17 replies to this topic

[dklawson]

All very true. However I don't regret my decision to buy one.

Regardless of the type of welder you purchase you are likely to find lots of uses for it that you didn't anticipate and then... lots of friends you didn't know you had.

[tiger99]

I am still learning to use my TIG. It is DC inverter, HF start, so does a really clean job on steel, but can't be used for ali, although it will weld copper. But for much the same price you can now get an AC/DC one now, which will weld just about anything.

Not sure that I would want to do major repairs to a shell with it, as MIG is much quicker, but it certainly can make strong welds which are very neat, and I find it can heat bits of metal to help bend them, just like oxy-acetylene. Brazing is possible too. (Just look at the cost of a reel of MIG brazing wire!)

Also, with a simple flick of a switch and swapping the leads, you have a nice, lightweight DC arc welder, much more controllable and easier to strike the arc than a cheap buzz-box.

You need pure argon with a TIG (argon-helium mix would be ok too), which is not quite as good as 95% argon, 5% CO2 for MIG welding (it does work), so using both ideally needs two bottles. But you also need two (twice the hire charge) for oxy-acetylene, which I don't like, nor do household insurance companies, for the same reason.

If I welded lots of different things and could only have one piece of equipment it would be an AC-DC TIG inverter, but if I only ever intended to weld car bodies it would be MIG with 95% argon. Gasless would not even be considered. If I was rich, I would also have a spot welder with lots of arms, and a plasma cutter.

By the way, the fumes from gasless can be a serious health hazard. MIG or TIG on clean metal (TIG only works on clean metal!) is relatively harmless.

[Shifty]

I hate gasless welders, spattery horrible welds, weld are slow to put down and just aren't nice to use.

Gas all the way.