welding

contact your local welding supplier.he should be able to give you all that you need. you may also consider contacting the manufacturer of the welding equipment that you are familiar with.

best of luck.welding can be a fun hobby.

Hi Andy

I guess, from what you have said, you would be ok with a TIG plant that is no more than 100amp @ 70% duty cycle. The question is, how small do manufactures actually make them!

You should also look at the technology within that is available (and what you actually require). The new Inverter Technology units are very clever and can perform many tasks automatically. Also, if you ever take the unit 'on site' and use it as a MMA welding plant, you should look at aquiring a unit with VRD built in.

It's a clean sheet of paper so, get your research done!

Good luck with it!

Miller offers a new inverter tig machine called a Diversion for entry level welders at around $1,500 U.S.. Information on the welder can be had at Millerwelds.com or here... http://www.off-roadweb.com/tech/0901or_miller_diversion_165_tig_welder/index.html

I've been a hobby welder for over 30 years - O/A, stick, and mig. Now, I'm eager to learn tig, and am just about ready to spring for a new Diversion.

Hey Skeeter:

I have been looking for a small to medium range TIG unit as well and was considering the Diversion. I decided to take a TIG welding course at the local college and the instructor there said to be very careful when buying a TIG unit.

Your usage seems pretty similar to mine (gauge steel and aluminum sheet metal and mild steel applications). My instructor told me that the Diversion would not be able to weld thin sheet metal below 18 gauge possibly even 16. The reason he gave me was that you need a amperage setting of below 5A when welding some sheet metals and the Diversion only goes down to 5A. You may want to consider the Dynasty 200DX which goes down to 1A if your budget allows.

UFG

Hi, UFG

Thanks for the tip, but my budget just won't allow me to go to a Dynasty. If I find that the Diversion doesn't meet my needs, then I s'pose I'll have to rethink. Regards, Skeeter

Skeeter:

You might want to try used equipment places in your area. In Ontario, Canada we have www.strongholdequipment.com which is a company that buys up equipment from bankrupt companies such as machine and weld shops. You can find excellent deals and most of these companies rebuild their machines and give a 3-6 month warranty. I'm sure you can find lots of companies like this in Montana. Just Google used welding equipment.

UFG

I use a miller synchrowave 180 to weld 3/8''-.028" steel and stainless with no issues, and weld aluminum 3/8"-.015" I've even welded aluminum foil but that is more of a parlor trick. I use a water cooled torch because welding the thicker aluminiums requires a lot of amps. If you have gas welded you'll have no problem picking up tig.

HI andrew,

I agree with other members, that inverter base TIG welding machine ranging from 10amp to 150amp. would sound sufficient for your present applications. But, I doubt, that, welding aluminium would be possible. As for Al you need AC source of power, where as majoritity available present inverter machines for tig are DC output, though, you can always take the machines which offer AC / DC and TIG / MMA. options in-built together, once done with such machine, it would almost be very versatile equipment to do any job. All the best

But, I doubt, that, welding aluminium would be possible.

Greetings, rajiv,

If you take a look at the reference site that I posted previously, you just might change your mind about the aluminum capability of inverter machines.

Greetings Skeeter,

Am sort of sure, that Al can be welded, through TIG provided option of AC is there, again, just to brief,,, if pulsing variation is available than I am sure, that we can weld other noble metals through TIG.

All good info. Stainless is DC and Aluminum is AC so you will need a machine that can do both well.

High frequency start is a big plus so you don't have to scratch start. 2% thoriated tungsten electrodes will weld both but 1/8 inch for the thicker aluminum. Also practice on the aluminum until you get used to the power feed the puddle shows much better.

The foot feed is more controllable but the hand controller works for positions where a foot feed is not realistic. If you plan to do a lot of out of position work learn the hand feed. If not the foot feed is easier.

The trick with TIG is you have an extra dynamic to deal with and it makes it very interesting.

Also unlike stick your hand needs to be rock steady. The plasma gap length makes a big difference in the weld.

If you were in the Tricities area (Washington state) CBC has one of the best welding classes around and the instructor is a amazing TIG welder.

I should be back in TIG classes this spring. Lots of fun you will enjoy it.

