tig welders

[bill-costa rica]

I am going to be in the market soon for a tig welder. need one that will weld aluminum. I want one that won't break the bank, but still do a good job.
any ideas on make and model ? thought i would start a new topic so not to hi-jack the winch build

bill-cr

[russau]

well in CR i dont know whats ava.! but here in the USA and particularly around my kneck of the woods theres a lot of business going out of business for one reason or the other and welders are plentifull.a used but not abused welder can be bought for a reasonable price. "TIG" name for tungston inert gas welding.and theres MIG welding(metal inert gas) both can weld aluminum but the MIG uses a additional weld gun called a (cobra) or (spool gun). it has a small alum wire wheel in the gun to feed the weld.the TIG proccess is the most accurate /precise weld you can acheive.cheap welders give you what you pay for. yes they work but.........Bill, like ive been telling everyone, come on over and ill weld it up for you. you do the cutting and fitting and ill weld and buy the beer. heck, then you can float it back down the river to your place!

[bill-costa rica]

Russ
I could buy a new welder just for the cost of the air fair to get me to your place.
I have a mig now, I don't like a spool gun all that well. you just don't have the control. I will be doing some work that will take a little more precision than a spool gun will give you. I will be working with stainless and aluminum and some steel..... most brands are here in Costa Rica, but not on the second hand market.
plus we have import tax that doubles the cost of new stuff. my old mig I had in the states was a miller, was real happy with that. all the 2nd hand tigs I have seen here are cheap add ons to a stick machine...... won't weld aluminum . I think I am looking at something with a water cooled head. any ideas ?

bill-cr

[russau]

i assume your wanting todo some thick alum welding because of your interest in a water cooled TIG torch. i have both types but i only have been using the gas cooled TIG torch. it seems thats all i need .yep, freight/travel is really over the top! i lucked out on my used welder that i bought. it wasnt even dusty on the inside. and the torch appeared to be not used much. the guy i bought it from had been out of work and bought this for his home, not a business. he made his offer and i got it quick! at some going out of business auctions ive been to, ive seen all types of weldeing equipment sold. one was a older welder that had CC/CV on the controll pannel and it was setup for 480 3 phase and it was orange in color and it was really dirty! we bought it for $150. as it turned out it had a tap change board that allowed the user to change the voltage and phase to 208 single phase and nobody knew what the CC/CV ment. CC= constant current and the CV = constant voltage. one is used for TIG welding and the other is for MIG welding.a combo welder, ive never seen one of these before! we cleaned it up ,blew it out and made the changes for single phase and it ran a nice bead. we turned around and sold it for a $500. profit! theres a lot of new technology out there in these welding machines. and they are getting smaller but more expensive. before you buy anything, write down exactly what you plan to weld and the thickness of these materials.then talk to a sales/manufactor about what they have availiable to suit your needs and $$$$. watch out for buying one for more $$ with all the bells and whistels on it if your not going to use them. good luck in your search.

[poprivit2]

I have a syncrowave 2500 tig it has a water cooled torch
not for sale but as an example of what works real good.
220vac .
welds alum and ss real nice. from 1/2 thick down to 1/16'' with good control.

[getterdone]

Bill I bought a wire feed welder from Harbor Freight in Montana for $99, the Alum. spool cost around
$22 bucks. It runs on 110 volt. It works great, Benji bought one after he finshed welding school.
you might check out Harbor Freight site. The Auto diming helmet was the best buy at Harbor freight also.
Pete gave me a General's brand Insoluble COLOR-TEX 1843 Silver pencil which is great for marking
on steel & I also found that it works great for marking rocks for slabing & polishing.

[bill-costa rica]

i need to get one of those auto dim helmuts, that would just be so nice !!! i do need a heaver duty welder than a 110 unit. i will be welding for long periods of time. building a boat
my wire feed is a 110 for welding mild steel.

pop , what is the cost of your unit ? mas o menos

bill-cr

[CalGoldDredger]

Bill did you do all that welding on your 10" dredge project with a 110 wirefeed????

Lincoln Electric got some nice aluminum spool guns??? But don't know much about welding up aluminum anyhow.
Would like to learn the exotic TIG welding someday.

John

[russau]

Bill a spool gun for alum. would be a good thing and fast for welding alum boats.a TIG welder would be to slow if your makeing boats. John TIG welding is so easy. once you try it and get the hang of it... in essence its kinda like brazing with electricity. your tungston tip never touchs the metal and the high frequancey starts the proccess and the foot peddel or the finger tip controller controlls the amps of the weld and you form a alum. puddel and dab the alum feeder rod, puddel and dab,puddel and dab.... the end result looks like your stacking dimes on their side. ofcourse theres more to it than this but this is it in essence. i chose the TIG welder over the MIG for its ability to weld anything . plus i still have the ava. of the MIG over at my brothers house untill he decides he would want to sell it.then id be out!

[bill-costa rica]

john

yep, did all the welding on the dredge and trailer with a 110 wirefeed. i had a guy stick weld the spindles on the axel tube because i wanted to take no chances with penatrasion with the wire feed and didn't have a torch to pre heat the metal.

bill-cr