Newbie here, and some advice please

[Little Toe]

Hi folk's
A quick introduction, my name is Shaun, and after 26 years of working for Rolls-Royce Aerospace, I'm about to be made redundant on 27th March.

My hobbies over the years have been motorcycle drag racing and 4x4 off roading (check out www.little-toe.com for more info )

Anyway, I decided I take my 4x4 hobby to the next level and start making stuff for other people. To equipe out my workshop, I've already got a SIP 130 Migmate, pillar drill, angle grinders, air compressor etc, but I'd like a TIG welder now. The workshop only has 240v Single Phase, so I'm guessing 32amps is max I can draw on?

So, question to all you experts out there, as I have zero TIG experience.

1. I want a TIG welder, capable of welding upto 6mm thick steel and 4mm thick aluminium and maybe some stainless steel as well.
   
2. The welder must be a good one, easy for a beginner to use, must be capable (in the right hands) of producing top quality welds.
   
3. The TIG welder must have a good support service, preferably local to Derby.
   
4. Budget wise I'm looking to spend around £2k.

All and any recommendations greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Shaun

 

[madkayaker]

hello and welcome the max current draw is very dependant on whether the garage is feed from the house or direct from the mains

 

[rusty69bus]

ask by pm some off our experts on tig v price weldequip,matt1978,diywelding

 

[Archie]

As Rusty says, a message to matt1978 would be worthwhile. He works for Lorch who are based in Cannock which is pretty nearby. I bought one of their AC/DC TIGs (which is what you need for ally welding) a while back and have been very pleased with it. If you search for "T Series" there should be a couple of threads on them. It needs a 16A supply.

 

[matt1978]

Hi Little Toe,

Welcome to the forum.

Sorry to hear about you being made redundant!

We have a good Catagory 'A' distributor in Derby, called Trueweld. They have been selling our kit for the last 4 years now. They have sold the same machines we are talking about, the HT and T Series already into some areas of Rolls Royce in Derby and Nottingham.

 

[RichardG]

Obviously downer re. the job, hope something comes up soon.

No idea if this is a good deal or not but I've had my eye on a Kemppi MasterTig MLS 2300 with ACX panel that one of the internet sites have on special at the moment (google it and I'm sure you'll find the site I mean - I have nothing to do with them and don't want to offend any advertisers on this site) for £2250.

I've only used Kemppi gear at college but am very impressed with it, but I'm a complete beginner so don't take this as a recommendation from someone who actually knows what they're talking about!

A question to someone who does know, is Kemppi equipment of approximate quality compared to say lorch or miller?

 

[Little Toe]

Matt, thanks for the reply and the pm, I've sent you another pm.