Thread: Tig welders

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Time to tape the knowledge base here at CHR. I am about completed with all the chassis work on the car and am ready to move onto the body work next. I presently have a Mig welder and a Plasma cutter, what advantage would a Tig welder give me on sheetmetal work?? Pros and cons?

Dean

Dean - A TIG welder will give you a more workable joint than a MIG weld which leaves a much harder joint thus, the TIG weld is easier to hammer & dollie.

The disadvantages are:
1. requires more skill (much more)
2. the welding process gives more distortion
3.Its a very time consuming process
4.TIG equipment is costly(my Miller w/a water cooler & water cooled torch was over $4,000)

I prefer the MIG welder for body work & the TIG for critical areas like steering/brake...etc which, I then have magnafluxed.
If you are thinking about buying a TIG, I'd enroll in a TIG welding class first. It takes a long time to learn the process compared to the point & shoot MIG........Don

weeg,

You didnt mention if you can gas weld, if you can do that, Tig isnt that much different, its just that you have to learn to manipulate the peddle for the arc.
I use a thumb controller on my tig and works great for when you have to get into tight areas.
I use it to weld sheet metal but you have to learn to go in small
increments , just like when you use Mig.
I also use silicon bronze rod , as it melts at a lower temp, therefore eliminating some warp.

I bought my Tig unit used for 800.00 bucks from my local welding store. It my be old but works like a dream. I bought a book that tought me where to set the machine for Steel & aluminum, and tought myself.

I also have a Mig welder too but i find i like my Tig alot better.

SprayTech

weeg I do this for a living , tig is not that hard to learn and you can get some pretty neat machines for under a grand second hand.my favourite is a little inverter welder that weighs around 15lbs,good for site work tig or stick up to 150 amps .Tig produces a smoother finish with less time needed for weld cleanup but is a much slower process,much the same as oxy/acetylene welding with less heat distortion around the weld area,very good for alterations to high stress parts.although if you are looking more
more to general welding such as chassis or panel work a mig is hard to beat get one with a pulse setting and you can spot weld with it ,just dandy when working with sheet metal,hardly any distortion at all

I am just about to invest in a welder. thanks for the info. i have mig welded but not tig welded. my best friends father welds for a living and has promised to teach me. i will still consider both but i am leaning towards tig. anything else i should know? also sinc i can pick up a used mig for cheap should i invest in both or will i find myself tig welding way more often. i will be welding a little bit of everything!!
thanks alot

I tried tig welding for my first time today. It was on aluminum and that made things difficult, but I did manage to lay a good bead, as well as shock myself quite badly. The machine was a Miller Synchrowave 250, which can do everything. DC, AC (square wave and sine wave), MIG, TIG, ARC, etc... It's got so many dials and buttons, though. I don't think I could ever figure out what they all do. Anyways, it's pretty fancy and would be the only welder you'd ever need. I don't know what it costs and I don't think I'll want to know.

It's an all in one unit, Streets.

You know, I once had a teacher that said, "Literal thinking is a sign of mental retardation." Of course, her comment wasn't adressed at myself.

Miller welders are Good!!! I have the synchrowave 250 and its a superlative piece of equipment , however it cannot tig weld aluminum I should know as I purchased it to mig weld aluminum
and tig stainless /mild steel /general stick welding/.If you have the bent to mig weld the aluminum /magnesium alloys you will need a more specialised welding machine,ie something that
can break through the surface oxides and yes they are still there no matter how well you clean the weld area.so we go to
high frequency overlays on the base welding current,this AC addition to the base welding current allows the formation of a controllable weld pool and as fellows before me have said is very similar to oxy/ acetylene welding , its the only way to go for the aluminum alloys great for piping and small assemblys where the finished look is crucial .One drawback is ,like oxy welding there is a huge heat
build up on either side of the weld which tends to major distortion in welding panels.for most purposes a mig welder with a time adjustment for the weld period would suit you just fine
as you could also use it as a spot welder to stitch panels into place with minimal surface distortion ,The syncrowave 250 will set you back somewhere between 3500-4700 depending on the add ons you want .If all you need is a good welder for your home projects I suggest you go with the 150 amp version and
save acouple of thousand *last jan I bought a new tig welder
(miller) for one project ($1600) and since then have used it
exclusively for stick welding (a basic AC/DC welder with a foot
control to regulate the overlay A/C frequency in tig mode)
I could have done better buying smaller tips for the mig and a couple of boxes of smaller wire,would have saved me some 1200
green ones

I just found this forum and will respond to this Tig question in a while. First all check all your gases that you can yeS with mig
NOT JUST 75-25 BUT 98% ARGON AND 2% OXY. BETTER WETTING AND less splatter. tHERE ARE SEVERAL MORE OUT THERE were talknig about plain carbon steel mig.

Tig can be used in areas that mig is possible but not recomended.
The tacking of parts and items plays a large role in the clearance and quality that you are looking for.

Both processes compliment each other. You can pick up a DC TIG OR A AC/DC TIG UNIT FOR UNDER $1,500.OO It all depende on the quality that you want. What are you mainly going to weld. How clean does it need to be. A pulse unit is nice but not always needed! You can also get this feature on a mig maching for aluminum or standard steel.

I weld for a living on all different types of metals every day. I use bot MILLER AND LINCOLN. Each has there advantages and dis advantages.

I do not know how to place pics or down size a picture until then. I can only talk about it and not show you the difference.
I would take a course in tig welding. See what the school has to offer. TRY the different machines that they have. See the differences between them. Talk to the instructor see if he or she can lead you in a direction for purchase.

If you live in the San Francisco bay area call me. Hang out for a day. I could show you some real wild welding from aluminum to titanium done in the field which would blow your mind.

I would hate for you to buy a maching and need more power but the machine you bought doesn't have it.

This is my first post on this forum I should of started out and said hi first of all. I got carried away. sorry

ROBERT I will just spin away for now