Tig welders

[Cowcatcher]

I love the tig! I’m definitely never gonna be without one again. Yes I still use the mig a bunch but there’s definitely projects the tig is a better choice. It’s also nice to be able to sit with your work right in front of you and not worry about those hot little sparks fallin in your shirt pocket and burnin your moob or even worse. Yes I’ll always have a tig. As far as brand, I find nothing to not like about the Primeweld I bought. There’s lots of reviews praising it. Now, it ain’t American. I would like to have a Miller or Lincoln but at the time I was makin the purchase I wasn’t wantin to spend the extra for American. I’ve had a couple guys that weld (specifically tig) run my machine and they had no complaints. They were actually surprised at how well the machine ran and the features it had for the price.

 

[D. Hargrove]

Y'all saved me a bunch of research. thank you!!

 

[Cowcatcher]

I think I’ve gotten better.

Another thing nice about tig, you can weld/tack things without any filler metal. This is nice when you just want to fuse parts together and don’t want to build the surface up. For example, I wanted to put some shims inside a piece of 2-1/2” sq tubing to take the play out when inserting a piece of 2” tubing inside the 2.5”. Well, at first I drilled holes in the 2.5” and plug welded the shims in place. After further thought, I fused the shim in place on the ends. Doing this kept any filler from rolling to the inside which would then have to be cleaned up in order for the 2” to slide in.

 

[Cowcatcher]

More examples of “fusion welding”.
This project I was building a stamp holder. I built this without any filler metals.

 

[xseler]

Those certainly are some purty welds!!

 

[Gunbuffer]

I took some tig classes, and for a few years I lusted over a miller dynasty 350.

 

[TerryMiller]

WAY TO GO, @Oklahomabassin .

Your "revival" got another thread closed but gave that original post the information he was wanting.

You've actually done something good with this one...

 

[Profreedomokie]

I've got a Lincoln Mig welder I bought back in 92' . I bought the Eastwood Tig 200 about a year ago. I've welded some steel with it and it didn't look too bad. I've tried aluminum and that is a different beast completely. I've seen the pros tig aluminum in the refinery and it looks like the " stack of dimes". Even the pro will tell you not even all of them are good on aluminum. The Eastwood will stick weld and tig. No more than I weld ,I couldn't see buying one of the high dollar welders.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

WAY TO GO, @Oklahomabassin .

Your "revival" got another thread closed but gave that original post the information he was wanting.

You've actually done something good with this one...

Mama said I should just say thanks.

 

[Cowcatcher]

I've got a Lincoln Mig welder I bought back in 92' . I bought the Eastwood Tig 200 about a year ago. I've welded some steel with it and it didn't look too bad. I've tried aluminum and that is a different beast completely. I've seen the pros tig aluminum in the refinery and it looks like the " stack of dimes". Even the pro will tell you not even all of them are good on aluminum. The Eastwood will stick weld and tig. No more than I weld ,I couldn't see buying one of the high dollar welders.

In the little experience I’ve had tiggin aluminum, it’s a slower weld. That aluminum will take a bunch of heat. You gotta fire up and let it soak before you start stacking them dimes. Steel wants to get hot in one spot and try to burn through with too much heat. You need more heat with aluminum cuz it disperses the heat much quicker through the entire workpiece. That’s just what it seems like to me.