TIG Welder

[VETTE_50_TH]

So, i guess what i am looking for, is to know what is the best, cheapest TIG welder that will get the job done. Light to mild duty and good enough to weld 3/8 SS or aluminum? I have looked all over the place, and found a lot of crappy inexpensive ones, but nothing good unless you spend 2k. I dont want to spend more than 1k. What are much options? Also, where do you get you argon or helium?

James

 

[Imback]

You gotta pay to play. Or you could get the new miller 165 it looks ok by it's spec sheet. As for the gas any local welding supply could help you out with that.

 

[Burnett03]

Cheap and TIG don't belong anywhere near each other in a sentence.

 

[VETTE_50_TH]

Better?

James

 

[gsxtasy]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/custom-fabrication/325021-brand-welder-you-prefer.html

 

[VETTE_50_TH]

That thread just goes over what are good brands. They don't really care about price though.

James

 

[Spln_Hrd]

Cheap and TIG don't belong anywhere near each other in a sentence.

He is right.

Unfortunatly from what I know you want a square wave tig machine if your going to be doing aluminum, and that will run you over 1600. Aluminum welding can be done with a sine wave machine, but it isn't nearly as good. To the best of my knowledge this is because most welders set the square wave machines on 60% electrode negitive, and 40% electrode positive to get more cleaning action but still achive enough heat to have a deep enough penetration.

Also if you want to tig weld aluminum it is something you have to deticate alot of time, effort, and obviously money to be able to do. I would set a goal of learning to weld stainless and when you can do that very well move on to aluminum.

Argon should be available from any welding supply store.

 

[brainlessher0]

A lot of shops going out of business right now, See if you can pick up a used miller rig. I used a pre-owned argon rig for awhile (Just purchase new attachments/Guns)

and btw, Aluminum is a PITA! Buy some scrap sheets and practice practice practice MAKE SURE YOUR METAL IS CLEAN

 

[Imback]

I use the lincoln tig185 .

Lincoln Electric - Precision TIG 185

 

[brainlessher0]

+1 lincoln tig, They make nice machines

 

[awdrst]

If you don't mind about some of the newer features I would say get a old lincoln tig300. They can not be killed and will weld aluminum and steel with no problem. I used to have one in fact it was my very first tig and it was from the 70's but still ran great. I have moved up to a smaller unit (lincoln percistion tig 225) but still have the old tig300 sitting in my shop. They are HUGH just so you know and weigh about as much as a old tank.

 

[Imback]

Speaking of old war tanks one of my first machines early in my career was a linde. It was twice the size of two small blocks but i loved it. I miss her

 

[awdrst]

Here is a pic of my old tig. This thing is a monster.

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[VETTE_50_TH]

Anything works i guess. I think i will just try to find one on craigslist or something, because im not going to find a new one for the price i can spend.

James

 

[turboglenn]

One thing i want to add.. the rule of thumb is one amp per .001 of material thickness. Meaning if you want to do 1/4 inch, you need a machine with 250 amps... If you want to do 3/8th's on a single pass with full penetration then you need a machine with about 350 - 400 amps

You can do this with a lesser machine, pre-heating and the use of a helium/argon mix will make thick aluminum welds much easier (the helium makes it a hotter enviroment)

So when you said 3/8 SS on less than 1k dollars my eyes about popped out of my head, 3/8th's is THICK in the welding world (unless you're a big money baller)

But, you can always groove the material and make several passes with a lesser amperage machine, but you still won't get the true 3/8ths penetration which is really needed for a complete fusion of two metals. When I need to do anything over 1/4 inch (both pieces that is.. you can join 1/8th to 4'' because you only need the penetration power of the smaller material, which would be 125 amps on SS 1/8th material) i weld razor blades to half inch plate when people who don't know say it can't be done I use 5 - 9 amps to do this and pulse it to freeze the welds between fiuller adding to keep from overheating and burning through the material (also helps with warpage) SS warps and twists like awoman having an orgasm when it gets hot

 

[Rob10_99]

To figure running costs, go price a set of tips as well as a box of aluminum or stainless rods. I think that will change your mind. And don't forget the cost of gas at $100 tank as well.

 

[Spln_Hrd]

Thank god I live in Nebraska where methane is free. But seriously $100 for a tank of what?

 

[turboglenn]

For the argone tank.. It's usually 150- 180 to get the tank and then 20 bucks a fill ( for a Q size tank)...then they provide you with a title to the tank and if and when you return it you get all your money back for the tank (not the gas as you've used that of course)

SS filler rod is about 13 bucks a pound.. ALuminum is about 9 - 10 bucks a pound. MOst fillers come in 1 and 3 lb packages. I could show you some reciepts from just start up costs for tigging that would blow your mind ( but then again i bought a bad ass TIG unit too, so throw in another 4k for that alone not counting bottle, filler rod in 10 different variations, an assortment of cups collets and collet bodies, then you've got tungsten (about 7 bucks each and you'll go through 5 in a week of learning) etc...

Defiinitely not in the "hobby price range" but if you're good enough to make money with it, everything will be worth the investment.

I was playing with a diversion 165 today at the weld store.. god i love that torch it has, i was trying to buy a liquid cooled version of the same on it has, or at least a WP20 water cooled with flex head (got a WP17 and WP 9 currently)

Don't let this get too discouraging, they are well worth the invesatment. If you're ever in omaha I'll let you burn a few rods on my dynasty if you want ( or if you've never TIG'ed i'll give y the crash course) If i can teach some of my friends i know i can teach some one failry intellegent

 

[awdrst]

If you don't feel like figuring it out yourself and you can afford to take a week away from home I suggest Lincoln Motorsports class. It cost about 800 for everything like hotel and class and food but it's a pretty intense week. There is about 20 percent class time where you learn the how and why and than the rest is lab time. You can weld as much as you want with any of their welders including any of the newest inverter stuff. Everyone has their own station and tig welder and you can weld stainless, mild, chromoly tubing, and aluminum. I would say that when I was there I learned more that week than I did the year of self teaching. The teachers are really good and if you haven't tig welded before you won't have to break any bad habits. In the end you get a box full of gas lenses and a huge book from the class portion. Plus they do a stress test at the end on some chromoly tubing to see how strong your welds are. It was really a great investment and after going I would have paid double for what they teach there since you can focus on the material and type of welding you want to.