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Tig welder recommendation

thessler

Plastic
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Location
New York
Hi
I am looking to get into doing my own tig welding. I have stick, mig and torches, I am not new to welding but have never done tig. I want to buy a small machine only to work on guns nothing else. I was wondering if I can get some advice on what to look for, there seems to be a lot of different options and I'm just starting my education on this.
Thanks for any advice, Tom
 
The question is going to be if you want an AC capable machine. Without AC you can't really run aluminum.

Do you want a small as in cheap or a small as in footprint machine? I'm assuming you have 220 or you wouldn't be running a stick and mig setup, but if you only have 110 that's going to be a factor as well. The best deal right now I think is the Diversion 180, which will run 110/220 and AC/DC. It's also fairly small. It's not a fancy machine, and you don't have a lot of arc sculpting capability but it's a good little workhorse for around 1k. The Syncrowave 210 and the Dynasty 200 both can run off 110 and are both AC/DC machines at $2600 and $4000 respectively. I like Miller, Lincoln is good too.

I don't know how much arc shaping you'll need just working on guns, you aren't really welding on thin material so maybe that's where you save. Get a water cooled torch as soon as you can, it changes the game.
 
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For working on firearms, you will need good control at low amperages. I first had a Miller Econotig (which appears to no longer be available) and it fit the bill for most of what I did but it has a high minimum current. After selling my first house, I bought myself a Miller Dynasty 200 and unless I need higher power, that is going to be my last welding machine purchase. They list around $3.9-4.2K but considering the value of the dollar these days, they are worth it. Minimum welding current is 1 amp. The minimum for the Diversion series is 10 amps which is much less than my old Econotig but a little more than I would like. They list at $1.7-2K.
 
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Thanks
I will look into those machines.
When I said small, I meant to be able to weld small parts thin metal, low heat, small welds.
I have 220v no problem 4,000 is way out of my range. I am looking to just weld steel, really don't do much with aluminum or stainless.
Tom
 
The question is going to be if you want an AC capable machine. Without AC you can't really run aluminum or SS.

Do you want a small as in cheap or a small as in footprint machine? I'm assuming you have 220 or you wouldn't be running a stick and mig setup, but if you only have 110 that's going to be a factor as well. The best deal right now I think is the Diversion 180, which will run 110/220 and AC/DC. It's also fairly small. It's not a fancy machine, and you don't have a lot of arc sculpting capability but it's a good little workhorse for around 1k. The Syncrowave 210 and the Dynasty 200 both can run off 110 and are both AC/DC machines at $2600 and $4000 respectively. I like Miller, Lincoln is good too.

I don't know how much arc shaping you'll need just working on guns, you aren't really welding on thin material so maybe that's where you save. Get a water cooled torch as soon as you can, it changes the game.

please edit your wrong 2nd sentence . thanks from all real welders
 
Hi
I am looking to get into doing my own tig welding. I have stick, mig and torches, I am not new to welding but have never done tig. I want to buy a small machine only to work on guns nothing else. I was wondering if I can get some advice on what to look for, there seems to be a lot of different options and I'm just starting my education on this.
Thanks for any advice, Tom

If you don't need AC for aluminum, start looking at what features you would find useful. Min amperage, foot pedal, etc.

The Transformer machines run higher amp draws on the old power meter, but will cost you less to buy. The irony of the bigger transformer machines, is that they do small work better than the smaller machines.

The newer gen inverter TIG units are starting to surface in the used market, I was looking at a miller 85A unit online this AM for $300 for a basic unit. Don't think a foot pedal was an option there though, either.
Kinda lusting after a TIG welder, but would rather not beta test for the Chinese manufacturers either (Longevity, Everlast), though there are a lot of them out there in the hands of guys that are seemingly happy with them.

Eventually I'll find a nice balance between what I want and can afford, then I'll jump on it, but in the meantime, about the best I can suggest is to do some reading and educate yourself well enough to be able to tell at least, if the info you are given is good or not. Y'know, like needing AC to weld Stainless. :)
 
I have a dynasty 300 for the shop and a maxstar 150 at home and for portable use and love them both. Go with the high frec. start option on the 150 things will be much easier without having to lift arc. And for goodness sake get a foot pedal!!
 
I have a Lincoln Squarewave 175, it's been excellent for smaller work, does great on aluminum too. It doesn't have any exotica, no waveform adjustments or any of that, so far I haven't needed any.
 
There are both air cooled and water cooled torches. The water cooled is nice in that allows for a more compact torch, and a smaller conductor in the cable. I too have a Miller Dynasty. Being an inverter design, the square wave switching frequency can be adjusted. A higher frequency allows for a narrower more concentrated arc when in AC mode. Like you said, your main interest is steel and SS so this may not be important to you.

Man cannot have too many welders.....

Bill
 
You could have the sales guy earn their money...take a test drive of a few.

When we were looking for a MIG we knew little...

Costco had one that a friend loved but who gets a welder from costco?

Harbor freight was not even considered as we were only going to buy once.

After months of stupid questiins we narrowed to to one by miller and one by lincoln.

Sent same email to both manfacturers with questions about both as sales guys give sales guy responses.

Lincoln suggested we buy the miller...been a great unit.

That was before pm...

But still if buying from a dealer take what you learn here and make the sales guy earn the sale so you are sure of what you are getting.
 
I use a Thermal Arc 185. Have never had a need for anything more than it will cover as far as TIG is concerned.

