Learning to weld

[cjsupra90]

JJ, the part about the bench top blast cab, that is exactly what we did about 3 months ago specifically for welding some small Ti parts. It works great.

We are getting ready build a large walk in ARG. chamber for a job that is comming up (some kind of frame work made from Ti).

 

[Enraged]

can I get some reccomendations for a TIG? planning to weld aluminum (mostly thinner stuff, tubing, etc max 1/4" rarely) and chromoly tubing, along with stainless and carbon steel. the shop is wired for 240, and I'm looking for something sub-$2000 to start. I was looking at the miller syncrowave 200 and the lincoln precision tg 185. any suggestions?

 

[jetjock]

Those are both fine machines and will do the job. Since I'm partial to Thermal Arc inverters I'd go with the recently discontinued 185TSW if you can find one. When it came out a few years ago it was easily the best bang for the buck among inverters. In addition to the normal stuff (wave balance, HF and lift start, ect) it has pusling, sloping, variable frequency and other goodies. It's square wave too. Weighs all of 20 pounds and iirc can run derated on 110 volts too. Around $1600.

If not look at it's repacement, the ArcMaster 185. About $1900. You might also look at the Invertig 201 and the ESAB 16. The problem with all these inverters is they're not cheap because you want AC. DC only inverters are half the price. All that aside if the advantages of an inverter aren't wanted I'd go with the Miller.

 

[Enraged]

thanks for the suggestions. if I was only doing steels, I could save some money, but after paying a welder to do my IC piping and intake manifold, being able to weld aluminum would make up the difference in price on my next project alone.

my only problem with inverters is the cost for repair, versus a transformer-based welder.

 

[Enraged]

jetjock, this is the one you are talking about? http://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/servlet/the-1633/THERMAL-ARC--TIG/Detail

This is definetly within my price range, and I have heard many good things about Indiana Oxygen Co.