Hello fellow fettlers , its been a while since i was here

Has anyone any experience of buying a tig welder prices seem to be all over the place.

i have decided perhaps unwisely to make my own headers for a rover turbo project i'm building and as the cost of getting someone to make a pair of manifolds is going to be costly i thought i would have a crack myself...

I wouldn't mind having a go at simple ali welding so something that does ac and dc i guess is what i am after

Thanks in advanced

have a look at the r tech website, great bunch of guys, i have one of their mig welders and its fantastic and produces lovely welds and their customer service is fantastic

EDIT: here is the website link thing click on me

[Edited on 5/12/11 by tomgregory2000]

Look in the for sale section, there's one there.

MIG is easy, but I didnt find TiG easy, plus it needs argon gas (expensive). Personally I'd get a MiG and get tig's stuff done by a local fabricator for the amount it might get used.

i have just got a cobal ac dc 200 amp tig it comes with 12 month warranty and also parts is not a problem ross at cobel is very on the ball and helpful as i have found out my self my tig came by city link with a large dent it was no problem ross said he would have it picked up and a new 1 on the way big thumbs up for cobel from me good set of people and stuff at a good price as for it working well well it does very well im not a tig welder but it came out the box and did some nice welds strait away also very much like in a big way eastwoods tig 200 ac dc unit i would recommend the guys at drummend trading /cobel as its very good value as we can not all afford millers or Lincoln stuff hope this gives you some thing to look at as tigs are a dear bit of kit cheers paul

Had my Chinese 200amp giant ac/dc Tig for a year and no issues so far . Does eat gas but has paid for itself In alloy wheel repairs . The people who sell cut 40 plasma cutters carry spares and have fixed price . Done 1inch thick ally plate but as the torch isn't water cooled I wouldn't expect the torch to cope with sustained 200 amp a/c use for long .

I did my spaceframe with Tig and using the slope and torch trigger made some nice welds but for general fab work on the car mig Is loads easier .

One weird thing I find with the a/c side of my machine I's I do a couple of inches weld on a scrap piece then straight onto the bit I'm welding and get a really clean weld every time . The cheap kits don't have much control on the hf side but having dedicated stainless brush and a grinder that only gets used on ally helps no end .

Frost UK are selling one with pedal and torch for £600. Eastwood welder, are you feeling lucky.

Thanks for all the really useful info chaps


So in summery it looks as if £600 is the starting point for something useable , i would like to know how much i might have to pay for the gas, i guess if its stainless im trying to weld then that's a tri mix?????

Thanks again

Straight Argon for Stainless, Aluminium and mild Steel. No need for fancy mixes for home work only for building nuclear power stations and jet engines sp don't get bogged down with people telling you you need Helium and Oxygen or something else that costs 3 times as much.

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Originally posted by Julian B
Thanks for all the really useful info chaps


So in summery it looks as if £600 is the starting point for something useable , i would like to know how much i might have to pay for the gas, i guess if its stainless im trying to weld then that's a tri mix?????

Thanks again

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