How many TIG?

[Neverdone]

Just curious how many guys on here TIG weld??? Do you have your own TIG or just access to one? Thinking of getting one just curious what I should look for if I wanted to buy one.

 

[Bonehead]

I have my own machine, and have for years. I only do aluminum with mine, because the mig is so much faster for mild steel.

 

[RPM]

We have one in the shop. Have had it about 20 years, we only use it for aluminum now. We used to build dragster chassis from moly and it all had to be tigged. We use a mig now for just about everything.

 

[Dirtyrat]

I have access to one at work, I use it for both aluminum and steel, mainly because we have a welding table and I can clamp to it to keep things straight/square when I'm doing work that is critical.

Mainly the mig is the tool of choice in the garage however... unless you have a thumb wheel on the torch, using it in the garage on a car project can be a chore...

 

[Old Iron]

I've got my own, have had for years. Miller 180 SD
I'd recommend a Miller DX 200 if ya have the loose change laying around for one.

 

[cornfield customs]

i currently have a miller, and i use it weekly, sometimes for delicate sheet metal, aluminum, or just some good looking brackets

 

[Dr Crankenstein]

I have an "old" Lincoln. (Square Wave 185)

Shopping made simple: Red or Blue. [

.

 

[gold03]

I have a miller 185. I needed to be able to weld aluminium and steel.

Gold03

 

[hoitink]

I now have a Lincoln Precision TIG 225 had a Diversion 165 but wasn't powerful enough for what I wanted to do with it.
yeah for the most part Mig is much faster but I try to tig everything I can.

 

[tattoodfreak]

I have a milller 185, I got it to do bike frames, tanks and aluminium. You really need a water cooled torch if you plan on doing much aluminium-they get hot in a hurry. To be honest it mostly just sits, the mig is so much faster.

 

[Thigh19]

I have a question for all you TIG Guru's. Way back when, people TIG welded with a stick welder. How hard is this and what does it take? I operate out of my 2 car garage. I have a MIG, Plasma, Arc, and Gas so space is a concern and I'm just a hobbyist.

 

[donsrods]

My Son Dan is the welder in our family and for the past 10 years everything he has done has been via mig. For Christmas about 5 or 6 years ago I bought him a Miller Syncrowave 200 and it sat collecting dust. He was just so comfortable with the mig that he didn't have the time to spend to learn to use the tig, and he wanted to be good at it before he started welding structural stuff on our cars.

Finally, about 6 months ago he started playing with the tig and has gotten pretty good with it, and I have to admit it is a nicer method of welding. The welds are smaller, require less (or no) cleanup, and they are super strong. He partially migged and partially tigged the roll cage in his Brother's Capri and the tigged welds really are much more attractive. It is a much quieter process too, no frying bacon sound, like migging.

But every car we are driving right now has been migged and we are happy with all of those welds too.

Don

 

[CORPO]

All i have is a TIG, it is a much slower process, but I prefer it, Like don said its quiet.. and I find it almost relaxing. You can watch the base metal melt as you push the filler rod, so you know it is not just a superficial weld. I have seen quite a few mig welds that were done by people who are skilled welders but when you section the weld, the penetration is not very good.

There were many times during my build I would have loved to have a MIG, it would have made life much easier, especially when attempting to tack something in upside down.

One thing to note about my set up, is I have a thumb wheel on the torch which makes welding in awkward positions easier, although I can make "prettier" welds with a foot pedal.

 

[donsrods]

The only thing I don't like about the tigging is that it killed our shop stereo. Right when Dan started using the tig the stero died and we couldn't figure out what happened. Then I started seeing threads on forums about tig welders putting out some frequencies that hurt radios and sometimes phones. Now we turn the stereo off before we use it. It also makes our shop lights flicker when he starts the weld.

Don

 

[sgtpontiac]

Wasn't the Tig Don......

The only thing I don't like about the tigging is that it killed our shop stereo. Right when Dan started using the tig the stero died and we couldn't figure out what happened. Then I started seeing threads on forums about tig welders putting out some frequencies that hurt radios and sometimes phones. Now we turn the stereo off before we use it. It also makes our shop lights flicker when he starts the weld.

Don

Was the music..... The lights flickering....optical DELUSION....

 

[Neverdone]

So it sounds like a lot of guys here TIG. I really want to learn and maybe get a small TIG, just don't know if I want to spend the loot for something that is going to sit a lot....

 

[Old Iron]

You'd be surprised at how much work you'll get when everyone finds out you have a tig.
I'd look for a used one, the square wave machines can be bout worth the money since the inverter tig came out.

 

[hoitink]

I have a question for all you TIG Guru's. Way back when, people TIG welded with a stick welder. How hard is this and what does it take? I operate out of my 2 car garage. I have a MIG, Plasma, Arc, and Gas so space is a concern and I'm just a hobbyist.

You can provided it's a DC welder then you can do a scratch start. All you'll need is a torch like this style.
http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8236812/

 

[Old Iron]

You can't weld aluminum with it though.
I must have misunderstood, I thought we were really talking about aluminum welding.

 

[coupedude]

tig question

I have a mig at home but uuse the tig unit we have at our plant there our much nicer