New to TIG

[hks85]

new to the forum, hello all...

on a weekly basis i find my self working with metal (90% of the time its Aluminum) that i end up riveting or bolting. welding would be a much better choice but guess what? ive never touched a tig welder im my life.

i have some exp in MIG and a bit more brazing (if you consider that welding) i can't afford to buy both types as this is strictly a hobby. would a TIG welder be too much for me as a noob or would it be feasible for me to learn on?

 

[fingers99]

It's harder, but not impossible.

If you can get hold of a decent s/h ac/dc tig set at a fair price chances are you could sell it on without taking a loss.

 

[matt1978]

Tig is in most cases the best way to weld Aluminium, especially when compared too Standard mig.

If you have experience of Brazing, then the learning curve won't be as steep, I would opt for a good quality 2nd hand AC/DC tig welder rather than buying a new one off ebay for a simerla price

 

[hks85]

if i was to by one new that wasn't a POS, how much would i be looking at? I almost never work with Aluminum or steel that thicker than 1/8"

 

[weldequip]

£1-2K depending on spec.for something decent.
weldequip

 

[fingers99]

The s/h way is certainly the safer one. Another alternative is the Rehmann 200amp ac/dc kit off fleabay, comes with a 2 year warranty that is worth something, but problem is, wont resell well and demand seems to be so outstripping supply that they only seem to come up as "buy it now" at more than you'd want to pay -- at auction they go for £400 -£500.

If you have 3 phase, the world is your lobster -- you can walk into just about any welding supply place and get top brand s/h 3 phase stuff for £500 and up.

An alternative, if the ally isn't structural, is gas welding: industrially an outdated process, but lots of fun!

 

[weldequip]

demand seems to be so outstripping supply

That'll be more a case of waiting for the next container load to come on the slow boat from China! The Chinese also don't offer credit & want paying up front so, with the ridiculous low profit margins they are making, and now with funding becoming increasingly more difficult, they will be struggling to supply
weldequip

 

[hotrodder]

If you can only justify/afford one welder then a TIG makes most sense (especially if you're working with thinish aluminium most of the time). You get a free stick welder built in too which further increases versatility.

As Matt said, brazing experience will help a bit. Oxy fuel welding experience would help even more. Torch/filler relationships are similar to TIG but arc length (typically around 2mm) is tighter/more critical than the 'flame to work' relationship with O/A. To get an idea of whats involved take a washer, place it on a sheet of paper and using the tip of a pencil move the washer along the paper without drawing on the paper

 

[adrian]

hi all,i'm new to tig.what's advice u have 2 give in terms of hand technique

 

[Seano]

hi all,i'm new to tig.what's advice u have 2 give in terms of hand technique

Hi Adrian
IMHO Learn to keep it steady, learn to keep your distance from the workpiece constant, and keep your wrist flexible, all of this only comes with lots of practice, good luck.

Sean.