'Relatively' inexpensive TIG welder suggestions?

weo

weo

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Sep 21, 2014
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Hello all. I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe this holiday season.

I'm looking into purchasing a TIG welder to up my damascus game and looking for advice.
Cost has to be considered, but quality is as important. My plan for the machine is to do some canister damascus while skipping the can (instead of using a mild steel tube, I'm wanting to use fuse 1080 bars to make the 'can' for the pattern I want to play with). I do have access to 220V, single phase power in the shop.
Thank you and stay safe.
 
I can strongly recommend the AlphaTIG 201XD. I bought one when my friend with a Miller 211 moved away. The AlphaTIG has been great for me. I've welded one bike frame with it so far (very thin wall chromoly tube) and also pushed it up close to 200 amps welding some large pieces of steel and everything in-between. I really don't have any complaints with it other than the ground cable being a little shorter than I'd like. The torch isn't as nice as a CK model, but is functionally excellent (although I did install a gas lens kit in mine). The foot pedal in the old model was horrid, but the one shipping now is perfectly fine. It's about $700 and can run off either 120V or 240V. If I recall correctly it can do something near 150 amps on 120V, above that you need 240V.

Here's mine on a cart I built as a first project with it:


 
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I have an everlast power pro 205si which is a tig plasma arc combo unit. I absolutely love this thing. I can't believe how much I use the tig. So much precision. They do make dedicated tigs for quit a bit less. I think the electronics are made by Siemens.

There's a ton of you videos and a good spot is welding tips and tricks.
 
The desire for TIG increases the cost, would MIG work for you? I used an old Lincoln stick welder for years. This year I purchased a Forney 140 FC-i Flux-Cored wire welder : https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CP9CDVQ/ for around $230 shipped. Runs on 120vac and I have been VERY surprised how well it works. MIG does a good job of making a good sealed weld for what you're looking for and is MUCH less expensive to use than TIG.
 
Ken H> said:
would MIG work for you?
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Hi Ken. No, I'm not interested in MIG. I already use a stick welder for everything and I'm looking to do fusion welding of billets without adding any filler material.
 
Well either you get a nice expensive one or you go to the local hardware store and get the basic agricultural type that folks keep around the farm for on the spot equipment repair. There probably aren't many hidden gems to track down.
 
CallumRD1 said:
I can strongly recommend the AlphaTIG 201XD. I bought one when my friend with a Miller 211 moved away. The AlphaTIG has been great for me. I've welded one bike frame with it so far (very thin wall chromoly tube) and also pushed it up close to 200 amps welding some large pieces of steel and everything in-between. I really don't have any complaints with it other than the ground cable being a little shorter than I'd like. The torch isn't as nice as a CK model, but is functionally excellent (although I did install a gas lens kit in mine). The foot pedal in the old model was horrid, but the one shipping now is perfectly fine. It's about $700 and can run off either 120V or 240V. If I recall correctly it can do something near 150 amps on 120V, above that you need 240V.

Here's mine on a cart I built as a first project with it:


Click to expand...

I will second this machine. I have one as well and it hasn't failed me yet. Can be had for pretty cheap when compared to the big guys.
 
Danke42 said:
Well either you get a nice expensive one or you go to the local hardware store and get the basic agricultural type that folks keep around the farm for on the spot equipment repair. There probably aren't many hidden gems to track down.
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I'm thinking there is a middle ground here.
 
weo said:
I'm thinking there is a middle ground here.
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I think the only middle ground is get the nice one and find it's underused or get the cheap one and if it's not enough hope you can resell it so you can upgrade.

Can you rent one and see how it does?
 
The machine is just as important as the rig you’re gonna use. Ck worldwide with Furick cups/consumables is my go too. And the problem with the cheaper tig machines is duty cycle and you don’t get the advantage of all the awesome settings these new machines have.
 
NickBoyle said:
The machine is just as important as the rig you’re gonna use.
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Could you explain? I don't understand what you mean by 'rig' and 'machine'.
Do you mean that the unit plugged into the outlet is the 'machine' and the gun/torch is the 'rig'?
 
