 10k ohm and min amperage is at 0 ohms if you swap your reference point. B D It's all relative. ;-)

I think I would have used a rotatory switch with a potentiometer all in one. Like used in audio systems.

I built a foot controller I think after watching the first video. It is janky. Only used once, but with this video I'll be able to make adjustments to it and hopefully get it to work right

So if u didn't use the potentiometer and used just the switch does that mean your amperage wod be fully open when pressed or would the switch have no control over the amperage at all?

Any reason you didn't just use an arduino with a digipot and a hall effect/IR sensor?

A very explicit and clear explanation of the workings............BTW, you must have a short sighted manicurist.....never seen anyone with fingernails as short as those, or maybe you get worried and bite them off?

Would be handy if a guy could buy a potentiometer with a splined shaft similar to a servo horn, would be awesome for 1 off projects like this in that you can clock it in a somewhat small range of motion to accommodate design error.

I just bought the metal parts for a pedal, I decided to make one. Unfortunately my welding machine does not have a plug for the pedal, so I have to modify the onboard circuit also.

Coming from the future I love seeing you put your kids in the videos. I’m guessing they were making the noises?

i have a tig stick welder ( boc 185ACDC ) and i want to buy a slider for the torch, the manufacturer wont tell me or supply a diagram that would tell me the resistance of the pot so i can get the correct one, how do i find out which resistance value on to buy? cheers in advance

Hi Tony, So basically we only have a pot and a resistance regarding electronics? Do we need something else for High Frequency start ? Do you think about improvements after 1 year of use? Thanks a lot for sharing this

@ThisOldTony

8 жыл бұрын

+vibram500 A pot and a switch. The switch initiates HF start, the pot sets the current. As mentioned in the video, the hard part is timing the pot so that it provides the correct resistance the moment switch is triggered. The moment the switch .. switches.. :) .. you want to be at your lowest AMP setting. If the timing is off you'll limit your machines amperage range (the value when the switch actuates will be your starting amps.. and up from there until you run out of pot range.. which hopefully = the max your machine will do. My pleasure.. and have fun! Thanks for watching.

@vibram500

8 жыл бұрын

+This Old Tony Great thanks for your really quick reply. I will work on it this summer I hope !

Hi Tony. First of all I'd like to say thank you for your time and effort for your tip top editing skills. It makes watching your machining skills a little more enjoyable! (English sarcasim) Can I ask one question? Is that a Kemppi plug I saw on the video? if it was would you share the pin wiring with me please, as I have a kemppi mastertig 3000. ps loved the cnc welding also your new vortex tube. I didn't even knew they existed till you mentioned! Thanks :)

@ThisOldTony

7 жыл бұрын

Thanks David! I'm afraid it's not Kemppi, it's a Cemont. Have you tried emailing Kemppi support?

@DavidMFabrication

7 жыл бұрын

I'll give it a go. I'm guessing they will be very reluctant and if I make up an elaborate story about my R11F they will probably just say take it to a repair centre. It's worth a shot though. Thanks Tony.

@1873Winchester

7 жыл бұрын

I have the wiring diagram for a Kemppi C100F pedal if that's what you are looking for, 4 and 10 pole plugs.

@DavidMFabrication

7 жыл бұрын

1873Winchester unfortunately it has to be a R11F according to Kemppi. The C110f doesn't work according to them. Thanks for the offer though.

@omiko111

7 жыл бұрын

1873Winchester Hi I would like text you about wiring diagram for Kemppi C100F. If you still have please text me.

can you do an intractable with parts list and measurements

Good vid, thanks. You could do a collaboration with Fran Blanche!

can sawing maschine padal work?. btw nice videos, i like your channel

the part about the circuit diagram was the only reason i stopped on this video. thanks again tony for the education we didnt know we needed, you are doing us young dumb kids a justice we cant rightfully repay.

Does anybody know where I can find information on adding a solenoid kit to my lift tig machine? Thanks.

Ernie Ball guitar company makes these pullys and springs for there volume and wah pedals sells them for $25 bux change the string to a metal cable and ur set good work but you can buy an EARNIE BALL MVP STRING SPRING AND BEEF IT UP SAME EXACT CONCEPT GOOD WORK

Found out, practical way... that the potentiometers on these things act as voltage divider... and the machines do not read the resistance, but the return voltage... so in fact any pot value will do fine... but it does affect the linearity of the voltage curve...

That mysterious C pin though...

Wonder if I could use the foot pedal from my trolling motor? 😋

What about a torsion spring? It could work...

TOT defining all my work by saying, “This doesn’t look ‘factory.’”

@shotgunsam23

3 жыл бұрын

Lol, yeah I feel that too

👌Good job

If I got a square-wave pedal from a music shop, could I make my TIG pulse?