Hi All
Could someone give me a few words of advice regarding a possible TIG purchase.
I dont know what I should be looking for although I think it should be DC and single phase and will be used for general steel /chassis work and maybe the odd bit of ali welding.
As it is a possible chrimbo pressy Mrs G does not have an endless pot of money so all and any advice would be welcomed.
Thank you
P
TIG advice
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If you have any intention on welding alloy then you have to get an AC DC welder. DC is for steel and stainless steel (ferous I guess) and the AC is for aluminium. Unfortunately AC tigs tend to cost a lot more than DC only. Other than that just get what the budget allows for. Be wary of the cheap chinese ones. Some are actually pretty good but a lot are pretty poor. Remember and add the cost of your argon into the equation as well, its not cheap. Speaking of gas you will need a flow gauge as well as a regulator.
Hi Paul
If you want to do ally you will need AC, if just steel then DC is fine. Since I have had mine I have not used my MIG, TIG is so much easier, cleaner and although not as quick I just Like TIG much better.
Mine is a 200 amp Chinese one and although it has had some reliability issues the seller was very good on the support side, also there seem to be enough of them about that they are pretty well covered on the repair side, it is a Cobel TIG 200 AC/DC P. It came off ebay and I am pretty sure the chap I got it from imported them directly from China.
Best regards
Mike
If you want to do ally you will need AC, if just steel then DC is fine. Since I have had mine I have not used my MIG, TIG is so much easier, cleaner and although not as quick I just Like TIG much better.
Mine is a 200 amp Chinese one and although it has had some reliability issues the seller was very good on the support side, also there seem to be enough of them about that they are pretty well covered on the repair side, it is a Cobel TIG 200 AC/DC P. It came off ebay and I am pretty sure the chap I got it from imported them directly from China.
Best regards
Mike
poppet valves rule!
Hi Lads
Strangely enough I was looking at that exact model today.
The ali welding is not really that high up on the list to be honest.
Is the Cobel unit good enough to do chassis work and does it have a proper torch.
Also does it have foot control as all those i Have seen on the box and video footage shows that kind of set up.
Katana I have already looked into the gas situation and understand the need for a new gauge set up.
Again advice on what would suit me would be helpful
Thanks for the replies already.
cheers
P
Strangely enough I was looking at that exact model today.
The ali welding is not really that high up on the list to be honest.
Is the Cobel unit good enough to do chassis work and does it have a proper torch.
Also does it have foot control as all those i Have seen on the box and video footage shows that kind of set up.
Katana I have already looked into the gas situation and understand the need for a new gauge set up.
Again advice on what would suit me would be helpful
Thanks for the replies already.
cheers
P
Hi Paul
Mine came with a foot peddle, to be honest for "normal" steels they are not really necessary, they do not conduct heat away fast enough to need to change the current from one end of the weld to the other, however stainless it is useful for that bit of fine control to let you get it nice and even and for ally really it is an essential as the work heats up ahead of the weld quite rapidly so you need to pull back on the current quite quickly. I have a flow and pressure gauge pair, they are not really accurate enough to use for the work I do on mild steel (3.2mm wall thickness CDS chassis tube) i use a very short exposure on the electrode and very low gas flow, I check it by holding the torch up to my cheek and see if if I can feel the gas flow at about an inch from my face, I want to just feel it and just hear it hiss from the torch any more is too much. If I can't get in with the torch with with the very short electrode and have to lengthen it then I will use more gas, but generally I use much less gas than with MIG, a 10 liter bottle will quite easily do about 3 to 3.5 hours welding. My bottle rental is £35 for 2 years and £38 a refill I think there is about £70 deposit. The touch is not water cooled, it is pretty well made but nothing fancy and can weld 3mm steel for about 20 minutes before it gets to hot to hold, however my eyes need a rest by then. These are not fully professional welders, but they are about a third of the price, I suspect they are used as workshop welders in the far east but not over in Europe. as regards will they do a chassis, well my chassis is being welded by one this week, it will go down to very low current so it will do very thin sheet if you want.
Best regards
Mike
Mine came with a foot peddle, to be honest for "normal" steels they are not really necessary, they do not conduct heat away fast enough to need to change the current from one end of the weld to the other, however stainless it is useful for that bit of fine control to let you get it nice and even and for ally really it is an essential as the work heats up ahead of the weld quite rapidly so you need to pull back on the current quite quickly. I have a flow and pressure gauge pair, they are not really accurate enough to use for the work I do on mild steel (3.2mm wall thickness CDS chassis tube) i use a very short exposure on the electrode and very low gas flow, I check it by holding the torch up to my cheek and see if if I can feel the gas flow at about an inch from my face, I want to just feel it and just hear it hiss from the torch any more is too much. If I can't get in with the torch with with the very short electrode and have to lengthen it then I will use more gas, but generally I use much less gas than with MIG, a 10 liter bottle will quite easily do about 3 to 3.5 hours welding. My bottle rental is £35 for 2 years and £38 a refill I think there is about £70 deposit. The touch is not water cooled, it is pretty well made but nothing fancy and can weld 3mm steel for about 20 minutes before it gets to hot to hold, however my eyes need a rest by then. These are not fully professional welders, but they are about a third of the price, I suspect they are used as workshop welders in the far east but not over in Europe. as regards will they do a chassis, well my chassis is being welded by one this week, it will go down to very low current so it will do very thin sheet if you want.
