lower price tig welders
12-08-2012, 12:38 PM
#1
lower price tig welders I know I'll probably get scolded but I need a lower cost tig for personal use in my shop.I will be fabbing mostly thinner materials such as sheet metal and tubes for turbo setups.Would like to be able to weld mild,stainless,and aluminum.Most of the lower priced units I have looked at will not handle the aluminum.Are there any inexpensive tigs that will meet these requirements and do a reasonably good job?Plasma cutting ability would be nice also.Anyone have any units to recomend?Iknow the millers and lincolns,etc.are the best but most do'nt fit my budget.
12-08-2012, 01:03 PM
#2
Buy a used one. Let some one take the depreciation of buying a GOOD new one. If your getting a deal on a new one then quality will suffer. Find a used TRANSFORMER style TIG online or in a classified machinery listing. Pay the 1500-2000 for one that was worth 7000-8000 new and be happier with it then you ever would with a cheap inverter style.
Just my 2¢
I have a Lincoln Precision TIG with pulse and it will last me the rest of my fabricating days
Beaudacious
Just my 2¢
I have a Lincoln Precision TIG with pulse and it will last me the rest of my fabricating days
Beaudacious
12-08-2012, 02:03 PM
#3
Launching!
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i have an eastwood 200 amp tig and it does just fine for me.....it was $750 on sale
i got flamed for buying it but for the small exhaust and fab work i do on my cars its fine..everyone will tell you to spend big money but in all honesty, buy what you can afford and do your research. hell, some folks have good results with the ebay and harbor freight units too..
i got flamed for buying it but for the small exhaust and fab work i do on my cars its fine..everyone will tell you to spend big money but in all honesty, buy what you can afford and do your research. hell, some folks have good results with the ebay and harbor freight units too..
12-12-2012, 01:37 PM
#6
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I love my Longevity TIG welder. That company has the best costumer service ever. If you are serious about getting one, PM me and I might be able to get you a discount
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12-13-2012, 10:04 PM
#10
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A dedicated TIG is the best way to go, but I have used stick welders with a high freq and they work pretty good. You need the AC/DC for steel and aluminum. The high freq unit allows the torch to strike an arc from a distance to the metal and is adjustable. You can get fancy and add foot pedals and liquid cooling down the road f you want. I am pretty sure you can run a TIG torch straight off of a stick welder but you have to strike the tungsten on the metal just like a stick rod. This dulls the point and eats the tungsten and tungstens are expensive.
Just a tip: make sure everything is CLEAN when you TIG, have a dedicated grinder to sharpen your tungsten. If anything is on the grinder rock it can contaminate the tungsten and ruin welds. I have ruined a lot of welds because a jackass was cleaning up some galvanized sheet metal with a grinder used for sharpening tungsten rods. My tungsten got contaminated when I sharpened it after he ground the galvanized sheet metal. It took me awhile to figure out why my welds were bad.
Just a tip: make sure everything is CLEAN when you TIG, have a dedicated grinder to sharpen your tungsten. If anything is on the grinder rock it can contaminate the tungsten and ruin welds. I have ruined a lot of welds because a jackass was cleaning up some galvanized sheet metal with a grinder used for sharpening tungsten rods. My tungsten got contaminated when I sharpened it after he ground the galvanized sheet metal. It took me awhile to figure out why my welds were bad.
but once I get some good saved money I will invest in a welder to start fabricating my own stuff
12-14-2012, 07:17 PM
#12
Staging Lane
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Tig welding is fun, I haven't TIGed anything in a few years and I am going to have to brush up for my car build. I learned to TIG on a high freq and eventually worked up to a awesome (if old) TIG machine with foot pedals and water cooled torch. That thing could have welded the Titianic together. The pedal was hard at first but then I couldn't believe I ever went without.
12-18-2012, 10:17 AM
#16
I found a nice miller 180sd with everything but a foot pedal for $900 mabye $800.What about that?I realize the limitations to the 180amps but I think it would do for turbo fabbing and it is a miller.I also think the eastwood 200 would be a viable alternitive for this from what Ive seen.
haha couldnt help it
12-18-2012, 07:13 PM
#18
I found a nice miller 180sd with everything but a foot pedal for $900 mabye $800.What about that?I realize the limitations to the 180amps but I think it would do for turbo fabbing and it is a miller.I also think the eastwood 200 would be a viable alternitive for this from what Ive seen.
12-18-2012, 07:44 PM
#19
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I found a nice miller 180sd with everything but a foot pedal for $900 mabye $800.What about that?I realize the limitations to the 180amps but I think it would do for turbo fabbing and it is a miller.I also think the eastwood 200 would be a viable alternitive for this from what Ive seen.