EFb18b

I wanna be like you when I grow up

I was wondering what you thought about this machine:

http://www.millerwelds.com/pro...0_sd/

Any input is appreciated.

teamlegacy

We have a MillerMatic 135 at work. It works well for the price, no complaints here. I'm assuming that machine will be awesome!

Full-Race Javier

not a bad machine to start out with. personally i would choose one of the inverter TIG's....mine is really quiet and small. in fact, we took it to the track once and did a few repairs on a couple of cars

AZFAB1

As javier stated inverters are now the hot ticket because of there capabilities and there compact size. I have never personally used one but I have seen some of the welds that they are capable of and they are impressive.

Sonny

Syncrowave 180
Thermal Arc 185 TSW

The Thermal Arc is an inverter based machine that's about 100 dollars more than the Syncrowave. I haven't used one, but it's supposed to be an incredible machine for the money (~1600). The support for Miller is amazing though...definitely one of the advantages of the Syncrowave.

Sonny

LSiTurbo

i was looking at teh same machine and it is an awesome peice. I did alot of research when buying a TIG welder. And i was looking in the price range of $1-2k.
I was thinking about what im gonna use the welder for when i get it. For one i wanted to learn on it and at the same time i wanted somthing i wasnt going to grow out of and have to buy another expensive machine. i also wanted somthing with AC balance(which the syncrowave 180 does noy have)for welding Aluminum. And just incase i ever wanted to weld up some thick stuff i didnt want to feel limited by amperage. So i looked at the larger machines like the 250. (i had my mind set on a Miller.)The 250 TIG runner kit is like $3300 or so from most places at a good deal. That was way out of my price range so i opted for a used machine. I shopped around for about 2 months and finally found one that met my requirements ... I wanted somthing complete so i could wire it up and start, nad i wanted somthing local also. My buddy Ray had purchased THE ONLY used TIG welder in the area(so it seemed, due to them being hard to come by for a good price) it was a Miller Syncrowave 300. He bought it and had it for about 3 months, barely ever using it cuase he is a busy guy much like myself. I told him all the time to sell it to me, i told him i would make time for it and put it to good use. A couple months later after he knew i was pulling my hair looking for a good deal he called me up and offered it to me for the price he paid for it due to him being short on funds at the moment. He got it from a local welding supply place and it was in awesome shape and i knew wher eit was coming from, so i ran to the bank and called a tow truck right away . I scored it for $1700 and i got everything with it even over $200 in wire and fittings and caps and what not. the power source is HUGE and old as **** too. The manual he has for it says 1976!!!! But i knew it worked and it had all the things i wanted on it, but not too much extra crap that would confuse me as a beginner. For how old it was it was very clean and the guy at the Welding shop told me it looked like it had very few hours on it. Ive been using it for about 2 months now on and off and am picking up on it well, Aluminum is hard though, but i can weld some mild and stainless steel like its nothin . TIGing is awesome and i recomend it to everyone. Anyway, if i wre you i would do what i did and get a used machine from a reputable place. this way you wont out grow it. Although i know a guy that uses that 180 and he produces some kick *** welds with it. Alot better then mine but im still a noob to it. i would just recomend a bigger, used machine over that one. Id like to see what some real fabricators and more experienced welders would have to say also....
good luck...

TIG
Miller

Racergurlie

We use all miller...Cant go wrong with Miller products...

Awesome resale value too on miller products, something thats overlooked when buying other brands, that may work just as well. If you ever need to upgrade, sell it and you wont loose much $$...

boosted hybrid

I love my Miller 180 syncrowave. If i had more cash at the time I would have picked up the Miller 250 syncrowave, but it was substantially more money.

B18CHatch

I have a Miller Syncrowave 180 as well and I love it. Like boosted hybrid I would have gotten the 250 if I had more money but my 180 does everything I need it to do. What do you plan on doing with the welder? (How thick, what kind of material) I was looking at an inverter kind of welder as well (Maxstar) due to it's small size and not needing to install a 220V outlet. But it does not have A/C output. For the money the 180SD is a great value.

accordking

My Lincoln 175 Pro hasn't given me one single problem. Though I would probably get a Miller if I were to go way bigger and water cooled.

Full-Race Javier

whats up Aka.....yup, the newer AC/DC inverter TIG machines are nice, worth the $

accordfreak

Is there anything cheaper than the Miller Syncrowave 180 that can weld something as good as this??

javierb14's welds

EFb18b

Thanks for your replies everybody. Javier, which inverter do you use? LSiTurbo, which place around us did you go to?

