What welder should I buy Mig or Tig?

[MisterSteve124]

I have taken a beginning welding class on TIG and practiced a little bit and I would like to get more into it. Now that I am building a new still I am contemplating just buying a welder since I would have to pay someone a decent amount to do some various welds for me anyways. I'm hoping to buy a beginner unit and not pay too much. Maybe buy one used on CL or ebay. My question is what do you guys recommend? Since I have already done some TIG work that's what I'm leaning towards, but I know that MIG is a lot easier so I'm keeping my options open. I would probably just be welding stainless, my hope is to sometime over the summer try making a conical

[Husker]

I myself, actually thought TIG was easier than MIG. TIG was much slower, but it worked much like a torch (faster than torch). Tig works wonderful on copper. I know mig can also do copper, but I was not able to master that. Also, tig is by far, the best for SS. again, mig can do stainless, but you will be very very hard pressed to be able to do it as well as you can with tig, at least that was my experiences (which is limited).

H.

[MisterSteve124]

That makes sense. Now I will just have to work on trying to find a cheap TIG machine haha

[Prairiepiss]

I would do a search. There are some threads about TIG welding copper. From what I gather you don't want a elcheapo welder for copper. Well for stainless either. I've never tiged before. So I have been kinda following what is said. A little. But I'm no expert by no means. I'm just saying I would look at what others are saying around here before you make a choice on what TIG welder to buy.

[lrandall000]

I would always prefer a TIG, to a MIG. MIGs are great for production work cause it is a one hand operation(you can hold the parts being welded with other hand). But you have so much more control with a TIG, if you dont want more filler you dont have too. That being said MIGS are great for what they are meant to do. My next buy is gonna be a TIG/MIG machine, it is a MIG that has a TIG mode available, you will need inert gas(argon/helium or at very least nitrogen).

[MisterSteve124]

how large of a tank would you say I'd need? Is say 5lbs big enough?

[lrandall000]

how large of a tank would you say I'd need? Is say 5lbs big enough?

Depends on how much ya doin. a 5 lb of argon would be fine for making a still with TIG.
here is a good site from Miller to break down the pros and cons of each(hope I am allowed to post links)
http://www.millerwelds.com/resources/ar ... lding-farm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[lrandall000]

You said you are taking a welding class, any chance you can use the professional grade equipment they have in the class, otherwise it might be more economical to pay a professional welder to do it.

[MuleKicker]

I bought a cheap tig on eBay a few months ago. About 450. It tig , arc, plasma cuts. All I have used so far is the plasma cutter. Seems to work. Just gotta get the gas bottle to do tig. Haven't got that far. There is a lot to welding food grade pipe. Like you have to plug pipe and fill with gas so inside of weld doesn't oxidize. Prolly takes some practice, that's all.

[RumBrewer]

Some of the Miller TIG units come with a MIG gun. Best of both worlds!

[Husker]

That makes sense. Now I will just have to work on trying to find a cheap TIG machine haha

That IS one of the problems with TIG. A machine that is decent is NOT cheap.

[MisterSteve124]

You said you are taking a welding class, any chance you can use the professional grade equipment they have in the class, otherwise it might be more economical to pay a professional welder to do it.

Unfortunately they are pretty picky with what you weld. They mostly just let us use test strips, and it is at a local college so you aren't supposed to use it for anything other than a school project or just practice.

If I would be welding a ferrule and a coupling to my keg, I would have to find a way to fill the inside of the keg with argon and have it hold it while I was welding it correct?

[MuleKicker]

You said you are taking a welding class, any chance you can use the professional grade equipment they have in the class, otherwise it might be more economical to pay a professional welder to do it.

Unfortunately they are pretty picky with what you weld. They mostly just let us use test strips, and it is at a local college so you aren't supposed to use it for anything other than a school project or just practice.