I think he's referring to the torch and cups. My everlast came with a tolerable torch and pedal but by no means good. For doing billets its perfectly fine. The torch is just bulky. Ck has nice small torches and very flexible lines.

Even the new Chinese inverters will give you pulse, ac frequency adjustment, slope, pre and post flow settings etc. On AC my everlast only goes down to 20 amp where as the red and blue machines I think go down to 5 or so. I'm no expert but this should matter for you unless you plan on edge welding aluminum.

One thing to look out for is the controls. A lot of machines have buttons or menus you have to scroll through. I prefer dials as it very easy to adjust and see what setting you're on.

Unless youre welding commercially or have money to blow... never mind. I won't go there. Welder topics are like Ford vs Chevy. Or maybe porche vs Ford if you get my drift.
 
I had to replace my Miller TIG machine recently. I went with a Canaweld machine, made in Ontario, Canada. It's very impressive, significantly better than my Miller was, which is saying something because the Miller was a Cadillac of a machine. The Canaweld customer service was really great, too.

It's square wave inverter, fully programmable upslope, downslope, frequency, pre and post flow for the shielding gas, everything.

With a TIG torch the price generally doubles (or more) if you want AC for aluminum. If you just want a DC torch, the Canaweld is priced very well, comparable to the high end Chinese made inverter machines. I got an AC/DC version because I need to weld aluminum sometimes. I recommend them.
 
Another option if you already have a DC arc welder you can so a scratch start TIG run off the arx welder. You cant weld aluminum without high frequency but still can do stainless and carbon steel. Its not as nice as a dedicated TIG machine but works well. A lot of open root welding and sanitary pipe is still done with lift arc TIG
 
I think you would be fine with a DC machine unless you plan to use it for aluminum. Outside of tool making I don’t see much aluminum in knives. A straight dc machine will be much cheaper. If you’re just welding billets and such you won’t need all the fancy settings in my opinion. Depending on which stick machine you have you can rig up a tig torch off of it and that might do enough for you. Now, once you start tig welding you’ll find how much nicer it is and may want a full ac/dc machine down the road. You’ll need a torch with a valve on it, tungsten, filler rod and an argon tank. This is a bare bones way to tig. You will have no on demand amperage control so you will have to stop if it’s too high/low. You will also have to scratch start so be careful with the torch just laying around. Again, it’s not perfect but is probably your cheapest option and might fit the bill.
 
I haven't bough one yet ( it is on my equipment list), but I have heard that the Harbor Freight OmniPro 220 (Chinese copy of the Miller Multimatic 220) is a good MIG, TIG, Stick welder for 1/3 the cost of the Miller. They also have some good dedicated TIG welders.
 
Mecha said:
I had to replace my Miller TIG machine recently. I went with a Canaweld machine, made in Ontario, Canada. It's very impressive, significantly better than my Miller was, which is saying something because the Miller was a Cadillac of a machine. The Canaweld customer service was really great, too.

It's square wave inverter, fully programmable upslope, downslope, frequency, pre and post flow for the shielding gas, everything.

With a TIG torch the price generally doubles (or more) if you want AC for aluminum. If you just want a DC torch, the Canaweld is priced very well, comparable to the high end Chinese made inverter machines. I got an AC/DC version because I need to weld aluminum sometimes. I recommend them.
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Tellm e more, model and price and stuff
 
I have a reboot brand dc tig, and it works well. No complaints so far.
 
Yeah sorry guys, rig is your torch. It makes a difference using a good one. Not sure what you plan to use it for but if any aluminum is gonna be done I’d be sure to get something you can switch to AC. Just easier that way. Never know when an atv exhaust needs fixed! Once we know what you’re gonna use it for, Then we can start to get into gas lenses, cup sizes, diffusers, tungsten type/size, filler wires, scratch start/pedal, blah blah blah
 
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