Great mask, good Tig or good mask, great Tig?

[gen6jjl]

Hello everyone, first post. I've read through dozens of "what Tig welder" pages but still have a question I hope you might be able to help with.

Should I get a high-end helmet with a lowish-end welder or the other way around? It will be mainly car bodywork with some aluminum here & there.

I'm not a very good welder (though with lots of experience!) so I though that maybe being able to see better might help the most, but I don't know.

 

[addjunkie]

Buy cheap buy twice…….get your eyes tested first and if you need reading glasses use the

 

[Sergei Slovenija]

If I live to see artificial multispectral eyes, with visual acuity at will (like an eagle), I will buy them.

 

[chrismac]

I'll throw a spanner in the mix and say mid range welder, mask not an issue, an auto mask might be better but a mask with a flip up is totally acceptable and very handy when the grinder is to hand often.

 

[Robert Weaver]

A good mask won't turn a poor weld machine good; If you can't see, how can you weld?
Being able to see well is important and it's a precursor to welding well.

 

[roblane65]

As by your own admission your not a very good welder an all singing and dancing modern ac/dc tig isn't going to make you a better welder either lots of features and programes you'll never use and more stuff to fiddle on with . A fairly basic modern machine would probably be all you'll need if your not full time welding . However being able to see what your welding is a different matter if be an eye test or a high end mask buy the best you can afford it does make a big difference imo. As for the welding practice practice practice .

 

[JOEPRO]

Hello everyone, first post. I've read through dozens of "what Tig welder" pages but still have a question I hope you might be able to help with.

Should I get a high-end helmet with a lowish-end welder or the other way around? It will be mainly car bodywork with some aluminum here & there.

I'm not a very good welder (though with lots of experience!) so I though that maybe being able to see better might help the most, but I don't know.

Welcome !

I'll share what worked for me.

Get a mid range / semi decent true colour welding mask. No matter what welder you use this will help for sure as you will be able to see the TIG weld puddle alot clearer with a decent mask.

For the welder itself try to get a good used decent machine on the usual free add sites. Go see it locally and test it before purchase. I bought an SIP AC DC Welder (broken spares or repairs actually) and that worked out well for me. So for little outlay I have what I believe to be a professional quality welder.

 

[tom2207]

good mask and a mig ,,, far more use for car bodywork despite what you see on you tube.

I have still never tig welded on a car ,, I tig on the bench , and mig on cars.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[JOEPRO]

good mask and a mig ,,, far more use for car bodywork despite what you see on you tube.

I have still never tig welded on a car ,, I tig on the bench , and mig on cars.

Welcome to the forum.

Yes I would agree. If car bodywork is the intention then MIG it is. TIG is really for small stuff on a bench or aluminium IMO.

 

[gen6jjl]

As by your own admission your not a very good welder an all singing and dancing modern ac/dc tig isn't going to make you a better welder either lots of features and programes you'll never use and more stuff to fiddle on with . A fairly basic modern machine would probably be all you'll need if your not full time welding . However being able to see what your welding is a different matter if be an eye test or a high end mask buy the best you can afford it does make a big difference imo. As for the welding practice practice practice .

Thanks very much and your right, all the fiddly bits are wasted on me at the moment. I'm just a mig bodywork welder (sill arches) but I want to learn Tig, improve and use less filler. I'm getting on a bit so my eyes could be better but my specs are up to date. I was leaning towards a decent mask but didn't really know. Thanks again.

 

[gen6jjl]

Yes I would agree. If car bodywork is the intention then MIG it is. TIG is really for small stuff on a bench or aluminium IMO.

I have a difficult job coming up with car wing repairs on the bench. It's thin stuff and will need a bit of panel beating to get right I reckon. I watched a couple of good videos on youtube (metal shaper tom) and it seemed it would help to tig them. I expect not to jump in but practice for a good while (weeks probably) to do a reasonable job. Does that seem reasonable?

 

[gen6jjl]

good mask and a mig ,,, far more use for car bodywork despite what you see on you tube.

I have still never tig welded on a car ,, I tig on the bench , and mig on cars.

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks Tom. Maybe your right. I still fancy a tig and learning some new skills. I have an ancient SIP Ideal 180 mig the size of a small horse and I'm considering updating that too.

