Tig welders???....sorry not saw related....or is it!

[BamaMac610]

I was joking. It's a YouTube video. I like all the name brands as long as they work. Except for the Forney stuff. I've got a wire feed that works fine but replacement parts like liners and what not are tough/impossible to find in a pinch

 

[Canyon Angler]

The last time I bought helium the swap price was almost neck and neck for the same size bottle surprisingly.

Wow. Last time I checked, 95/5 He/Ar was triple if not quadruple the price of straight Ar in a 330 cf bottle here.

 

[Nathan Graff]

And here I thought that welders got helium to suck on the stuff and talk like cartoon characters.

I wouldn't discount some of the european welders such as esab. They make really good equipment. If you look around, I bet you could find three phase welders CHEAP. Might be worth getting or building a rotary phase converter.

 

[Yotaismygame]

The Everlast 200DV seems like the machine for me. Little more than I want to spend right now but I could pick one up when I’m ready.

I could sell my current plasma cutter and turn two machines into one also..

 

[Canyon Angler]

Meh

 

[Nathan Graff]

The Everlast 200DV seems like the machine for me. Little more than I want to spend right now but I could pick one up when I’m ready.

I could sell my current plasma cutter and turn two machines into one also..

DO NOT buy an all in one with plasma. Those things suck rocks big time. Sure it does all the functions, but it does none of them well at all.

 

[Canyon Angler]

+1

Did you ever see the inside of one of those machines? They look like some kind of insane rat's nest. Talk about a spaghetti-maker's bad trip. Good luck figuring out where the Magic Smoke leaked out!

 

[Yotaismygame]

Tons of good reviews on it and YouTube info. Wouldn’t say my China plasma cutter is very good anyways. Gets the job done though. Hardly use the thing. I understand the push back about China tools and buying old American made products. I went through this dilemma when buying a lathe

 

[BamaMac610]

Tons of good reviews on it and YouTube info. Wouldn’t say my China plasma cutter is very good anyways. Gets the job done though. Hardly use the thing. I understand the push back about China tools and buying old American made products. I went through this dilemma when buying a lathe

I bet it'll be a hell of a machine. We'd all buy American if we could but it's not always affordable. I believe everlast to be a quality product

 

[Yotaismygame]

I’m in no hurry. I’ll keep my eyes on Craigslist and do my research before I buy.

what do you think of this? Little far for me but in my price range

 

[catbuster]

Those are a decent rig, and it has everything. The last time I bought a cylinder it was $344 full of argon for a 250 cubic foot cylinder. 150 amps will probably leave you wanting for anything over 3/16” aluminum though. And 3/16 would be pushing that machine.

 

[Canyon Angler]

I agree with catbuster...150A is pretty weak sauce for aluminum. I'd want at least 250 at 40%... I wouldn't even attempt 3/16" with 150A. Since alum is so conductive, what will happen is the whole thing will heat up and then (after 5 or 10 minutes) go PLOP.

You want enough heat to make a puddle in 3 sec preferably. With aluminum you're always chasing the heat. You need to be able to dump in the heat faster than it can conduct away, which is why you really need a lot of amps...it's like trying to bail out the ocean – ya gotta bail FAST to make a dent!

I'd search SearchTempest for a Syncrowave 250 ... they're out there, and you see some real bargains sometimes.

 

[drf255]

Buy a big old American machine if you can’t afford a quality inverter or you will likely be sorry. If something goes wrong, you can actually fix the machine yourself. Miller has better customer Care than Lincoln. You’d be amazed if you call them. I have about a machine that was 40 years old and they treated me like I bought it the day before I called.

My syncro 250 required 80 amps of 220. I’ve welded with a 330 A/BP and the arc was amazing.

Buy that Lincoln if you can feed it.

You can’t do thin aluminum well with a spoolgun unless you have very sophisticated equipment that does pulse. You also can’t do thin aluminum with DC. DCEN on aluminum with Helium was the original “Heli-Arc” and is suitable to thick stuff. Of course you’ll find someone who is talented enough to do anything and everything with a cigarette lighter and a coat hanger, but in general, it’s ain’t gonna happen.

