TIG Welder

[railroad]

I see where Miller is running a sale on their Tig Syncro 200 with running pack at a local supplier. I am not a prof welder, but have access to someone who can do the critical and pretty stuff. I have a 100 amp wire and an old huge stick welder, and access to a heavier wire welder. I am considering buying the Tig. It welds .020 up to 1/4 inch material. I don't think this can be too bad a buy, unless you experienced guys know something else about the product. I am all ears guys. Thanks for any advise.

railroad

"measure it with a stick, mark it with chalk, cut it with a torch"

 

[donsrods]

I bought my Son Dan one for Xmas a couple years ago because all the research I did said they were excellent. We already have a Miller 210 Mig that has welded miles and miles of welds and has been flawless, so I got the 200 Sychrowave. He has only used it a couple of times because he has become so comfortable with his Mig and wants to finish this car and then spend some time learning to Tig, but the little he has used it he likes it a lot.

Here is where I bought ours, how does this price compare with the local deal?

http://store.cyberweld.com/miactigwesys.html

You won't go wrong. Oh, spend the extra $ 150 for the roller version, this baby is heavy.

Don

 

[railroad]

Don,

The sale price is only $20 less than the site you listed. I would buy local, just to have the connection, but that is a good price.

thanks,
railroad

 

[mikesplumbing]

If TIG is what you really want the 200 and 250 class miller offers is a great machine. Before I started my own business I used the 200 (i think) to do some welding for a customer and I was impressed considering it's a smaller type machine. Miller did a great job bundling the performance for the money.

One thing to consider is many times, if you keep your eyes peeled, those machines can be had for a very deep discount offered by companies like Praxair etc. About 4-5 months ago I was at my local Praxair dealer in Milwaukee and they had one marked down $700. Just a thought.

Mike

 

[Brucer]

I bought a lincoln 180c and a thermal dynamics arcmaster 185 tig.. Bought both from indiana oxygen..
Free shipping and best prices I could find anywhere..
A suggestion for the tig, buy a cooling unit and torch if you plan on doing a lot of long welding... Also I like the bendable torches with the finger control.
Both welders I mentioned have been great and smooth machines..
The tig unit i'm amazed with, love it and would buy another product from thermal dynamics.

 

[Brucer]

Also if your real cost effecient, you might check into converting that old arc welder to a tig. A lot of those old brutes of arc welders make damn good dc tig welders...

 

[railroad]

Looks like Ind Oxy has the best price so far. I will see if the locals can match, out the door. Ind has it with the cart for less than 2200. Tax here would be $220. Ind offers free shipping, which will put it anywhere that I can unload it.

Thanks for all the good advise and recommendations.

railroad

 

[benT]

Looks like Ind Oxy has the best price so far. I will see if the locals can match, out the door. Ind has it with the cart for less than 2200. Tax here would be $220. Ind offers free shipping, which will put it anywhere that I can unload it.

Thanks for all the good advise and recommendations.

railroad

I highly recommend Indiana Oxygen. We have bought our Miller Mig welder and Plasma cutter from there.

 

[Tbucket425]

You won't be one bit sorry if you get one. I got mine (Syncrowave 200) three years ago at a Miller booth during Hot August Nights at a show price of $1600.00 and that included the cart and all. Liked the deal so much that I upgraded to the larger bottle, a flex head and a fingertip control plus some extra consumables. Total of $2200.00 and picked it up the same day at our local Praxair Dealer. First project; $58.00 worth of 16 Ga. cold rolled steel = 2 - 11 gallon fuel tanks for Moms Model A pickup!!! Saved about $400.00 by building my own!! I love that machine and you will too!!!
Best Regards
Tbucket425

 

[railroad]

Thanks for the update. Since finding the good prices from Ind Oxy, I have not pursued the sale. I still intend to buy it, but sorta waiting on 2 checks to come intogether so it will not leave me broke until the next pay day. I need to research the extras you got and make sure I get them at the same time. I know to get the cart, by some advise of another member. You guys have saved me at least $200 on the purchase, just in taxes.

thanks,
railroad

 

[bobscogin]

I bought a lincoln 180c and a thermal dynamics arcmaster 185 tig..

How do you like the Arcmaster 185? I'm trying to decide between that one and a Miller Syncrowave 200. Two very different technologies and I'm wondering how they compare.

Bob

 

[mikesplumbing]

The Miller has really earned a great reputation with that machine and out sells lincoln in the tig department. BUT......I will say this, I have always owned Millers and love everything about them but I have used lincolns over the years and they are great machines also. It comes down to what you feel comfortable with. One thing you can do is contact each company and ask them for a show schedule. Both companies have crews of sales reps and they give demos at car shows, airplane shows etc. Just tell them you want to try it out and they would be glad to help. Sometimes when you can feel it in your hands you can get a good feel about what your comfortable with.

I like blue because that's what I grew up with and had never had any problems. If you talk to red people they will say the same thing I suppose. So what's your favorite color?

Mike

 

[Screaming Metal]

I see where Miller is running a sale on their Tig Syncro 200 with running pack at a local supplier. I am not a prof welder, but have access to someone who can do the critical and pretty stuff. I have a 100 amp wire and an old huge stick welder, and access to a heavier wire welder. I am considering buying the Tig. It welds .020 up to 1/4 inch material. I don't think this can be too bad a buy, unless you experienced guys know something else about the product. I am all ears guys. Thanks for any advise.

railroad

"measure it with a stick, mark it with chalk, cut it with a torch"

One thing nice about the TIG's now adays is that usually when you get the TIG, you get all the stuff to stick-arc also..........all you do is 'unplug' the TIG line and plug in your lead for standard welding.........