If I would be welding a ferrule and a coupling to my keg, I would have to find a way to fill the inside of the keg with argon and have it hold it while I was welding it correct?

Or...... A test keg???

I agree, it would most likely me more economical to pay a pro welder if your only going to do it once..... But I can see mrsteves future..... kick ass stainless flutes and other goodies. I can see the benifit of learing to tig weld and investing in the welder. If you got the time and money, I say go for it

[moonshine guy]

A tig welder gives you the best control on you bead and is slower than a mig. The mig is great on long welds, so if you want nice clean controlled welds then the tig is the way to go!

[MuleKicker]

A tig welder gives you the best control on you bead and is slower than a mig. The mig is great on long welds, so if you want nice clean controlled welds then the tig is the way to go!

TIG! Sounds perfect for building a still

[MisterSteve124]

Alright thanks guys I'm gonna keep my eye open for an affordable TIG and give it a go

[johnhopper1957]

If I would be welding a ferrule and a coupling to my keg, I would have to find a way to fill the inside of the keg with argon and have it hold it while I was welding it correct?

TIG is the only way to go for stills, it is gentlemans welding.

As for your question couple of ways of doing it, fill keg 90% with water then argon as a shieling gas on the back of the weld - Argon is expensive do you really want to fill a 50 L vessel with argon?????

second option put copper plate on the back of the welded surface i.e the inside of the ferrule you are welding.

Third option (you need a bit of experience) set your amps so there is no penetration of the weld - it just needs to seal your not pushing a 1000 PSI through it use a lot of filler wire to keep the weld pool temp down and do a practice run prior on some plate.

Another thing tac on 4 sides, wet rag to cool it back down, then 1/2 inch welds on alternate sides cooling with wet rag after each run to prevent warping.

You can get good results with a $300.00 TIG but it is hard to do it consistently, you also won't be able to do thin material (that said I welded up a cup size coffee maker on the weekend with a $300.00 welder) for $7000.00 to $10 000.00 you can get a very nice preset and programable welder with memory settings- I want one but won't be getting one.

[OlympicMtDoo]

Thinking about buying a tig for my grandson, he's becoming a pretty damn good welder, let us know how the one you bought on e-bay works when you get the gas hooked up Mulekicker. OMD

[Prairiepiss]

I know its usually cheap China stuff. But has anyone looked at the new165 amp digital display inverter TIG/ARC welder from Harbor Freight?
$399 for a 165 amp welder. It does have trigger start. It doesn't have a foot pedal but does have a adjuster reostat that one could make a foot peddle and connect in place of the adjustment knob? Just looked and there are some information on making the mods already around the interwebs. It's just a thought. I've been watching Craigslist and TIGs in my area are outrageous and still go quick.

http://www.harborfreight.com/tig-mma-in ... erralID=NA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[aliced]

Tig!

If you are going over 80amps welding all the parts for a still there is WAY too much heat!

Tigs are versatile because you can run an arc lead out of most of them if you need to.

Migs are a good option if you are doing alot of welding, day in day out, but for small scale operation a Tig is the one.

They are not hard to use and the best thing I can tell anyone starting out is not to be scared, you can't really break anything.

The was an old saying something like

"Any good welder perfected the angle grinder and the scrap bin before perfecting the weld!"

[aliced]

I know its usually cheap China stuff. But has anyone looked at the new165 amp digital display inverter TIG/ARC welder from Harbor Freight?
$399 for a 165 amp welder. It does have trigger start. It doesn't have a foot pedal but does have a adjuster reostat that one could make a foot peddle and connect in place of the adjustment knob? Just looked and there are some information on making the mods already around the interwebs. It's just a thought. I've been watching Craigslist and TIGs in my area are outrageous and still go quick.

http://www.harborfreight.com/tig-mma-in ... erralID=NA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

You shouldn't need to use a foot pedal really, not for the type of stuff I imagine you would be doing.