Get a good old unit in your price range. Tig is 90% Indian and 10% arrow. I’ve seen the best welds ever from old refrigerator sized machines and some horrible stuff from the latest and greatest ones. I used to think I needed a Dynasty for nice welds. Then I realized the little nuances weren’t ever gonna matter to me, they were way above my pay grade.

The big old machines also weld stick much nicer than the inverters in general. The nicest stick I’ve ever run was an old round top Lincoln Dialarc (?Idealarc). Man, talk about what “buttery” means.

 

[Kyfan]

I’m in the market for a MiG welder, a plasma cutter to piggy back off of my Hobart gas engine 200 amp 100% duty cycle stick welder generator. I do a lot of structural welding, I beams up to 36”/75 lbs per foot, but smaller trailer frames besides log splitters. But my plasma cutter for smaller steel.

At work for the engineering group I had a Hobart 300 syncro wave 400 amp, a 500 amp Lincoln 100% duty cycle MiG welder, a lincoln 250 amp stick welder, a linde 300 amp plasma cutter, a 500 amp lincoln stick welder. Once they seen what I could do they gave me an open ticket to purchase what ever I wanted. Besides two 5’ x 8’ acorn tables with accessories. I was the only one using 1/4”/5/16” stick rod in my area.

I miss my shop.

For a plasma cutter hypertherm is by far the best and honestly you'll rarely ever hear anyone argue that. Plasma cutters are what they do and they do them very well.
As far as a mig machine like was said above me if you dont want to buy a good inverter get a transformer unit however if you are wanting to spend the money to get a good inverter get one of the millermatic units. I just sold my 211 and it was a excellent machine plus around here at least miller consumables are everywhere for cheap. Plus miller has a customer service team that puts everyone else to shame.

 

[drf255]

None of the big guys make a built in plasma unit for a reason.

Hypertherm used to make Miller's units. They are by far the best in the marke . Personally own a PM45 and its never missed a beat. Ive also personally witnessed it outcutting a much larger Miller 60amp unit. The guys chuckled at first when i cut 1" plate the Miller couldnt handle. They didnt laugh for long.

 

[Kyfan]

None of the big guys make a built in plasma unit for a reason.

Hypertherm used to make Miller's units. They are by far the best in the marke . Personally own a PM45 and its never missed a beat. Ive also personally witnessed it outcutting a much larger Miller 60amp unit. The guys chuckled at first when i cut 1" plate the Miller couldnt handle. They didnt laugh for long.

When it comes to welding machines I am a true blue miller guy. But no one even touches hypertherm for plasmas.

 

[Yotaismygame]

lincoln 200 square wave $1125?

 

[catbuster]

lincoln 200 square wave $1125?

I ran one to weld a roll cage and chassis at another shop. They run just fine and I liked it except for the low duty cycle, fixed post flow (way too long, IMO) and the start, which is quite snappy and aggressive could be a problem when I was starting up up a really thin edge where a tube had been notched. Going to a 1/16” tungsten could probably have helped there vs a 3/32” but I didn’t have any and forgot to bring some and the collet body and collets when I came back to finish. It’s an offshore made unit, but at least it’s backed by Lincoln Electric, which means parts and service will be easy to get.

 

[catbuster]

You tube,,,chuckE2009 welding reviews.....

Plasma reviews,

Bill, I have passed up your incessant rambling for long enough, but I’m going to call you out on this.

That guy was a corporate shill before he apparently went off the deep end. The guy was a mediocre welder at best.

That said, this is not your welding thread. Nobody here is looking to read about some engineering shop where you formerly worked and the equipment there or how you had to power your house with an engine drive when the power was out. We all have.

This guy is looking for valuable information, of which you have added none.

/endrant

 

[Yotaismygame]

As far as new goes im leaning towards the alpha 201xd or the Everlast 200dv. Both are packed with features and have a really good following. Like my plasma cutter which is about 12 years old I won't be using it all that much. Couple saw mufflers a month, maybe one larger ish project a year if my Mig cant tackle it, and I plan to get the right dyes for my jd2 tubing bender in hope to be able to make custom full wraps. which is where the aluminum comes into play.