A while ago someone mentioned that you can take a good AC/DC arc welder and get a strike tig gun for it. I am very curious to know of anyone that has done this and what the costs/benefits/aspects that suck, about creating a Tig welder this way.

I have an old Lincoln Stick coming that is very nice. Just trying to find out if the Tig gun is a good idea or not..


Any help is appreciated!!!




:D

Hmmmm, thats an interesting concept. I would like to see what the inputs from the welding gods will have to say about this!:skull:

he also posted it in general and got some good info.

That is a fact, Here is the link

Link (http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30268)

I posted it here in case metalmender had something to say.

:D

Originally posted by Jason M
I posted it here in case metalmender had something to say.
:D [/B]
I have used them many times and they work well but you might have to play with your amperage a bit to find a happy medium with out the foot control and the air cooled torch is rather bulky compared to a water cooled torch.

Check ebay for the tig torch and a high freq box if you want to get into aluminum, as I have scored some good deals there.

If you really want to do a lot of tig I would save some coin and try to find a Miller Dialarc HFP, I have had mine for 21 years and never had one single problem with it and it sees a lot of use.

my .02
rich

Thanks,
I do not think I will ever do a lot of tig or welding in general. But I figured this would be a good cheap way to get a solid welding system. I have a little mig right now, a premier on the cruiser and the big lincoln was free :D For a couple hundred I figured that I could be welding tig quality. Deep powerfull welds are what I am really looking for. The little mig does okay on light stuff.

Is the quality of a scratch start mig really not that much better?

Originally posted by Jason M
Thanks,
For a couple hundred I figured that I could be welding tig quality. Deep powerfull welds are what I am really looking for.

Is the quality of a scratch start mig really not that much better?

Check out welders direct:
http://www.welding-direct.com/srtigtorpac1.html

For $200 you can get a TIG torch, accessories and an argon bottle. Quality welds on intricate parts that look beautiful are what TIG excells at. The ability to weld all kinds of metals is pretty cool too. While you can do deep, powerful welds, you may need a water-cooled torch and you will find that stick or MIG can do this kind of welding faster.

If you look around, you may be able to find an older inductor style TIG welder for cheap. They are much cheaper used than the newer inverter machines because they are humongous and they consume a comparatively large amount of curent at idle. I got this 300A Linde Heliarc (w/o leads or bottle) for $220 and sold my buzz box for $100. It took another $300 to get the bottle, leads and torch set up.

<img src="http://members.home.net/cglabe1/photos/welder.jpg">

I have a TIG torch with a gas regulator and everything that you would need to hook the tig torch up to the bottle and arc welder for sale if you are interested. Send me an e-mail at ( mm14001@aol.com ) if you want any more info.

Jason H
this is what you would be looking for
http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1700389315

rich