 

[gen6jjl]

Welcome !

I'll share what worked for me.

Get a mid range / semi decent true colour welding mask. No matter what welder you use this will help for sure as you will be able to see the TIG weld puddle alot clearer with a decent mask.

For the welder itself try to get a good used decent machine on the usual free add sites. Go see it locally and test it before purchase. I bought an SIP AC DC Welder (broken spares or repairs actually) and that worked out well for me. So for little outlay I have what I believe to be a professional quality welder.

Thanks Joe, that's a result with the secondhand machine. Did you have to repair it?

Yes I think the mask is my weak spot and I'm blaming my could be better welding on my current ancient mask! It's about 20 years old. If a second hand machine turns up I will make the effort too.

 

[gen6jjl]

As by your own admission your not a very good welder an all singing and dancing modern ac/dc tig isn't going to make you a better welder either lots of features and programes you'll never use and more stuff to fiddle on with . A fairly basic modern machine would probably be all you'll need if your not full time welding . However being able to see what your welding is a different matter if be an eye test or a high end mask buy the best you can afford it does make a big difference imo. As for the welding practice practice practice .

Thanks for that advice, much appreciated. I have a tendency to buy things like guitars thinking it will improve my playing, but of course it doesn't and I realised that I just like buying guitars. So thinking about this, I need to watch myself and not buy things I don't need,, such as 2K welders when a 1K welder will do. I'm just a hobby welder with a good selection of old cars. My latest project is worth doing right & needs panels repaired off the body on the bench and metal shaping so the mig isn't ideal I reckon. I take you point about practicing, you're dead right and I'll give it a good go and not jump straight in to the repair work. A few replies have said get a good mask first, maybe £100-200 about right do you think?

 

[beeRS]

I’ll just share my TIG thoughts. As a learner TIG guy, I watched YouTube videos and thought I’d buy a machine. Despite hours of practice my welds don’t look anything like the ones on YouTube . It takes two hand coordination and a foot pedal. I find I can only do on this on a bench. So, everything that requires me to be mobile around a car is still MIG.
I bought a true colour mask (about about £60), and a small LED lamp (about £20) that can be angled towards the job. I found that a good light source, plus good mask visibility, made my welds much better.
Meanwhile, I’m wondering why I spent all that money on a TIG which I hardly use.

 

[tom2207]

Thanks Tom. Maybe your right. I still fancy a tig and learning some new skills. I have an ancient SIP Ideal 180 mig the size of a small horse and I'm considering updating that too.

Hi ,,, save your money ... buy a nice mask of choice , mines a speedglas , but others are available ,, a new smaller welder wont make life easier , the sip will do all you need you get used to them , there are motor fixes for the sip and it will be grand ,,, what I would look at is a plus 1 cheater for the mask , or a dedicated pair of glasses specifically for welding , somewhere between reading glasses and distance , task specific glasses , speak to your optom .
Now as for wanting a tig , I cant argue with that at all ,, its nice to have new toys ... but tig isnt a magic bullet even though it looks that way on you tube ,,, invest a few bob in some decent lumps of copper and your sip will cruise you through.

 

[gen6jjl]

Hi ,,, save your money ... buy a nice mask of choice , mines a speedglas , but others are available ,, a new smaller welder wont make life easier , the sip will do all you need you get used to them , there are motor fixes for the sip and it will be grand ,,, what I would look at is a plus 1 cheater for the mask , or a dedicated pair of glasses specifically for welding , somewhere between reading glasses and distance , task specific glasses , speak to your optom .
Now as for wanting a tig , I cant argue with that at all ,, its nice to have new toys ... but tig isnt a magic bullet even though it looks that way on you tube ,,, invest a few bob in some decent lumps of copper and your sip will cruise you through.

Thanks Tom appreciated. I'll do a bit more research too.

 

[addjunkie]

Thanks Tom appreciated. I'll do a bit more research too.

Research with in your budget……once you look over budget, its clouds things

 

[rtcosic]

Good reading glasses and lots of light - in front of the mask not behind it!

 

[tom2207]

Good reading glasses and lots of light - in front of the mask not behind it!

wise words ,, try and get contrast and things get easier.