I can do stainless and aluminum on my $300 handyMIG POS welder. are they as pretty as TIG? no. but it doesn't take me 5 hours to weld 4 inches either.

honestly I haven't used a tig since college and I liked it a lot for aluminum, but for mild steel and stainless, a good MIG is SO much easier and can get nearly the weld quality if it's set up right.

m

 

Put 220v in that sucker.

Now go ahead and bash cheap welders but my 180A chicago electric welder works really stinkin' well. They sometimes have the same welder (well damn near same) rated at 170A for $200 at times. It's a bargain, it welds decently well.

Yes, I do have a lincoln square wave tig. But most times, unless I am welding aluminum (and I want a spool gun for xmas) I pick up my mig welder. It's just plain faster and more comfortable to weld with.

Don't be afraid of some of the cheap HF/Chicago Electric stuff... some of it is not as bad as you might think. It will never be as smooth as an $1800 Miller, but for $200, it will out perform everything in it's price range.

Mark

PS - Yes, if I want pretty welds I do bust out the TIG machine everytime. TIG allows a lot of precision and control that you just don't have with a MIG.

 

On any steel you can get it to look pretty, as pretty as good tig? No, but close.

As for not having 220, I have yet to need 220, my 110 has done everything I needed.

If your actually running MIG then you should get it, but if you run fluxcore you dont need gas or 220 (only because the gas makes everything so dam cold)


PS. In storage shed (where we build SAE Baja and Formula) we found a 500amp tig welder. Its the same size as a CAT straight 6 10L diesel

 

I've seen those huge Tig welders, they auctioned one off here at Tech a while back.

 

actually check this bitch out.

 

...in a storage shed? /\ That


The garage is a building away from my house. The 110 was already there. I thought about running 220 out there but decided against it.

I like gas, so I'm contemplating a 110/220 switchable machine so if needed I can haul that bitch over to the house and run an extension cord from the 220. I've yet to attempt tig, but I like mig, you can build everything you need with it, and it's mad cheaper. You know, I even like the way it looks.

 

How is this set up?

I would love to be able to do I/C piping (I prefer aluminum for piping) just to get rid of some couplers and potential leaks and to be cooler really.

Leak-free is all I care about. I can spray or powercoat if the welds are ugly and I start caring.

 

Uhh running a 220 line and circuit is not that hard people your electric bill and wallet will thank you if you plan on doing alot of welding.

 

Actually it's pretty a far distance for my wallet to be thanking me. It's not straight down a nice clear road, it's through the desert.. Either that or it's really far to follow a clear path. It's not really a viable option.

 

Damn genarator/solar/wind/tidal/hydro power

 

:gay: I live in the middle-of-fing-nowhere

Although it's growing fast. AZ = fastest growing state