Re: I need help with a tig welder
Depending on your location, rental might be an option. Now the down side. AC tig requires a fair amount of skill at tig as well as practice on alum. If you can't already tig weld alum, a rental will do you no good. Tig on alum, especially "thin" alum say less than 14 ga, can be very difficult to learn quickly.
As far as buying your own unit to learn and practice on, I'd have to agree with the above. An older 330 Miller would be a good economical choice on a budget. I've occasionally seen the rebadged Airco units as low as $250 on rare occasions. Typically $400-900 is the usual range though. Newer "better" units will cost you a bit more, say $1500-2000 or so with cylinder depending on options and goodies that come with what ever model you pick.
OA may be another option, but again it's time consuming to learn. Plenty of alum aircraft in WWII were OA welded. If it's not critical, OA brazing is easier to handle and may take care of some jobs.
Oh add your location to your profile so we have an idea where you are at. Someone may know of a deal near by, or you may be able to find someone here you can sub the few jobs out to on those occasions when you need it done.
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