Getting in here. I've had a 211 in the shop for years, but no TiG. I wandered by the Lincoln booth at PRI this year and ended up with a Squarewave 200 in my shop a week later. Looking forward to re-learning.

 

The squarewave was the other one I looked at besides the alpha. Everyone seems to love the alpha and the Lincoln is twice as pricey, so I'm probably going to go for the alpha as soon as my schedule permits me to do car projects again.

 

In reference to the quoted text above.

I was actually considering this as well recently. A friend loaned me a Snap-On MM140SL (yes, I know. But its a loaner to learn on) and apart from AL, this will probably do 85-90% of what I need until I really get serious into Fab work.

Is it worth dropping the cash down for a TIG at this point when a few extra pounds in intercooler piping is not a big deal (to me anyways) if not using AL?? Or is it worth it to just mock up AL piping and do the rest of fab work with the MIG??

 

With all the new starting capabilities of welders now, why would you ever run Thoriated tungsten? Lanthiated and love a healthier life.

 

.

 

TIG is much more versatile. It allows you to weld almost any material as long as you have the right filler. Stainless, aluminum, mild to stainless, inconel, cast stuff, etc.

 

Thanks for the response Art

Agreed 100%. But for the simple, not-all-of-it builds, is it worth (at least initially as I get a handle on welding) the extra investment, especially if the current MIG I have access to will do a bunch of mild and SS??

Not saying its not worth it, but is the cost really justified?? Honest question. And also not saying I won't consider it say 6 months down the line. The MIG will surely save me on custom work in the short run, including various brackets, exhaust work, custom engine mounts, etc

 

To me it was worth it. I prefer building things in my own garage and teaching myself skills. I also prefer TIG welding, more control imo. But thats really not a question for us, its whether or not its worth it to you.

 

As Aidan said, TIG is far more versatile. It's also really nice on small detail projects where MIG can be like trying to solder with a flamethrower. That said, for a lot of mild steel work, TIG is really slow and tedious. I fabbed up bumpers for my Bronco a couple of years ago, and I think I would have shot myself if I'd had to TIG them... would've taken forever. I use my MIG about 2:1 over the TIG, but for certain projects the MIG just won't work.

You need to take a hard look at what your needs are, and then choose which is going to best serve them. If you enjoy building stuff yourself, you'll probably end up with both in the long run anyway.

 

Thanks guys.

I guess I pretty much answered my question in my prior post lol. Watch this spot. I am sure 6 months down the road I am going to be looking for deals......especially now since I had my house wired up for an extra 220 when they did the heavy up just for this reason

 

I'm most likely picking up an AlphaTig 200X when bonuses come in around February or March. Where did you guys order yours from? I emailed Tiger Sales to see when they'll have more in stock, since they seem to have a really good reputation, and he tests each one before shipping out. It's $750 (unsure if shipping is included) from there with a $50 gas lens kit included. Amazon is $830 shipped for the current model, or $710 shipped if pre-ordered for 2018 model. I'm hoping I hear back from Tiger Sales, otherwise I may pre-order from Amazon rather than waiting for my bonus to come in.

I've also seen the Mr. Tig upgrade kit on tigdepot that seems interesting, https://tigdepot.net/cart-products-m...on-bundle-4490

They also offer the welder and accessory bundle for $995. I'm waiting to hear back if that includes shipping or not. Part of me wants to order from a distributor to have an extra point of contact for support, but part of me just wants to order the $710 pre-order from Amazon, then decide if I should purchase the $234 kit after assessing whether I think they would be worth it.

 

I got mine through Amazon... was ~$720 shipped for the 2015 model in early 2015, IIRC.

 

Thats grey right? I tried that, worked good too, so does the purple one. But I KNOW thoriated works for everything. I'll probably switch to something non-radioactive once I start to get low on thoriated.

 

Lanthanated is gold or blue, IIRC...

 

http://www.ckworldwide.com/Form%2011...al%20Guide.pdf

I printed this out and keep it by the weld cart. Has tungsten colors, electrode amperage, cup types, troubleshooting, torch setup, yada yada.

 

Holy hell, that shows a ball tip for AC and has notes that its for a transformer and a clipped cone for inverter. No wonder I've found I had better results with a clipped cone with my machine and that the internet and common wisdom was wrong about the ball tip.

 

We've amassed a small stockpile of tungsten sizes, mostly 2% lanthenated, and the associated consumables - and then you run across


using all 1/8th tungstens (with fine ground tips). 6061 does some beautiful aluminum work.

Also snagged https://www.harborfreight.com/multip...ner-99823.html on the wisdom from Finnegan of Roadkill fame to use as a dedicated tungsten grinder.

And I'll throw this out there - the video is a little obnoxious, but I've started using the Kane-style grip - probably because I started using TIG with MIG gloves.

 

#YOLO. Just pre-ordered the 2018 model for $710 shipped. It sounds like the 2018 model comes with an improved flex head torch, so I don't think the Mr. Tig upgrade will be worth it. Can't wait to build the V8 exhaust now!

 

How long is the preorder for? I don't want to miss out but ideally I should wait another 2-3 weeks before I buy this.

 

It's on Amazon for $680 until February 15th.