choosing a welder

[moltenmetalmadman]

I want to but a welder and know I want a TIG setup. It will be used primarily for learning to weld tubular steel motorcycle frames. I have a little experience with oxyacetylene welding. I hope I spelled that right. Anyway I want to learn on a machine that is forgiving and rugged as well as one that will grow with my learning curve. Oh yeah did I mention I don't have much money to spend. Maybe 900 to 1200 dollars. Let me know what ya think.

[Franz]

You might want to check the for sale boards, both here and on the AWS site.
Unfortunately, you're a few thousand miles away from the one setup that was just listed here.

[arcdawg]

the precision tig 185 is a really nice easy to use tig machine, its around 1600.00 though, a little out of your range. but it will do every thing that you need it to and its a ac/ dc machine so you can do aluminum and it has a built in pulser which is areally nice option for your skill level and for what you plan on doing. check out lincolns site, if thats not an option check out ebay,

good luck,

brian

[joshcrews]

I got my Precision Tig 185 from www.weldingsupply.com (I am not affiliated) They have it right now for 1538.74 with the cart and all accessories. That beats the other prices I have seen by about 150 dollars. Great machine!

[fla jim]

You might want to look at a Miller Maxstar 150 stl inverter. It's DC only, but you said that you wanted to do motorcycle frames. If you don't want to do aluminum look at this, it's in your price range including a bottle of gas.
http://www.brwelder.com/indextemplate.cfm?file=shop/detail.cfm&ID=675&SubCategory=3
Here's B&R's price. You should check with your local dealer, as they can sometimes match internet prices, and its nice to have someone to talk to about problems.

[Franz]

Jim, I wouldn't recommend a DC only machine for a guy playing with bikes, it's just a matter of time till he will want to do aluminum in that field of intrest.