going to the dark side welder

   / going to the dark side welder #1  
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muddstopper

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Never thought I would ever need a small welder. I have mig, stick and tig in my shop. Now I am thinking about a small tig welder to put in my basement shop. Needs to be ac and dc to weld thin aluminum. Would like a dual voltage machine, but it has to be able to plug into 110/120. I dont plan on doing a ton of welding in my basement, but it gets old having to carry everything down to my shop just to do 2 min of welding. So I am looking for the best welder for the buck to do little jobs on thin metal.
 
   / going to the dark side welder #2  
Best bang for the $. See what Everlast has and also Thermal Arc has a nice 141i 115 AC/DC puts out nearly 160 amps. I did some bartering with a snowmobile for one and it is very nice. Has hand amptrol on a 17 torch with optional modules on the torch for thumb wheel or push button. New I think these are around $1200. Other than that Miller has that Diversion but it's not at all adjustable for the same or more money.
 
   / going to the dark side welder
  • Thread Starter
#3  
From what I have found, the ThermalArc is a mig stick tig rig dc only. It will weld aluminum with a spool gun, but not tig. Of course you could always use helium and dc tig weld. The Everlast Powertig 185(dv) looks like the smallest Everlast machine that will do ac tig welding. At $900, it is a little more than I had planned to spend, but I just started looking so I havent done many price comparisons. The Miller Diversion is almost $2000 and the Lincoln square wave is almost $1500 so it should be easy to see which way I am leaning.
 
   / going to the dark side welder #4  
Not sure how close you are to a large metro area, but around here on craigslist there's quite a few inexpensive used tig machines from AHP, Longevity and others. I saw an AHP with cart and tank for $500 a few months ago. I don't see so many Everlasts. If you go new, I think AHP is a good buy at $600, but you'd still have to get a tank and cart. The advantage of used is you usually get all the incidentals included and don't pay tax.
 
   / going to the dark side welder #5  
muddstopper said:
From what I have found, the ThermalArc is a mig stick tig rig dc only. It will weld aluminum with a spool gun, but not tig. Of course you could always use helium and dc tig weld. The Everlast Powertig 185(dv) looks like the smallest Everlast machine that will do ac tig welding. At $900, it is a little more than I had planned to spend, but I just started looking so I havent done many price comparisons. The Miller Diversion is almost $2000 and the Lincoln square wave is almost $1500 so it should be easy to see which way I am leaning.
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A used Lincoln Square Wave would be okay but isn't dual voltage. I'd stay away from the Miler Diversion. Google it. Too many limitations and way overpriced.

Terry
 
   / going to the dark side welder #6  
I'm slowly educating myself on TIG as I know at one point my MIG as nice as it is won't the best answer for some projects down the line. I don't want to be later saying, I shoulda, coulda... One question I have is the need/purpose for pulse TIG? I'm at the point in my life where I want the tool to be the first and last of that type I buy. Once I retire the $$$ won't be there for more tools I am sure.
 
   / going to the dark side welder #7  
dragoneggs said:
I'm slowly educating myself on TIG as I know at one point my MIG as nice as it is won't the best answer for some projects down the line. I don't want to be later saying, I shoulda, coulda... One question I have is the need/purpose for pulse TIG? I'm at the point in my life where I want the tool to be the first and last of that type I buy. Once I retire the $$$ won't be there for more tools I am sure.
Click to expand...

Won't matter at that point, Mark. (Here's the mini lathe my daughter planned to ship me off to the retirement home with.)

IMG_1768.JPG



Terry
 
   / going to the dark side welder #8  
Big Barn said:
Won't matter at that point, Mark. (Here's the mini lathe my daughter planned to ship me off to the retirement home with.)

View attachment 502490



Terry
Click to expand...
Funny! Is that moisture wicking through your shop floor... looks like my floor this time a year. I got back in town after two weeks on business overseas. My shop floor was quite wet. I hate that. Dad always told me not to stand in water when playing with electricity! :shocked:
 
   / going to the dark side welder #9  
dragoneggs said:
Funny! Is that moisture wicking through your shop floor... looks like my floor this time a year. I got back in town after two weeks on business overseas. My shop floor was quite wet. I hate that. Dad always told me not to stand in water when playing with electricity! :shocked:
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Not moisture, Mark. IMG_8306.JPG

My previous tenants painted the floor but obviously did a poor job of acid- wash prep. A year or so after I moved in the paint started wearing off in areas. Bugs me to no end but really can't get motivated to move stuff out to properly deal with it.
 
   / going to the dark side welder #10  
muddstopper said:
From what I have found, the ThermalArc is a mig stick tig rig dc only. It will weld aluminum with a spool gun, but not tig. Of course you could always use helium and dc tig weld. The Everlast Powertig 185(dv) looks like the smallest Everlast machine that will do ac tig welding. At $900, it is a little more than I had planned to spend, but I just started looking so I havent done many price comparisons. The Miller Diversion is almost $2000 and the Lincoln square wave is almost $1500 so it should be easy to see which way I am leaning.
Click to expand...

Nope they have AC/DC units too.;
 
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