Which welder?

[John]

Have you seen these?
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/range/details/arc-tig-inverters/path/plasma-cutters-arctig-welders
I thought Tig welders were really expensive?
I learnt Tig many years ago but have never used a Mig welder. Tig is meant to give a better looking weld but is awkward to use in tight spots. What does anyone recommend?

[AshG]

those are just mma inverters. to make them do tig you would have to buy a tig torch gas valve for the torch and do scratch start which is a pain in tha ass

[londonsean69]

Also, they are for steel only.
A lot of people associated TIG with aluminium welding, which is correct, but you need an AC/DC machine.
There are very cheap ones on EGay for £399, but, in reality, you should be looking at £800+ for a decent AC/DC TIG machine.

[NEroadster]

Just to throw in a curve ball we use MIG welding for Aluminium once above the thin stuff. TIG gives a nice finish and works well on thin material but stength wise nothing in it, For strength it is more about the filler material wire you use and the skill of the operator.

[car.mad]

one of these, got one about 3 weeks ago its brilliant, the best (budget) welder iv ever used

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/151te-turbo-mig-welder/path/diy-mig-welders

on another note...

Wood Auto Factors do quite a good deal on welding gas (found this out last week'ish) theres a branch in huddersfield and wakefield (think those are the only 2)

you pay £40 deposit on the bottle (like life time rental)
then another £23 to fill the bottle with welding gas (CO2 Argon Mix) refills are £23
if you decide you no longer need the bottle you take it back and get your £40 back.
then the regulator (they do 2)
with a guage they are about £50
without a guage they are about £30 (cant remember the exact regulator prices)

Seems like a bargin to me off back next week to get one

[georgenewman1]

i bought the big one from machine mart, it was about £500, but came with regs for little and big bottle, and rund off of 240v. i now use it for all my stuff in work aswell because it is so much easier to set up and use than the big industrial ones, as for bottles i went through boc, think its about £80 quid a year for the bottle and £20 to have it filled with cougargas, nd by doin my hole chassis and loads of other work and lending it out to several friends to weld there projects up ive oly refilled it once.

[georgenewman1]

this is the one i got

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cl-migwld-230v230tec/path/automotiveindustrial-mig-welders

[John]

Many thanks. A mig it will be then. :)

[squbti]

I cant belive how many times this subject has been dicused on this forum, its like debating wich is better fish or meat:confused: , I think its a matter of buget & what each builder feels more comfortable with . I use all three methods of welding at work & each one has its pros & cons but if i get to choose I´d go for TIG 9 out of 10 times so if i´m welding a big thick walled tank i would go for Mig but for the finer jobes it would be TIG.
Cheer
Samy