Which Tig To Buy

[sc6chuck9]

With the following information about what I already have and what I do will you folks please help me decide what to buy in the form of a Tig welder, Brand, Style and Size ?

I am an ok welder and have been most of my life, I was certified at a young age as I am 49 now. I have done some tig welding in plants that I've worked at but mostly mig and stick. I own and operate a small CNC Job Shop type machine shop. We do very hard work along with real simple things and enjoy our work, or my work as I am my only employee at this time because we lost our two largest customers when the companies that bought them took them to China.
We have a Lincoln Electric SP 170T mig welder, a Lincoln AC, DC reverse polarity 230/140 amp Buzz Box and both of these work well most of the time. We get more and more call for welding on pipe and aluminum though so we are really in need of a tig setup. It's just about always a small job but when we can't do it we end up wasting gas, rubber and time to get someone else to do it. Most of my aluminum welding was done when i was much younger so I'll have to work on my tig ability I know. I do remember that I loved what I call a power pedal and I want the welder I get to have one. If you need more info please ask cause I do need to watch money as close as anyone these days. Thanks so much for giving me a place to ask for any help you may be able to give me.

I can be reached by email at hitectool@charter.net or my web site for phone, snail mail @ www.hitectool.com Thanks again,,,Chuck

[Me!]

As far as brand, any of the major players are good units.

I would take a look at the Syncrowave 200, or 250 DX.

Since you are using it for business keep the duty cycle in mind, a cheaper unit may actually coast you money if you need to wait for it all the time.

[sc6chuck9]

Thanks "me" as the duty cycle has already been a problem before on some boxes we made out of 1/8" steel sheets with our small mig. I had just forgotten, again thanks for the reminder.

Chuck

[coldlap]

ME is right.i like Miller my self ,i would go for a USA set if you live there,as imported spares can be very expensive .If your Kemppi went wrong out of warranty ie pcb you would need to take out a loan to pay for it .

[ski_dwn_it]

Buy the syncro 200 - I did about 5 months ago and LOVE the unit. Been buidling suspension pieces for a side business that I do and run it for some long durations and have no complaints thus far. It does everything very well.

I have done up to 1/2 steel like butter with it. Aluminum it does equally well on (have not gone to a real thick aluminum yet - but on 3/16 stuff I have no complaints.

Get the entire package setup if you get one - will save you extra effort piecing it together. Got my entire setup - they gave me a 300 dollar autodarkening helmet for 2500 including a tank of argon, helmet, starter rods/tungsten, jacket + tax.

[PivotLok]

Depends on what your budget is for this type of equipment. You can't go wrong with a Miller Syncrowave but if you have the dough go with the Miller Dynasty. Just my .02 cents.

[sc6chuck9]

Pivotlok, Why do you like the Dynasty more please tell me?
No I do not have a large budget for the tig, but if there is a great difference in performance I may just have to save longer,,,,lol,,,,

Ski, Thanks for your input also and I love the pics, is the second car a chevelle by as chance, I can't really tell,,,,,brings back some GOOD OLD memories,,,,,,

[dgbingham]

Miller has a TIG welding handbook that might help you make a decision on what to buy. It explains the differences in the different types of TIG machines. You can order it directly from their web site. All the pictures are of Miller equipment but the text is not brand specific.

[sc6chuck9]

Thanks so much dgbingham, I'll call my locale miller guy right now and see if he has a book, if not then I will order one.

[ski_dwn_it]

Originally Posted by sc6chuck9

Pivotlok, Why do you like the Dynasty more please tell me?
No I do not have a large budget for the tig, but if there is a great difference in performance I may just have to save longer,,,,lol,,,,

Ski, Thanks for your input also and I love the pics, is the second car a chevelle by as chance, I can't really tell,,,,,brings back some GOOD OLD memories,,,,,,

Yep, 67 chevelle at 4000lb with me driving it. 555 CI motor on 10.5 tires through exhaust. Fun ride to say the least. Like taking off of an aircraft carrier - only instead of being in a little Jet, your driving the carrier itself and pulling a wheelie! lol

[z0diac]

Originally Posted by sc6chuck9

With the following information about what I already have and what I do will you folks please help me decide what to buy in the form of a Tig welder, Brand, Style and Size ?

I am an ok welder and have been most of my life, I was certified at a young age as I am 49 now. I have done some tig welding in plants that I've worked at but mostly mig and stick. I own and operate a small CNC Job Shop type machine shop. We do very hard work along with real simple things and enjoy our work, or my work as I am my only employee at this time because we lost our two largest customers when the companies that bought them took them to China.
We have a Lincoln Electric SP 170T mig welder, a Lincoln AC, DC reverse polarity 230/140 amp Buzz Box and both of these work well most of the time. We get more and more call for welding on pipe and aluminum though so we are really in need of a tig setup. It's just about always a small job but when we can't do it we end up wasting gas, rubber and time to get someone else to do it. Most of my aluminum welding was done when i was much younger so I'll have to work on my tig ability I know. I do remember that I loved what I call a power pedal and I want the welder I get to have one.Chuck

I just bought a Lincoln Precision Tig 225 this summer and LOVE it. Although if you're using it in an industrial setting you might want to step up a model to the 275 or 375 to get a better duty cycle.

It's got built-in pulse for giving nice looking beads, post flow adjustment, AC for aluminum, as well as AC balance control so you can control how long it stays on each part of the cycle (more cleaning / penetration). It's GREAT stick welder too. The "ReadyPak" version comes with the foot pedal and tig torch, although you'll probably want to get a water cooled torch and a water cooler for it, because the torch DOES heat up pretty quickly when you're welding over 120 amps. Especially in AC mode.

[sc6chuck9]

Thanks a lot Zodiac for your input. I will go and take a look at this system also. I bookmarked your site and will someday try to get my site and shop looking as nice as yours, great job,,,,,,,Thanks again Chuck