Re: Disabled welder, TIG filler rod feed.

Hello Chris-
You hold it like a pen and roll back a small wheel with the index
finger. If he has a hard time rolling something between his thumb and
index finger, it may be tough for him.
If his grip is fairly normal he should like it!
Mike


Chris wrote:
On Fri, 3 Feb 2006 21:41:00 +0000, Chris wrote:

A pal is slighty disabled in so far as an accident left him with damaged
tendons and nerves in his hands. He finds it hard to feed a TIG filler rod
smoothly. I was thinking of ways he might be helped, and I thought of
something like a mastic cartridge gun, but much smaller, that fed a rod as
you squeezed a trigger, holding it like a pistol, with the rod being fed in
a similar way to how the piston rod is moved by the applicator trigger, as
it pushes the plunger in the mastic tube. Before I try and re invent a
wheel does anything like this exist, or does anyone have any other ideas to
think over?

I myself, as a newbie TIG welder, find manipulating a filler rod with
gloves on tricky, I might try something similar for myself :)

Thanks for any replies.

I have found the "TIG pen" is about 56 UK pounds, here in England UK. I am
going to ring ESAB to see exactly how it works, I am assuming you rotate a
small wheel that drives the feed rod through friction drive. I will also
ask my pal if such a movement is easy for him. One never really thinks how
even a relatively minor disability can impact all sorts of everyday tasks!
All I know for sure is he can lift a beer mug just FINE :)

Thanks for the good info everyone.


--
Best Regards,
Chris.

.

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