Ok fellas....

[ski_dwn_it]

I just bought a miller 210 unit for my car project I am working on and LOVE welding! Always wanted to learn how to do it and am getting the hang of it pretty well.

Some other project have come up that I KNOW I can market and want to possibly get a TIG machine. Most of the stuff I will be doing will be automotive related and be with tubing and other related materials. Also possibly aluminum manifolds.......

What unit would be best for me to get that will not break the bank......I have been reading a ton and they all seem to be good machines....what is it if you were looking to do this sorta work would you choose.

Chromoly will most likely be one of the main materials being utilized as well in these projects....

Really loving this welding....always have been facinated with the entire process.

Thanks fellas I appreciate the help and awesome feedback here on this site! Its TOP NOTCH

[MAC702]

Originally Posted by ski_dwn_it

...What unit would be best for me to get that will not break the bank...

This question is impossible without knowing the bank.

[DirtyLittleSecret]

Is it gonna be in the shop or do you need portability?
How thick of material (Steel AND Alum)?
If you want to do Aluminum you will need an AC/DC machine.
Lots of good AC/DC shop sized machines available used (ie: Miller Synchrowave 200/250's).
Too many options!

[ski_dwn_it]

Thanks guys...I want to keep it around 1200 dollars or so if possible, unless that is going to sacrafice a bunch of stuff I should have.

Most of the stuff will be under .100 thick wall sized for tubing and such. Assume suspension related brackets etc...and roll bar type stuff.

The aluminum on manifolds could get up to around .200 thick or so....

Assume its going to be occasional to moderate usage....I do not own a shop or anything where the unit will be run 8 hrs a day. Probably just a few hours a week actually. Unless of course things really take off with these items and then I would not be opposed to getting a higher end machine. Just don't want to over extend myself and get overkill until I test the waters.

Want something that will be reliable and be able to handle the tasks mentioned above without sacrafice to quality or reliability. POtability will not be needed...just around in my garage is all.

Thanks again!

[Doolittle]

Oooo, 67 on 2 wheels, cool... A good tig machine is gonna run you over 2 grand new. Keep an eye out on ebay for a used one. The older transformer machines show up quite often, but man are they heavy. If you dont need ac, alot of DC invertors show up that would do a great job on chrome moly.

Good luck.

[fun4now.]

if you skip the aluminum option you could get a miller maxstar 150 for around $1200 but if you want the aluminum option then you will be looking at about $1800 for a syncrowave 200. well $1815 to be exact. the new syncro 200 is a realy nice setup with some nice options on it to help out the beginer and will stand up to anything you can throw at it, they are bulletproff.
keep in mind you will need atleast 60amp circit to run a transformer.
if you stick with an inverter you can get away with a 30amp. i had to go inverter due to power limitations or would have went with the syncro 200 myself.
i have herd that the ryland 200 is a nice lil inverter (about $900 i think ?) from a guy i made a cover for. he realy likes his but i have never tryed one. i went with the TA-185 at $1750 but i think they are about $2000 now but thats a compleayt ready to weld package. i realy like it as dose several others on many boards. its got a good reputation as a solid unit..keeping an eye out on e-bay for a used syncro 180/200 should get you back into the $1200 provided its close and shipping dosent kill the deal. cregs list is a good place to look also.
if you are interested i have a cover for a MM210 we made for a guy and then got stiffed on the bill, shoot me an e-mail or PM if interested.

[ski_dwn_it]

Originally Posted by fun4now.

if you skip the aluminum option you could get a miller maxstar 150 for around $1200 but if you want the aluminum option then you will be looking at about $1800 for a syncrowave 200. well $1815 to be exact. the new syncro 200 is a realy nice setup with some nice options on it to help out the beginer and will stand up to anything you can throw at it, they are bulletproff.
keep in mind you will need atleast 60amp circit to run a transformer.
if you stick with an inverter you can get away with a 30amp. i had to go inverter due to power limitations or would have went with the syncro 200 myself.
i have herd that the ryland 200 is a nice lil inverter (about $900 i think ?) from a guy i made a cover for. he realy likes his but i have never tryed one. i went with the TA-185 at $1750 but i think they are about $2000 now but thats a compleayt ready to weld package. i realy like it as dose several others on many boards. its got a good reputation as a solid unit..keeping an eye out on e-bay for a used syncro 180/200 should get you back into the $1200 provided its close and shipping dosent kill the deal. cregs list is a good place to look also.
if you are interested i have a cover for a MM210 we made for a guy and then got stiffed on the bill, shoot me an e-mail or PM if interested.

Thanks for the information....already got the syncro200 machine and been doing some welding with it. It does .250 inch aluminum like butter _ no complaints at all with the unit. Just need some more seat time with it.....want to get some chromoly tubing to play with doing joints and stuff. Roll bar applications etc.

Thanks and let me know about the cover prices.....mine are in a pretty clean garage though.....and my car project is near complete. Drove it the last week with no problems.....track testing will be this weekend....hope it doesn't put it on the back bumper!