Brand New and need Your pro advice

[jiggajweld]

HEY GUYS n GALS

yuppers, im new here but i have been wanting to weld and inspired by welding for years. Done very little actual welding but an overload of research.

I NEED your guys advice on the make model etc, of what welder to purchase.
i will be welding exhaust piping, manifolds and downpipes.... pretty much all stainless steel.... which im guessing is no more than 1/8" thick right?

also i am going to be welding together aluminum piping kits for intercooler kits ( piping is usually max 1/16 " thick aluminum). And i would be getting into intake manifolds which could be up to 1/6th of an inch thick aluminum.

I work for a bank and just got a credit card, and limited it to $1200 US dollars. for that price what do you experts recommend.

And while im at it, how much does gas run... on average. and how long does gas long, I.E. 20cf last for 1 meter of welding etc. sorry if im being confusing... thanks in advance everyone... cheers!!!

P.S. im trying to get a U.S. brand such as miller, lincoln, just for easy to find parts sake!!

 

[shenion]

You cant get there from here

For aluminum manifolds you will need a TIG with AC. The inexpensive Chinese ones are near $900.

Gas is not that expensive. A tank can run $75-$180 depening on size. My 4' tall tank was $43 to fill with Argon; a Ar/CO2/O2 mix would be a bit more. Have used it with several small reels of MIG wire and still have half left.

At 10LPM, a 20CF tank should last for just under an hour.

A miller/Lincoln TIG will start at about 2X your budget.

You could try doing Al with MIG. I have tried it and have had varying results. Sometimes it works great, others it doesn't. MIG does not have a lot of control over heat when doing Al. You might be able to do the intercooler piping, but a manifold would be difficult.

You can do stainless with MIG, you would want tri-mix and wire for stainless.

A miller 140 MIG/tank would set you back about $850. That would do the steel work. Al would require a second tank for pure Argon.

I have a Clarke MIG 130EN. Works well. You might want to consider them for a low-cost option.

Either save up for a TIG or start with a small MIG and do the steel work and try the Al piping. Then save up later for a TIG.

 

[malcolm]

MIG probably wouldn't be a lot of good for thin aluminium. It's tolerable down to about 2mm thickness if you use a brass heatsink behind the weld. Without the heatsink I'd guess 4mm and above would be it's sensible limit.

Are there any second hand Lincoln or Miller TIGs on eBay in the US? That might just about bring an AC TIG within budget.

MIG would be fine for the stainless, though TIG could be neater with practice - it's trickier to learn than MIG, and buying MIG first would be good for training.

 

[shenion]

I have been searching for a used TIG on ebay. No small units. Most are 3 phase so can't be used at home or even many small biz.

Still they go for $1000 for a 200A old beast. Then $475 for shipping and often a $75 fee to palletize.

Most seem to be in California, seems lots of production equipment available there.

Still looking for something within 400 miles that does not cost an arm and a leg.


Lots of Chinese ones, am tempted to try the 200A AC pulse Riland. But don't want a $1200 experiment

 

[jiggajweld]

yea i was thinking of it as well, but i feel the same way, im on a budget as is, and am not even going to attempt risking my investment!