# Tig welder



## homemade (Jan 21, 2014)

I'm looking at investing in a tig welder. I have experience in running one, and don't need anything too huge. I have a Lincoln AC arc welder and propane oxy cutting torch. I want something smaller that the stick welder just isn't practical for. I'm not wielding up beer cans or battle ships but I would think up to 3/16 would be powerful enough. What do u guys recommend to buy or stay a away from. 


Sent from the shitter, the only place it get to read arboristsite!


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## supertrooper (Jan 21, 2014)

Might as well have started a "whats better Husky or Stihl" thread.  I bought a Miller Diversion when they first came out so i could learn tig. It has been a great little machine and does everything I need it for. It is rated to 3/16 steel or alum. I have only gone up to 1/8 with mine in steel/alum. I'm now at a point that I wish I would have took a bigger plunge in a nicer machine as I find myself bound by its limits. Spend some time on some welding forums and read read read and I'm sure you will come up with a good choice.


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## mdavlee (Jan 21, 2014)

Any DC machine can do tig if you reverse the leads. F you want good control of the eat and arc force then the price goes up considerably. I like miller synchrowave but those are probably out of the price range.


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## imagineero (Jan 22, 2014)

stainless and mild steel, or aluminum also?


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## rocketnorton (Jan 22, 2014)

ac/dc, at least 200a, they will also run stick... im a miller guy, but Lincoln is good stuff too...


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## Hoowasat (Jan 24, 2014)

After reading the original post in this thread, I'm left wondering why he wants TIG. Unless the OP is welding some delicate stuff, a good MIG outfit should suffice. I don't weld beer cans, but I do build aircraft carriers.


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## dozerdan (Jan 24, 2014)

I like red. I bought one of these a few years ago.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/Equipment/Pages/product.aspx?product=K2618-1

I also bought the pulse panel for it.

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-us/equipment/accessories/Pages/product.aspx?product=K2621-1

Later
Dan


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## Big Natey (Jan 24, 2014)

if your only gonna be welding carbon and stainless, all you need is a dc welder with a scratch start tig torch.

look at thermal arc welders. they have some nice stuff at resonable prices.


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## rocketnorton (Jan 25, 2014)

Hoowasat said:


> After reading the original post in this thread, I'm left wondering why he wants TIG. Unless the OP is welding some delicate stuff, a good MIG outfit should suffice. I don't weld beer cans, but I do build aircraft carriers.


g'luck weldin mag w/wire gun [mig]... I build boats too....


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## rocketnorton (Jan 25, 2014)

i'll add to that, not tryin to be an a hole... much better heat control w/tig...


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## Hoowasat (Jan 25, 2014)

rocketnorton said:


> g'luck weldin mag w/wire gun [mig]... I build boats too....


 "mag"???


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## rocketnorton (Jan 25, 2014)

Hoowasat said:


> "mag"???


 id assume by postin here, at some point, he'd wanna do some "mag"nesium welding...


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## Hoowasat (Jan 25, 2014)

Well, if that's the case, then TIG is the way. I've never welded magnesium. Does it flow like aluminum (fast)?


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## rocketnorton (Jan 25, 2014)

Hoowasat said:


> Well, if that's the case, then TIG is the way. I've never welded magnesium. Does it flow like aluminum (fast)?


its very similar to alum, except that it will burn... is good idea to purge torch, if it sits very long between welds, or if machine has adjustable preflow, to avoid lighting up the mag...


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## DavidBrown1212 (Jan 25, 2014)

Look into Longevity welders. Tig is my gig, and I have one of each, a Miller Maxtstar, Lincoln V275s, Vantage 300, and a SA200.I bought the Longevity 200 when a Miller went for a swim while I was on a job in St. Louis, it has been a great welder ever since. It does not have low amp arc stability of the miller, nor the force of Lincoln, but it holds well down to 35 amps, and you can walk the cup pretty fast on a 4in joint. Plus, it comes with pretty nice hi freq start, and a decent warranty. Best homeowner/hobby choice, I use mine all the time in the field, if it had auto-link like Lincoln/miller, I would own three more.

Whatever you get, get an inverter style, the old transformer are crap to learn on, and use lots more energy.


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## griff154 (Jan 25, 2014)

Walk the cup that's funny! Must be a fitter. No offense sometimes you can't walk the cup. I have a lincoln precision tig 185 love it\1

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## mdavlee (Jan 25, 2014)

Yeah but 95% of the time you can walk the cup.


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## griff154 (Jan 25, 2014)

I'm so used to welding waterwall tube's . Free hand is natural for me.

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## mdavlee (Jan 25, 2014)

The I did freehand last time I did any.