My understanding is that Thermal Arc was started by a couple ex-Miller engineers who thought they could build a better TIG for less money if they were unleashed. My experience with my Thermal Arc 185 has been that for the price there was nothing else on the market at the time that came close to what the 185. I had never been disappointed my purchases.
 
I use a Lincoln Squarewave 175..

It goes down to 6 Amps.. Have optional pulse unit ...

Nothing fancy, welded up a Hakim magazine with a split corner, after a cartridge case blowout.. Not quite like welding 2 razor blades together, but close.. Welding heat blended weld color in to bluing.. Almost invisible repair..

Air cooled torch is a bit bulky, might convert to water cooled, one of these days..

Works great on SS, and fine on the little Alu I have done..

Using the Brownells Nickel steel rod, have done some welds that were invisible, even after bluing...

I do prefer not having to push a bunch of buttons, or go through a menu to weld...
 
View some of the reviews on youtube on the inverter type. IIRC: Weldingtipsandtricks has some but it has been a while.

I bought a slightly used Dynasty 200 on the advice of a very good welder I know. Great machine! It welds far better than I do. It is worth every penny.
 
I suppose I should add that I bought my machine about 10 years ago and it is the DX (deluxe) model with the various wave form controls and such, but I never use them. The SD model is probably all one needs unless doing a really wide variety of work and with the experience to know what adjustments the odd ball metals/situations need.
 
Hi
I am looking to get into doing my own tig welding. I have stick, mig and torches, I am not new to welding but have never done tig. I want to buy a small machine only to work on guns nothing else. I was wondering if I can get some advice on what to look for, there seems to be a lot of different options and I'm just starting my education on this.
Thanks for any advice, Tom

I've used a bunch of machines. I'm a gunsmith as well. The features I consider the most important on a TIG rig for gunsmithing are:

- HF start. Lift start and scratch start might be OK on pipe or other TIG jobs, but they're not acceptable (IMO) on gun welding.
- steady arc at low currents - being able to adjust the arc down as low as a 1 to 4 amps is something you will find useful.
- Adjustable pre-flow/post-flow on the argon.
- A good welder should allow you to weld two razor blades together, edge to edge. If you can't control the arc down to the point where you can weld two razor blades together without blowing through the blades, you'll find yourself making a mess of some smaller gun parts. Last time I did this to demo my machine to someone, I had it down to 4 amps.
- pulse control. This is optional IMO on plain or alloy steel. On smaller stainless pieces, pulse control is very useful. It is useful on aluminum as well, but you if you work on only guns, you probably won't be welding aluminum.
- as others indicated, a water cooled torch is very, very useful. There's nothing more annoying than having to stop because the torch gets too hot to handle.
.

I've used the following TIG rigs:

- a Thermal Arc 185, and if I were looking at a TIG-only machine, I'd give the TA machines a look. The 185 seemed weak when I used it for stick welding.
- Lincoln's Invertec 160 (a solid enough little DC machine, but with a limited duty cycle). Never tried to use it for anything but TIG. It was great on plain and alloy steel and only OK on stainless.
- Lincoln's Precision TIG 225 (a very solid and capable machine), good as a stick source. It has basic pulse control and AC balance.
- Lincoln's Precision TIG 275, which is a hulking beast of a machine, adjustable down to 4 amps, as I recall. It had the balls to weld some seriously deep/thick material. Never used it for stick, but I see no reason why it wouldn't do well as a stick machine.
- Miller Syncrowave 200's and 250's. These are very solid machines, but pretty large. These are a very solid value in the used market.

Want to compare a bunch of machines at your leisure for a few hundred bucks? Take a TIG welding class at a local community college. When I wanted to learn to weld well and kick the tires on a bunch of machines, that's what I did. I got to try more welding rigs than you're ever likely to be able to do at any dealer's shop. The local college has machines from Miller, Lincoln, ESAB, Thermal Arc, and has power sources for stick, MIG, TIG, submerged arc, dual shield, air arcing, etc. They had one Dynasty 200 when I took the TIG class, it was brand new to the school back then, and the complexity of the machine put off most of the kids. Being a retired engineer, I had no problems with the Dynasty's complexity, and after I invested the time to learn the what pulse shaping can do for a TIG machine, I came to really like the Dynasty more than all the other machines, especially on thin stainless. When you're welding stainless, it is possible to heat the material surrounding the welding bead to a point where the chromium comes out of solution. This appears as a black, grainy area where the stainless got too hot on the back side of the weld or in the area surrounding the bead. It is called "sugaring" because it looks about like what sugar looks like when you burn it. Once you sugar stainless, it's done and ruined.

Pulse control helps prevent this type of problem in stainless.

I ended up buying a Dynasty 200 with a liquid cooled torch.

Other things you'll need for TIG:
- a way to sharpen your electrodes. A green wheel on a grinder works well. Use it for nothing other than sharpening tungstens.
- ways to clean the parts to be welded to be very clean. In TIG welding, cleanliness is success. Don't try to weld through any kind of oil film at all.
- Some way to steady your hands. Holding a long arc means putting lots of heat where you don't need it. I use various rests made of wood on which I rest my wrists. Sometimes, I'm trying to hold an arc length of 1/32nd or less.
 
I'm interested in a TIG setup for exactly the same use at the OP. What are the opinions on a EVERLAST PowerARC 160STH High Frequency Start TIG / Stick IGBT Welder 110v/220v? Thought I'd post my query here if it helps the OP out too.
 








 
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