Best regards
Mike
poppet valves rule!
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stevieturbo
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If you have no other welder at all, you can buy MIG/TIG units combined.
So would be worth looking into.
MIG is far handier to have in the workshop than TIG. It's faster and more practical for most automotive work, plus for making parts, you can tack pieces with one hand. Almost impossible with TIG
On that basis alone my primary welder will always be MIG.
Although I do have an AC/DC TIG too....cant say it gets used very often though.
What sort of budget did you have ? AC is the real killer as it really bumps up the cost
So would be worth looking into.
MIG is far handier to have in the workshop than TIG. It's faster and more practical for most automotive work, plus for making parts, you can tack pieces with one hand. Almost impossible with TIG
On that basis alone my primary welder will always be MIG.
Although I do have an AC/DC TIG too....cant say it gets used very often though.
What sort of budget did you have ? AC is the real killer as it really bumps up the cost
Hi Steve
Thanks for the advice so far.
I do already have a MIG welder here.
A TIG welder has always been one of those 'would like to have tools' but have never got round to getting one for myself.
I think for me it's the neatness of it all and the fact that it is so controllable that makes me want to have one here.
cheers
P
Thanks for the advice so far.
I do already have a MIG welder here.
A TIG welder has always been one of those 'would like to have tools' but have never got round to getting one for myself.
I think for me it's the neatness of it all and the fact that it is so controllable that makes me want to have one here.
cheers
P
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stevieturbo
- Forum Contributor
- Posts: 3979
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:22 pm
- Location: Northern Ireland
Neat...you havent seen my TIG welding lol
The neatness comes largely from the skill of the operator...and that I lack. But I can join bits of metal together, and most of the time they stay together.
I only bought my TIG so I could weld aluminium, as was fed up trying to temporarily make parts in alloy tom get them welded by others. That is such a pain to do.
I bought one of the R-Tech machines, and other than a gas solenoid that failed within warranty, it has been faultless.
The neatness comes largely from the skill of the operator...and that I lack. But I can join bits of metal together, and most of the time they stay together.
I only bought my TIG so I could weld aluminium, as was fed up trying to temporarily make parts in alloy tom get them welded by others. That is such a pain to do.
I bought one of the R-Tech machines, and other than a gas solenoid that failed within warranty, it has been faultless.
Hi Paul
I would like to revise my estimate how long a gas bottle lasts, the current one has done 4.5+ hrs so far I suspect I will be getting a refill tomorrow at some stage but the bottles last well. I have found Tig easier to get used to than MIG, however it is far more like soldering/brazing than mig welding and I spent a good few years on a PCB production line in my past. What I like about it is you can go back and "tidy up" if you want. the difficult bit to get right is to get a neat weld pool pattern like the "row of coins" that you see in all the books whilst not starving the weld of filler rod and under cutting the sides of the weld, it is not easy and takes a lot of practice. If you are less fussy then you can do a basic weld with good penetration easily by going steadily and being generous with the filler.
The bit that is key to getting it right is setting the balance of gas flow and distance of the electrode tip from the weld, too much gas and the sides of the weld pool will chill before the meniscus has allowed the edges of the pool to flow properly into the core metal too little gas and you end up pulling too much current out of the arc, this in turn leads you to bringing the touch to close and dipping the electrode. There is a lot less light coming off a TIG weld whilst you are doing it, you run the mask with a lot less darkening, this makes it easier to see the weld pool, also you can get your head a lot closer without cooking yourself, this makes it easier to see what is going on.
Best regards
Mike
I would like to revise my estimate how long a gas bottle lasts, the current one has done 4.5+ hrs so far I suspect I will be getting a refill tomorrow at some stage but the bottles last well. I have found Tig easier to get used to than MIG, however it is far more like soldering/brazing than mig welding and I spent a good few years on a PCB production line in my past. What I like about it is you can go back and "tidy up" if you want. the difficult bit to get right is to get a neat weld pool pattern like the "row of coins" that you see in all the books whilst not starving the weld of filler rod and under cutting the sides of the weld, it is not easy and takes a lot of practice. If you are less fussy then you can do a basic weld with good penetration easily by going steadily and being generous with the filler.
The bit that is key to getting it right is setting the balance of gas flow and distance of the electrode tip from the weld, too much gas and the sides of the weld pool will chill before the meniscus has allowed the edges of the pool to flow properly into the core metal too little gas and you end up pulling too much current out of the arc, this in turn leads you to bringing the touch to close and dipping the electrode. There is a lot less light coming off a TIG weld whilst you are doing it, you run the mask with a lot less darkening, this makes it easier to see the weld pool, also you can get your head a lot closer without cooking yourself, this makes it easier to see what is going on.
Best regards
Mike
poppet valves rule!
Hi Eliot
I get my bottles from weld air supplies in Dunstable, they are the 10 liter ones and in general use last me a couple of months I must confess a full size bottle has a certain appeal, the rental is very cheep though.
Where did you get your full size bottle from?
Best regards
Mike
I get my bottles from weld air supplies in Dunstable, they are the 10 liter ones and in general use last me a couple of months I must confess a full size bottle has a certain appeal, the rental is very cheep though.
Where did you get your full size bottle from?
Best regards
Mike
poppet valves rule!
-
stevieturbo
- Forum Contributor
- Posts: 3979
- Joined: Sat Nov 18, 2006 6:22 pm
- Location: Northern Ireland