Brad

If you are a totally amateur welder like myself, then perhaps you should look around for a MIG/TIG welder of top quality, so that you can do both (unless of course you already have a MIG welder that does everything you wish of it!!), I have read that there are machines that you can reconfigure, though I personally have "0" experience with them.

My machine is MIG only and does everything that I need for my hobbies in both steel and stainless.....Alu I have not yet tried, though the spool is already here - "Just in Case!"

I have done a lot of torch welding many years ago in the RN, and all the TIG welder persons I have met say that this is a good way to ease yourself into TIG.....

If you are a professional, then forget completely what I have written above.....buy/obtain two seperate machines of the best quality that your business can afford....

Just my "hobby" 2 cents worth.

Have a great day.

i agree with everyone. the best answer was "if you can do gas welding" or brazing you can do tig welding. for the best tig welds keep the tungsten electrode to a resonably sharp point.

oilcan13

All the suggestions to date are good. The one thing that I would consider is the power source. You can get some fairly good sets that operate at 110 VAC, and some decent ones that run at 220. I am the type that does every thing for myself (sometimes not the best idea) and that leaves you with the problem of wiring into the house/shed/garage/basement or all of the above.

When I buy my final set it is going to be gas driven and I don't care who or how they wired it.

I had our fire dept purchase a Miller Syncrowave 250 quite a few years ago. Although I have never had to do any thin SS, I was told that I would be able to weld 2 razor blades together. I have way too little use from the machine to give welding advice to anyone. But as for options, I would like to offer some information that I was given when we purchased it.

The self start is much easier to learn with than striking an arc.

A water cooled torch will work for thin work, but an air cooled torch will overheat on thick work.-- Buy a water cooled one. (The torch is the electrode holder)

With the water cooled torch, you need either a radiator to cool the water, or a reliable pressurized water supply.

Welding with the tig makes crappy welders like myself look good. It is very similar to brazing, or soldering in execution.

I wire feed welder attachment can be added to a machine like the Syncrowave 250, but a wire feed is at it's best for more repetitious welding, or larger projects that will tend to use a lot of welding rods.

If you go with a TIG, the only gas that you will need is pure Argon.

If you are setting up for producing a large quantity of welding, a wire feed will speed things up.

If you are going to try to be flexible with many metals, and different thicknesses, I think a TIG is hard to beat.

I have heard people say that they do not trust the self darkening welding helmets. I have found that I can position the components at any position I need to and never have to jerk my head bring eye protection.

I hope this is of some help in deciding. If you can pick up a low mileage higher quality welder that was only used by an old lady to go to church on Sundays, I think it should serve you well as an occasional welder.

I also use one of the automatic helmets, would not be without it. Only problem with it is when the temps go below -10°C, it stops working!!!!

Luckily I noticed before I boiled my eyeballs.....!!

We have been lucky so far this year, it has not been that cold here .

I think that must have been what happened, suddenly everything was a green colour, but still darker than without the mask.

It took me maybe 10 seconds to see that it was not as dark as usual. Also I did not get "Arc-Eye" either........

Many thanks for your correct and informative post.

I gave you a GA in thanks!!

I would like to add a couple of more things to what I said earlier. While TIG welding seems to be very easy compared to stick welding the bottom line is that in order to make 100% weld such as one would make on high pressure pipe and ensure x-ray quality takes years of practice no matter what type welding you choose. Although you may be able to make a fair looking weld with any type welding the quality of the weld(the part you don't necessary see) may not be there. I am saying this to everyone because many times lives can and will depend on how good a weld is made The safety aspect of properly choosing the correct type of welding as well as the other things decided (electrodes, heat, polarity, shielding gas etc.)when making a weld should be made or at least checked by a professional. The responcibility and liability you take upon your shoulders when you make a weld can sometimes be great. Please keep this in mind before making the choices and decisions needed to make a weld.

Also let me say that we routinely weld stainless steel and carbon steel piping up to Sch.. 80, 4" OD with a 150 amp dry TIG torch. I really don't see using a wet TIG torch unless welding aluminum or another "high amp" type material or unless you are welding very thick pieces all the way with a TIG rig. Even in case of thicker stainless or carbon material I would rather use a 200 or 250 amp dry rig before going through the aggravation of using a wet rig IMO

I have never used the dry torch, so I can not compare the two.

Your comments on weld quality and penetration are very well stated though. I agree 100%.