I like the machine you speak of.....they've got alot of adjustment and For any small shop.....would do great.

If your new machine can TIG @ 185 amps........you can stick at that.....but not for long as the machines like that will have a fairly low duty cycle........as compare to , lets say........an IdealArc 250........whick can weld at 185 all day! I tig about 2 to 3 hours about everyday or every other day with one of these machines, its a Square Wave Tig 175 Pro.......has been going strong for the past 6 years...........

The TIG/stick combo's are nice........quality machines........just shop around...........

I like both Red and Blue......I'm more partial to Red cause I was brought up on them..........

I think......If I'm not mistaken......one of them.....I believe its lincoln has a Tig and mig special........one stacks on top of the other.......If you got that.........you'd be getting 3 machines in a single package.........just a thought .........if you were gonna spend the money for a quality setup...........

 

[Brucer]

How do you like the Arcmaster 185? I'm trying to decide between that one and a Miller Syncrowave 200. Two very different technologies and I'm wondering how they compare.

Bob

sorry i didnt get back sooner..

i will put my arcmaster 185 up against any other tig welder of its size even a 200amp machine.. its a very impressive machine.. when i was looking at a tig machine i did alot of digging i found alot of different opinions on tig welders, miller, lincoln,thermal arc, hobart were the 4 brands i kept seeing i could never find a bad review about the arcmaster, actually indiana oxygen put me on it first,then i started looking on the web at different welding forums and such.. i couldnt find anyone saying anything bad about the thermal arc... when i finally dropped the hammer on the purchase it was between the lincoln and thermal arc, actually whichever salesman i got at indianaoxygen told me to try the thermal arc machine i would like it.. he was wrong.. i love it..

 

[Streetwerkz]

I have all Lincolns and love them.
never had major problems, and when I need maintenance parts I can usually have my machine up and running within an hour via the 3 local welding supply stores.

I have used Miller, and Hobart and would say they werk a little differently, but just as well. I would attribute it to the difference in designers, nothing major.

I'm not sure about Hobart, or Miller, but Lincoln I 100% manufactured in the USA (where I went to welding school).
no matter what you buy, support a fellow American, and help feed their family!!

 

[oldtman]

We have a lincoln sp 200 wire feed., big and heavy.but welds good. an Airco stick-tig that was surplused from the college. good for stick but it's old and I have to hand crank to control the amps. HF is nice when stick welding but with out a foot pedal amp control it's hard to do thin stuff. I looked at a miller synchro wave 250 last week. the guy has a water cooled torch set up but it needs a pump. still waiting for him to get it running and a final price when it's all together. should be about $ 1 K with operating water cooler and bottle. I thought that was a good price. My sons 110 v flux wire feed craped out and the old lincoln 4 cylinder gasoline powered needs work. I have to take time to keep everything running before I can get back to the roadster.

 

[Youngn]

If you know how to tig weld and the adjustments on the welder try finding one used. I picked up my syncorowave 200 about 4 months ago for $1000 with cart and bottle and flexhead torch. Hust make sure you test everything out and use all the adjustments before you hand over the money.

 

[Old Rotor Flap]

I have a Lincoln Square Wave 255 I bought about ten years ago or so.

I would have purchased a Miller except their pulser was a $400.00 option. Standard on the Lincoln.

I made my own water cooler. It has a Procon pump that mounts directly to an electric motor - a motor with that syle face mount. The cooler uses one of those aluminum radiator things out of an auto air conditioning system (I don't know what they're called) and a small Dayton squirel cage blower and a five gallon plastic bucket, water and a little anti-freeze.

My tips for learning to TIG weld;

1. Weld near your bench grinder. When you 'dip the tip' you'll be regrinding a lot.
2. Grind up several tungstens and change'em when you #1 above.
3. Put the helmet down before you step on the pedal - this is important especially if you want to watch TV later on.
4.Save up and buy an auto darkening helmet. Get one with more than one sensor. One or two sensor could be blocked when your welding in close and somesthing blocks the sensor(s).

 

[RPM]

I chuck my tungstens in a drill to sharpen them. Gets a real nice point with the grind marks going in the right direction.

 

[Old Rotor Flap]

I chuck my tungstens in a drill to sharpen them. Gets a real nice point with the grind marks going in the right direction.

Me too RPM and then I touch the sanding belt with the very tip of the tungsten to put a tiny flat spot on it.

I use a six inch expander wheel and and belts on a bench grinder.

I don't bother with a dedicated grinder just for tungstens. I save one belt for electrodes. On the rare occasion where I've welded titanuim I've used a fresh belt to sharpen the tunsten.

Rather then a dedicated grinder, a dedicated belt is cheaper and gives me the psychological assurance that I'm being careful. It's more important to use the right tungsten for the material. I learned not to drind both ends of a tungsten because I lose the color marking.

By the way, in ten years I've broken two ceramic cups, so don't buy a box of'em when you buy your welder.

One more suggestion. Get gas lenses and cups. much better argon blanketing.