Tig welder?????

[Dusty Guitar]

Hi ALL!

Just getting into welding, did a short course at the local college (MIG and TIG)
prefer TIG, looking to get my own equipment now. looking to weld steel and aluminum nothing over 5mm i would think. once i get a bit or practice I hope to construct my own space frame chassis (4130 tubing) for a motorbike engined offroad buggy.

Just looking for any advice, good brands, ones to stay away from etc. all help is greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Dusty

 

[Wozzaaah]

New? Used? Budget?
You're looking at a fair few ££ for a decent one Dusty.

 

[ChrisJohnsSculpture]

To buy new you are probably looking at close to £1000 to get set up with something reasonable. Weldequip and R-Tech are well worth a look. Both are well though of and a cut above the budget stuff, if not quite in the league of the big industrial brands.

A 160A machine will cope with most things you're likely to do in a hobby workshop but 200A will give you a bit more headroom if you're welding thicker stuff with any regularity. If you don't have a mig welder then the extra power can also speed things up a bit where you're not too fussed about maximum weld quality.

 

[pedrobedro]

You need something expensive if you are welding up to 5mm aluminium. Off topic but I wouldn't build a chassis from 4130 though, mild steel is the metal of choice and much easier to mend when you inevitably bend the buggy.

 

[Baloo]

You need something expensive if you are welding up to 5mm aluminium. Off topic but I wouldn't build a chassis from 4130 though, mild steel is the metal of choice and much easier to mend when you inevitably bend the buggy.

oh yes, inevitable,

 

[wellyweld]

Presumably you only have single phase, but still a fair choice out there.
My first choice would be an Esab Caddytig 2200i but sadly probably beyond your budget. If you could find one second hand then go for it. Coming down in price is the Invert-R Tig 200 which has a strong 2 year warranty but comes into the made in China category, albeit we have had no issues with it.
Whatever you choose would go for a footswitch particularly if welding aluminium.

 

[Dusty Guitar]

Cheers

Cheers guys,

will check out your recommendations.

didnt really have a budget in mind as I didnt know the cost of decent equipment and obviously dont want to go out an make a costly mistake buying something that is not up to the job.


once again cheers