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## DavidBrown1212 (Jan 25, 2014)

griff154 said:


> Walk the cup that's funny! Must be a fitter. No offense sometimes you can't walk the cup. I have a lincoln precision tig 185 love it\1
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2


Not sure what you are getting at here, most pipe joints ooutside of boilers are walked, sure there many you cant, but I dont understand how any of that matters. I was juy speaking to force of arc which allows you to walk faster. Any respectable welder can do both, and can walk a joint significantly faster than any welder could free hand it if given free accsess


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## DavidBrown1212 (Jan 25, 2014)

Oh, boilermakers.... Pay no attention to them.

They only know welding in spaces so tight you never get see the whole weld without a mirror. They don't know about real world welding, without mirrors and tape. Cheaters


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## griff154 (Jan 25, 2014)

Hey, I can walk the cup also. And far as mirror welding most people can't do it. Anybody can weld when it is right in front of ya and flat. Don't be hatin on boilermakers I have family that fitters also.

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## mdavlee (Jan 25, 2014)

griff154 said:


> Hey, I can walk the cup also. And far as mirror welding most people can't do it. Anybody can weld when it is right in front of ya and flat. Don't be hatin on boilermakers I have family that fitters also.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I405 using Tapatalk 2



Welding in a mirror is a challenge. Done a few hundred in my career.


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## homemade (Jan 26, 2014)

Well i was looking into a mig welder. They don't have the range of weldable metals at a tig does. I have experience on a thermal arc inverter type tig welder so it's not going to be an issue of learning. I think a rig weld looks more "sexy" then a mig weld and the ability to weld thinner steel with out then consumption of so much gas from my propane/oxy set up. 

I seen that northern tool has one for a couple hundred bucks. But I think I'll end up having to wait a few more months and save more Penny's to get a name brand one. I do like the miller machines better then the Lincoln ones I have ran.


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## Big Natey (Jan 26, 2014)

Im not sure how someone would think that there is a significant difference in the amount of skill required to either walk the cup or freehand. Any decent tig welder could do both in any position (i would hope atleast). Mirror welding and back feeeding on the other hand are a differnt story.

OP, im not sure the point of your thread. What exactly do you plan on doing with your new welder? How skilled are you at tig welding? I personally do not think tig welding takes any more skill than any other process, but it does take alot longer to get a good hand at it. Tig is a slow go, its for precise work, and it takes alot longer to tig a joint then it would to stick or mig it.

Also, you have to consider other things like; what size/ type of tungesten are you gonna use, tungesten is pretty expensive. Then your gonna need differnt size cups, extra gas lenses, diffusers, collets, caps, etc. etc. Differnt sizes and types of filler metals as well.

If your gonna just be welding light metals for general purposes. i would buy a small mig welder, run flux cored wire with gas for the extra penetration. You can buy them at lowes or home depot. I have a licoln pro mig 140 my dad bought and its a great little welder for smaller materials and sheet metals. If the material goes over 1/4 inch i reach for a stick. you can buy a spool gun for them too for light aluminum work.

On another note, i absolutley hate mig/ wire welding. its monotonus and boring. i would rather stick and tig weld more than anything. but sometimes it is easier, faster, and more practical to use mig.


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## firebrick43 (Jan 27, 2014)

I have a small syncrowave 180. It does everything I need and was reasonable used but in new condition. If you every think you want to do aluminum you should get a high freq ac capable machine at the start. My syncrowave on dc stick make beautiful welds on larger stuff. Did you know you can use the foot peddle with ec stick? Comes in handy every so often.

As far as oxy propane. Do you own your own tanks? If not you need to. Same would go for your gigs argon bottle. I fill my own propane bottle of my house lp tank.. Summer fill rates are dirt cheap in comparison to else where.


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## Thorpe678 (Mar 26, 2022)

If you want to learn about tig welder read here.


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## ironman_gq (Apr 1, 2022)

I've got a miller dynasty 200dx that has been fantastic, probably more than you want to spend but it's got more features and controls than the space shuttle. If you're looking for cheaper units, find a transformer based synchrowave or whatever the lincoln equivalent is. They will outlive your grandchildren and you can find them for pretty reasonable prices. I do like the variable frequency and waveform on the inverter machines, makes it a lot easier to keep a tight puddle with higher frequency or to blast through cruddy cast aluminum with a nice fat low frequency arc.


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## bugkill (Jul 19, 2022)

_Boilermaker here. Yes most stuff in the boiler is freehand and it works well. Pipefitters normally have more room around the pipe or are in spooling shop and walk the cup which can make a beautiful weld. As for the machine and decent dc machine on straight polarity can run atig torch. Most boiler jobs had these before the inverters. If you you looking alum you normally use AC with high frequency. But some people can do it withn the pulse rate set super high and no high freq. There are some nice small machines out there but they are not cheap. Decide what you want to weld and get what you need. Remember the name brand machine have parts available and can be resold easily. I would do the miller/lincoln machine. Esab make some nice ones to. A mig welder does do quite a few different metals with the right wire and gas just not real handy on small finicky stuff. They make nice small multiprocess machines but they not cheap.Straight mig is cheaper or DC stick and do scratch start which really isn't that hard to get used to. _


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