Pen handle- tig wire holder/feeder

[dobre]

Hi, someone told me about these manual tig wire feeders that can be used while tig welding of aluminium or stainless etc. They are similar to a ''pen'' from which you put the selected wire through and feed accordingly by a finger roller type device.

My question is has anyone used one of these and what if any are the advantages of these pen handles. Does it give you a more consistent feed to the weld pool and i guess there is less concern with contaminating the wire with dirty hands and gloves.

Dobre

[grumpy]

Dobre
The closest I can come to answering your question is that a decade ago we at our TAFE trailed a device similar to which you have described. There was no rolling wheel but hole into which the filler wire was placed.
An internal spring loaded sleeve shaped into a vee where it clamped the wire was released by thumb pressure.

The unit was very easy to use and enabled the the filler wire to be used down to the last 20mm or so.

I have never seen another one to this day.
Grumpy

[dobre]

Hi all. i found a pic of the tig pen i was talking about in the previous threads, anyway here is a link to it.

products.esab.com/Templates/T041.asp?id=93098

Dobre