On Sat, 15 Oct 2005 22:43:22 -0400, "Zipper"
zipper777ATcomcastDOTnet wrote:
I've been trying to get in to welding for awhile now, but have not had the
funds I needed to buy what I needed. I now have enough money to start
getting in to it seriously, and I was hoping someone might be able to help
me. I'm looking to buy a decent TIG welder. I'm looking to spend somewhere
near $1,000. I don't mind going as high as $1,500 if I can't get something
decent for 1k. I posted links below to some of the units I found that I
think are decent, but I'm not really sure. I don't mind buying used, but
whatever the machine is would have to be something that I wouldn't have to
repair. I bought a little $200 TIG welder from HarborFreight, but that just
didn't seem to work for me. My skills suck obviously, but I still don't
think the welder was doing that much good.. What I would like weld would be
aluminum and steel mostly. My plan isn't to weld anything higher than 16
gauge, and most everything I would be working with would be in the 20 gauge
or higher range. If you have any advice I would appreciate it. Thank you for
your time.
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/...rowave_180_sd/
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/econotig_ac_dc/
-Stephen
Let's hope Ernie checks in on this. Note that Miller defines TIG
welding of aluminum thinner than 14 gage as "difficult" with the
Econotig. I doubt that it's much easier with a Synchrowave, but
I've never used one. I know there are those that can weld
beercans together with TIG. I'll warn you that it took me a lot of
practice to attain the skill to TIG even 20 gage aluminum with my
old Miller Dialarc 250HF -- which was around $1000 when I got it used.
Steel is much easier. I think either machine would work fine for you
with steel.
Trying to learn to weld with a Harbor Freight welder is an exercise in
futility because you never know if problems are yours or limitations
of the machine. Voice of experience. I "learned" to MIG weld with
a HF machine, accepted the fact that I was a pretty lousy weldor but
it got the job (bodywork) done. Then, when that POS finally broke,
I tried a Lincoln SP-125+. WOW! There was a world of difference.