There are lots of bells and whistles that go with welding, most of them are a crock

I can give y'all a crash course over the boards if you like

[mash rookie]

It really comes down to what you will be welding most. I could not live without my MIG. I weld a lot of mild steel and I actually prefer to weld stainless withy my MIG.

I bought a cheap TIG for $1,750.00. That is cheap for a TIG. It is DC and AC. You will want the AC if you will ever need to weld aluminum. It has a short duty cycle and will heat up and shut down if you try to do very much. It is great for small projects and a necessity for occasional aluminum repairs.

TIG is often called “Gentleman’s welding” because it will do very fine delicate welds. edit to add. I see Johnhopper beat me to the gentlemans comment
If you are going to use it on a hobby level a TIG will be more versatile. If you can afford a good machine it will be worth the price. Buy an AC/DC machine.

[spmachine]

I miged for 20 years until I bought a nice big tig machine. I sold the mig to my brother within a week. I got the hang of it in a remarkably short amount of too. My still was my first stainless project. Bite the bullet and buy the tig. it is truly a do all machine

[johnhopper1957]

It really comes down to what you will be welding most. I could not live without my MIG. I weld a lot of mild steel and I actually prefer to weld stainless withy my MIG.

I bought a cheap TIG for $1,750.00. That is cheap for a TIG. It is DC and AC. You will want the AC if you will ever need to weld aluminum. It has a short duty cycle and will heat up and shut down if you try to do very much. It is great for small projects and a necessity for occasional aluminum repairs.

TIG is often called “Gentleman’s welding” because it will do very fine delicate welds. edit to add. I see Johnhopper beat me to the gentlemans comment
If you are going to use it on a hobby level a TIG will be more versatile. If you can afford a good machine it will be worth the price. Buy an AC/DC machine.

You can have aluminum - I hate aluminum lol.

[heynonny]

Another good thing one can do with TIG welders is: if its dedicated Tig welder, you can still (stick)arc weld with it. Get the largest tungsten collet that will fit in your torch, thats the size you can weld with. Turn off the gas and weld! You 'still' have to pay attention to current, duty cycle etc.
FWIW for me it was not the easiest transition to tig welding, I was VERY frustrated at first, a welding class would have helped. I kept looking at torch mounted controls, but a friend (welding manufacturing) talked me out of that, ' said you only use that if you absolutely cannot put your foot on the pedal. Part of my learning curve, now I totally agree.
I have welded copper (1/2" & 1 1/2") (1/2" here 1st pic)=
http://homedistiller.org/forum/viewtopi ... =2&t=12059
!/2" and i set welder at 185 amps (max) just to get the copper hot!
Dont get too cheap of a unit tho, , , -hey-

[mash rookie]

I miged for 20 years until I bought a nice big tig machine. I sold the mig to my brother within a week. I got the hang of it in a remarkably short amount of too. My still was my first stainless project. Bite the bullet and buy the tig. it is truly a do all machine

I gave away my stick welder when I got my MIG. It is damn nice to have both. There has been a few times I have gone over a MIG weld with my TIG just to sweeten it up.

[emptyglass]

You'll probably want an AC/DC machine with high frequency (push button) start, with up slopes, pulse and down slope. An optional pedal as well.

You'll probably afford a dc tig with scratch or lift start.

Lift start is not too bad when you get the hang, but it can still leave arc strike everywhere.
Most cheap tigs come with an arc handpiece and an eath lead. The regulator, gas bottle and tig hand piece are usually extra. Look for one with as many extras thrown into the deal.

Try and afford one with a hot start. Invest in a good quality self darkening helmet. They are pretty cheap these days. It will give you another level of profesionalism. Grab some spare collets for the handpiece from the same place you buy it. 1.6mm thoriated elecrodes are good for about 90 amps, plenty good for still work.

If you want to lash out, you can get clear gas sheilds for the torch, really lets you see whats going on.

Save the mig for bodywork or steel frames.