going to the dark side welder

[muddstopper]

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.

 

[yomax4]

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.

 

[muddstopper]

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.

 

[BeezFun]

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.

 

[Big Barn]

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.

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

 

[dragoneggs]

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.

 

[Big Barn]

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.

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





Terry

 

[dragoneggs]

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

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:

 

[Big Barn]

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:

Not moisture, Mark.

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.

 

[yomax4]

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.

Nope they have AC/DC units too.;

 

[yomax4]

Not moisture, Mark. View attachment 502492

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.

Awesome Shop ! If it were mine, There would be iron and 4 or 5 1/2 finished projects and sh"t laying all over the place. Very Nice !!

 

[Big Barn]

Awesome Shop ! If it were mine, There would be iron and 4 or 5 1/2 finished projects and sh"t laying all over the place. Very Nice !!

If you overlook the floor. :=). Thanks!

 

[Big Barn]

This is for you, Bill. (OP)

 

[Sodo]

This is too funny.

Don't do it. Welding thin metal is never worth the time it takes. Just the time to let the welder cool down between duty cycles is intolerable.
:laughing::laughing::laughing: 120v is for sissies. Wait a minute - voltage at the stinger to create a stick-welding arc is maybe 40-80v then drops to 10-40V to maintain the arc.

If there is any dark side to tool-buying its goading some other poor feller into buying some pro-level tool (that he will never use) simply because you also "overbought" based on forum advice.

OK back to reality.
.
Having a TIG rules. The arc is a tiny glowing orb that melts precisely where you want it. OTOH its surprisingly hot for how much smaller it is (than the arc on a stick, or a MIG). It doesn't take a lot of power to run a TIG. It takes precise hand-control and good vision though. You have to hold the electrode steady within a few hundredths of an inch, very little leeway.

Its a whole new world when you can weld small metal items and I highly recommend it. In fact I recommend buying every tool that you actually need so scratch all that stuff I wrote above. Shops time is good time. Did I mention I just got a new shop?

 

[Shield Arc]

Open root pipe welding with Tig is where most guys start.

 

[Sodo]

I have some closed root pipe welding to do (soon).

Will post pics for u fellers!!!! Not a lotta action here lately - forums gonna go dark....

 

[muddstopper]

This is too funny.

Don't do it. Welding thin metal is never worth the time it takes. Just the time to let the welder cool down between duty cycles is intolerable.
:laughing::laughing::laughing: 120v is for sissies. Wait a minute - voltage at the stinger to create a stick-welding arc is maybe 40-80v then drops to 10-40V to maintain the arc.

If there is any dark side to tool-buying its goading some other poor feller into buying some pro-level tool (that he will never use) simply because you also "overbought" based on forum advice.

OK back to reality.
.
Having a TIG rules. The arc is a tiny glowing orb that melts precisely where you want it. OTOH its surprisingly hot for how much smaller it is (than the arc on a stick, or a MIG). It doesn't take a lot of power to run a TIG. It takes precise hand-control and good vision though. You have to hold the electrode steady within a few hundredths of an inch, very little leeway.

Its a whole new world when you can weld small metal items and I highly recommend it. In fact I recommend buying every tool that you actually need so scratch all that stuff I wrote above. Shops time is good time. Did I mention I just got a new shop?

Theres nothing I can weld with a small welder I cant weld with my big welder. I just cant carry my big welder back and forth between my shop and my basement. And it takes time to carry my parts down to the shop, set everything up to do 2 minutes worth of welding and then having to carry it back to my basement. The new dual voltage machines are much smaller/lighter than my older welder and have similar capabilities. I wont be replaceing my big welder anytime soon, and I will never replace it with a 110volt only machine. I will continue to look for a small tig machine to put in my basement, not because its a better or worse machine than what I already own, but because it would only be used for light duty, occasional use. The heavy stuff I will continue to do in the shop. Growup

 

[Shield Arc]

I have some closed root pipe welding to do (soon).

Closed root, where is the fun in that?

 

[Sodo]

Closed root, where is the fun in that?

Have to splice some square tube 2x2x3/16 against a wood wall.

But thats a different thread. Mudds working thru some tool size issues in his thread. Sorry can't help any further on that one....

 

[MinnesotaDaveChalmers]

Cheap options for aluminum are pretty tough - but for small and portable, how about the Lincoln square wave 200? About $1400 delivered.