Hi all,

I've got a 180 A stick welding set, but it's AC only. I may want to weld
stainless in the future, but am unlikely to want to weld aluminium.
(Okay, I'm thinking of building a coffee roaster when I've finished the
phase convertor project, and it would be attractive to build it from
stainless). I've heard that you need DC TIG to weld stainless, is that
right? I know where I might get an add-on TIG unit for my welder, but
the guy said it was suitable for aluminium only.

So here are the questions. If I want to TIG weld stainless, must it be
DC TIG? If so, is it possible to get a small add-on unit which will
rectify the current from an AC stick welder and enable it to be used for
DC TIG? I don't have a picture of my welder, but it's pretty similar to
this one I saw on eBay recently:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...tem=7559244604

Mine is a little larger and has an in-built battery charger, and it's
built by Cytringan rather than Oxford, but the current rating is the
same. Whoever scored that set on eBay got a nice deal. I'm not eager to
replace the set as it suits my stick welding needs and offers 100% duty
cycle, plus I like it a lot. Is there any way to weld stainless without
getting a second welder?

Suggestions would be appreciated.

Chris