I pretty much have the same budget and story as Lsiturbo. I've been doing small mig, some O/A and mostly stick stuff at work on like 12in steel piping, copper tubing, and even galvanized sheet metal(outside with a scba). So I have a little welding experiance but none with tig and I would like to learn. I would like to start off doing stuff like manifolds, charge and exhaust piping and work my way up to like IC end tanks, valve covers and roll cages. So I'm thinking I should find me a good used 250 or 300 like Lsi or save my pennies(deer park 5 gal jug is my welder fund) a little bit longer. I thought the new 180sd came with ac control?

Also I'm trying to stick with Miller since I can get a special deal through the union with them


Modified by Redlineracer at 7:13 AM 9/17/2003

EFb18b

ok I talked to a guy at Robert's Oxygen today and he said I'd probably be happier with a Dynasty 200dx. What do you guys think?

Full-Race Javier

i have the miller maxstar 200sd.....i wished i would have waited for the dynasty models to come out when i bought mine. and mine is a DC only machine.

LSiTurbo

I goto Earlbecks Welding Supply for all my stuff. Thats where my welder was purchased.

Do you want to weld Aluminum?? that will be the deciding factor on wether you get a dynasty, maxstar, or syncrowave.

B94Cast

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by accordfreak &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
javierb14's welds

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Whoa! Beautiful welds... I cant even use a saudering iron that well...

Full-Race Javier

lol....you should see jon's welds

racerxadam

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Redlineracer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ok I talked to a guy at Robert's Oxygen today and he said I'd probably be happier with a Dynasty 200dx. What do you guys think?</TD></TR></TABLE>

If you can afford it, go for it. I couldn't afford it. best I could come up with was around 2750 for a ready to tig package less filler and tungsten.

EFb18b

The guy at Robert's said he'd get me(after talking to him for about an hour and a half) a dynasty 200dx w/the contractors kit w/foot pedel and a 60cuft tank of gas for just over 2500. Its a little over my budget but I am seriously thinking of just waiting 2 months and going for it.

Hey LSiturbo, where is that place?

SpdFrk

This is off topic but would anyone know what kind of welder i would need to use if i wanted to do some bodywork for my car?

Looking for a good affordable welder.

rjardy

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SpdFrk &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">This is off topic but would anyone know what kind of welder i would need to use if i wanted to do some bodywork for my car?

Looking for a good affordable welder.</TD></TR></TABLE>


MIG wirefeed.

Rob

rjardy

I have a technique question and didnt think it was appropriate to creat another thread for just this one question. I have a TIG welder and have only been welding tig for about a month. My question is, seing that I am right handed, should I hold the torch in my right hand and filler rod in the left? Or should it be the other way? Allso I should be working the tirch in the direction of the filler rod right? Like i have the filler rod in my left hand so I should be welding toward the left of the work piece? Thanks to anyone that can clear this up for me, I am just not getting good looking welds and I know my techique needs improvement. BTW all the welding is mainly mild steel. Thanks.

Rob

rjardy

BUMP up for an answer to my question


Rob

ross1459

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rjardy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a technique question and didnt think it was appropriate to creat another thread for just this one question. I have a TIG welder and have only been welding tig for about a month. My question is, seing that I am right handed, should I hold the torch in my right hand and filler rod in the left? Or should it be the other way? Allso I should be working the tirch in the direction of the filler rod right? Like i have the filler rod in my left hand so I should be welding toward the left of the work piece? Thanks to anyone that can clear this up for me, I am just not getting good looking welds and I know my techique needs improvement. BTW all the welding is mainly mild steel. Thanks.

Rob</TD></TR></TABLE>

sounds right to me

it's all just heat-dip-move-heat-dip-move-
the more repetitive and robotic you can do it, the more beautiful and robotic it will look
although looks can be decieving... you can't judge a weld by its looks. a friend of mine said that GTAW is overrated and that he didn't need to tig anything because his torch welds look just as good as my tig welds. so he gave me a piece, i compared it to my welds, and i'm guessing he uses too much oxy in the mix when he welds or uses dirty as **** rods cause his welds may have looked good on the outside, but they were porous like a sponge on the inside! i could crack them with 1 nice sledge hit... meanwhile, the NDT spray didnt find a single crack in my piece and when we cut it on the metal shear (after TRYING to break it apart) it looked textbook

if your joints are prepped and cleaned, and you're getting good penetration, i guess your welds will be good no matter how ugly your beads are.


back to the main topic, i love those inverter powered welders. they have lunchbox sized TIG machines that do the exact same thing with more features than my dinosaur econotig and off of single phase 110vac too!!!!

w00t! welding geeks own!