TIG welder recommendation?
 

What would you guys recommend for a TIG welder? I'd like to be able to weld up to 1/4" steel. Mostly I want to weld 1/8" wall steel tubing and .060 aluminum sheet.

I don't want to spend any more than I have to, but I also don't want to buy less than I need. I'm already in that situation with my MIG welder, it's a 100 amp and doesn't have the umpf do as thick a stuff as I want.

Thanks, Chuck

Chuck,

You cannot go wrong with the Miller Dynasty 200. I bought one new off of e-bay for $2200 last year and its a terrific machine. My welding instructor bought one several months before I bought mine, and had nothing but good things to say about it.

If you get it off e-bay I'd recommend brweldingsupplies as I've purchased both a MIG and TIG welder through them and haven't had any problems.

HTH
Scott

Hi Chuck, Most tig welders for site work and home are a DC inverter type , meaning they can stick weld and use low hydrogen rods etc which are high strength ,these rods are very hard to hold an arc on your (older home AC welder). There is normally a switch for hot start ,for stick welding . The DC inverter can also weld steel or stainless steel and some will have a switch for decreasing the power for the scratch start as its known .A helpful tip for getting your arc going is to rest the edge of your hand on the bench and bring your tungsten close to work ,and in a "small strike a match", action you should have an arc , if you get stuck wiggle tig torch side to side . Anyway you need to buy an AC-DC welder to be able to Tig weld both. The Aluminium needs High frequency to continuously excite the arc . I have at home a Lincon dc invertec V160-T pulse , I know that Lincon also make 250 amp ac-dc tig I think these will weld up to 5/16 aluminium and I am fairly sure the hand piece is not water cooled , Also when you get into Hi-fequency start it adds a switch to the hand piece making it it harder to control or be flexible , but you also get some different ways to start the arc 2 step and 4 step and decreasing power for finishing etc, go and look at some at a welding supplies shop, buy a known brand , there are a lot of cheapies for sale like at hardware stores .Stay away from them . Hope this helps Vaughn .

P.S Rob we have small Essab 160 at work and it has a switch for stick and tig.

Chuck,

I have an old Miller Dialarc HF Stick/TIG machine which I bought second (or third-or fourth)-hand for about $750. It's AC/DC and has an air-cooled torch, which limits how much heat you can pour in and for how long but it does have HF for start or continuous and water-cooled torch capability. The range is 10-310 amps and, years ago when I used to do a fair amount of welding, I was able to weld razor blades with one like it. I read something recently about using some type of current other than HF to avoid interference with electronic devices but can't elaborate; sorry. Anyway, if you look around locally, you may be able to find an older machine in decent shape at a very reasonable price. It may also have a bunch of the extras (foot control, flow meter, electrodes, torch parts, etc.) for boot.

Rob,

I think you can start your TIG arc on a copper (not zinc) penny without picking up any contamination on the tungsten. Seems to me I've done that before with machines with no HF start but I can't recall for sure.

Lowell

Hi Chuck
 

The thickness you want to weld will dictate the machine specs. Good rule of thumb is 1 amp per thousandth of metal, in other words the 1/4" will need about 250 amps. That is getting a little high for an aircooled torch but will work fine for occasional or discontinuous welding. A cooler adds more on the maintenance and quite a bit on the expense. Check machinery auctions I have seen some real deals on used machines from trade schools etc. I would also recommend a well known brand for parts servicability etc. Miller, Airco, Lincoln etc. You'll have a blast with one they are very versatile.

Miller Dynasty 200DX. Not cheap but IMHO you will not need another welder, and because it's an inverter machine it only weighs about 50lbs. This machine will make an average welder look like a pro. Also don't be too concerned about the rating of the 200DX, Miller is very conservative in rating their welders. This thing can weld at full power for way longer than the quoted duty cycle would lead you to believe.