We have been happy with our Orion 200i2 welder but we were excited
to see that there is now an entry level welder available for the
craft jeweler without costing a bloody fortune! I just had to share
this news. The new Orion mPulse 30 ($1,999 USD) is the newest in the
family of Orion welders, made in the USA. It comes with at top end
power of 30ws, and an auto darkening lens to protect your eyes and
hold the argon stylus. This small and friendly welder can be used by
almost anyone, and has the power to do many jobs in a tight little
package. For those that are justtrying to do some quick and small
welds, it is just what is needed. At such a great price point,
almost anyone and any company can own one today. The mPulse has
power settings that range from 5.0ws to 30ws, in 2.5ws increments.
This gives you 11 different power settingsto choose from. The spot
size on the smallest setting is in the range of 0.8mm, depending
upon your material. The spot size on the largest setting of 30ws
will be about 1.5mm in diameter, depending upon the material you are
working on. The mPulse has the ability to work with Gold, Silver and
many of the other jewelry metals that you already work with. The
power supply measures at about 4" x 4" x 3", and takes up almost no
space on your bench.
Our school, the Mountain Metalsmiths School of Jewelry & Lapidary,
located just south of Asheville, NC will be offering THREE WELDING
WORKSHOPS in 2016. We will be able to give jewelers the opportunity
to play with this “baby” as well as with the “big welders” for two
days of uninterrupted welding, with no waiting in line for a few
minutes of welding time. Interested in learning more? Feel free to
contact offline.
This is exactly what I have been waiting for. I called Orion this
morning and ordered one right away. I did check with all of my
normal tool suppliers and none of them have it for sale yet. I have
wanted this technology for a long time but it has been very price
prohibitive for a small one man studio
Dear Steve, I am very happy to hear that you ordered the MPulse Orion
Welder. Please let me know when it is in your “hot littlehands”. Not
only do we host three welding workshops a year based on the Orion
Welders at our school, but we also have a Facebook Group called Orion
Pulse Arc Welder Users. You have to own an Orion Welder to belong to
the group or work on one if you are an employee in a jewelry store.
In this group, you can ask for help if you are having problems with
your welding oryou are welcome to show off your latest welding
achievements. We have members who are jewelers as well as dental lab
technicians, knife makers, and sculptors. There is tech support from
Orion keeping tabs on the FB group whoare available to help with
problem solving. Even a few PUK owners have attended some of our
workshops to get guidance! Keep in touch- weare here to get you
going. We are just a phone call or email or FB postingaway…
Almost 2 years have past since I wrote my first post about the Orion
FusionWelders which created quite a stir I have been waiting
patiently for others to catch on to this new technology and finally
it has happened. I must say that my company has been doing extremely
well with this over the past 6 years and have not and still do not
use a torch. Bravo to the next generation of Jewelers, Artisans, and
Craftsmen.
I must say that my company has been doing extremely well with this
over the past 6 years and have not and still do not use a torch.
How do you anneal, Terry?
How do I anneal. I Don’t need to. However, to make things clear when
casting I do use a larger torch to melt gold or silver but do not use
a mini or jewelers torch at all since we started using fusion welding
technology.
It seems that you and I practice a very different way of making
jewelry. My Orion 200i2 has become part of my studio practice,
allowing me to do things that I could never do with my torch–large
Smith casting, smaller Hoke or even the Little Torch.
I was able to build a really neat set of swivel hooks with the
welder. Also, building up areas–sculpting in a way. But can’t
foresee it replacing my torches.
Annealing is a great example.
I also wonder how you weld, say, a 6 prong low base head or a
tube/bezel to a ring. In this case, brazing (soldering) allows you to
run a nice, clean seam; free of the dimples (small weld pools) that
seem inherent to welding.
I also wonder how you weld, say, a 6 prong low base head or a
tube/bezel to a ring. In this case, brazing (soldering) allows you
to run a nice, clean seam. free of the dimples (small weld pools)
that seem inherent to welding.
Thats the beauty of this technology. If I weld a low base 6 prong
head to lets say a band you can do it 2 ways. The first way is to
drill a hole in the band to match the size of the base of the head
and then weld the head in flush from the backside of the ring and
this will come out without a seamthen just polish the inside of the
ring. The other way is to just fuse the base of the ring right on
the ring. If you have pits or dimples just uselaser wire and fill in
with a controlled plasma flow method. Polish with a knife edged
creytex wheel and you will get perfect results. We definitely have
different methodology and a different approach but I can respect
your talents and skills but with this new technology the sky is
limit. Someday I would like for you to see how this can work first
hand. I know it may behard for people to grasp but the people who
did come and visit were made believers when they saw it. To this day
I am still amazed with this technology and its applications.
