Tig machines...

need a new on, anyone have any suggestions? was thinking Miller syncrowave, any oppinions?...

I just took a class at the local college and they had miller syncrowaves for the students to use , very nice machines , they far exceeded my ability to use it , if you can afford one they are the best.

it's a bit pricey, but it is a niiice machine...
a plasma cutter to go with would be nice, annd a twin post lift...

if your gonna do it , do it right !!

Cyberweld!

Dawg,
Don turned me on to http://www.cyberweld.com. I didn't buy my new mig from them but went to a couple of local Miller resellers & told them I could buy the machine I want for less @ Cyberweld & they matched their price... I took it home that day! Give it a try... it works for all kind of stuff & got Fry's to knock of $450 on a TV I bought.

BoB

thank's for the tip dude!...

I have a big Miller 300 synchro, it will probly be the last tig I ever buy. As long as you have the room, they are EXCELLENT machines. I bought mine for $1200, with a used cooler, and it needed about $500 in parts/labor also included a little starter pack that my welding guy put together for me The highfreequency wouldnt work, and I wanted to weld alum. If you keep an eye out you can find em, they go for big cash on ebay, like this one.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Miller-Syncrowa...ageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p1638.m118

I would stay away from the little tig boxes, unless all you want to do is light duty stuff, and sheetmetal.

Last Xmas I bought my Son Dan a Sycrowave 200 and he has used it only a few times so far, but only because he feels so comfortable with his Miller 210 mig that he hasn't taken the time to play with it yet. But there is no question it is a super machine, as is everything made by Miller. He has used it to tig some suspension stuff for Don and me, and it worked great on those.

Dan's mig has literally welded miles of welds with zero problems which is why we went the Miller route again. Even a so so welder like me can get good penetration and fairly good looking beads.

Glad to see your local guy matched the price for you.........some will and some hold fast and won't bend.

Don

Wow.... lots of Miller fans around here



Well, i'm a Lincoln fan myself. The Lincoln i use in daily operations is almost older than i am... it was one of the first Lincolns to have the 'squarewave' technology installed in it.

Its old, but man, it works like no other. I've used brand new Lincolns, and Millers, and i still really like my old Lincoln. I also have a newer Lincoln Tig that i keep here as backup (i actually bought it first, but wanted a bigger machine, so i then bought the old one), and it welds phenominally as well.

<shrug> Its really personal preference... your best bet is to go to a trade show, or car show where they will both be displaying their wares, and give both welders a shot and see which one you like. Be sure to weld with both at face-value and similar settings... just cause one feels like it welds better doesn't mean it is, it could just be on different settings... so make sur the settings are the same.


Lincoln #1.... imo

i used to be all about the good old transformer machines. tuff to beat. its what i learned on. at work one day they sent me out a thermal arc inverter tig, i quickly sold my old miller 330ab and bought a lincoln inertec. if you can scrape up the extra funds, the inverters are sweet. i was also tired of that big monster in my little garage.

1931s/x said:

i used to be all about the good old transformer machines. tuff to beat. its what i learned on. at work one day they sent me out a thermal arc inverter tig, i quickly sold my old miller 330ab and bought a lincoln inertec. if you can scrape up the extra funds, the inverters are sweet. i was also tired of that big monster in my little garage.

Click to expand...

I totaly agree, I used one when I was in school. But (like most guys on here) for the hobbiest who will make minamal money with it, the old machines are the best. I have barley made my money back on it, in the 2 years I have owned it, but my mig on the other hand...

I have a Lincoln and think it is one of the best things I have ever bought.
About the only thing I wish it had is a water cooled torch.
When welding aluminum, the torch gets a little hot but other than that it works great.

I've used all sorts of equipment.......some good - some not so.......

When it came time for me to purchase my own rig(s) I made the following decisions:
MIG - Miller 175 wire feed
TIG - Lincoln Precision TIG275
Plasma Cutting - Lincoln Pro-Cut25

Why??

I've used Miller's wire feeders since I was a young man (that's a while ago) and ALWAYS had the best of reliability with it...I had owned a Millermatic200 before they made the "classic: to replace it.

TIG machine decision was based on the fact that I do TONS of aluminum work & I, MYSELF, found that the Lincoln machine actually worked better for me.

Plasma was just a deal.....I've used both Miller & Lincoln with success.

Buy the biggest, baddest machine you can afford......it will be the only time you purchase it....Good Luck

R46

I love Miller Syncrowaves!!!!!!!! I've got a Syncrowave 180 myself. My first TIG machine was a Miller Maxstar 90. It was nice because it was very portable, and I made tons of money with it! But it's great to be able to do aluminum with the new machine. Really opened up alot more possibilities with my home projects.

I think as long as someone sticks with Miller or Lincoln they will be fine regardless of the model. I also understand Hobart has come a long way. Our first Mig was a Hobart 135 and it worked fine, but the 110 volt was the limiting factor and we wanted to build frames, so we stepped up to the Miller 210 which we love A LOT!

Dan still hasn't played much with his Sycrowave 200 Tig as he only gets a limited amount of time each week to work on his hot rod and uses that time to Mig stuff rather than learn to use the Tig.

As for Lincoln, I just sold my currently unused Lincoln 220 arc welder on Ebay. Guy paid $ 100 for it and we both got a good deal. That thing was bulletproof and I built most of my '27 and my Jeep truck with it.

Don

Well, I can't stand it anymore, I'm going down to order my new Miller today! My local dealer said he would beat any online price. I'll post a few pics when it gets here. Now, off to spend some moolah!...

I picked up barely used 175 squarewave linclon a few years back, when a guys put an add in the local paper. He bought it and tried to learn on it.
He could never "get it" so he put it up for sale. I got a great deal on it since he sold it for less than he paid for it a few years earlier, and the price had been going up on the machines since he bought it.

i only have it because i got a great deal but probably more than you want to spend an awsome tig machine is the miller dynasty 700 got the whole tig runner setup for 8500 with a huge tank of argon but i got it from some one who used it once just to test it then had money problems and it was first to go but if you are looking for a killer tig machine this is it

We use a unit like this one.Water cooled system and works just like any new one.Its a little big for a small shop.But it will do Arc welding,Tig Aluminum and steel.It gets used everyday and runs like a champ.The one we have is even older than this one.It was made in 1987.

This is a rippen deal for someone that wants a real good machine for little money.

Its not mine,But I wish I hade the funds for it.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tls/801798377.html

Nice older unit,,Thats a cheap price for sure,, couple red flags I see popped up on that one,, 1. too cheap 2. looks like they wiped off an equipment ID# on the front 3. no power cord ( like they ripped it off the machine when it was stolen)
I'd be weary that it might be a stolen unit for sale.. Ask allot of questions and get some kinda paper work on it.