What type of welder is required for different metals?
Like do you really need a tig welder for stainless?
What will weld cast iron?
Remember I am looking for what type of welding is used or can be used for the different types of metals.

Thank you.

 

Tig can weld anything.

 

Thanks for the reply!! Do you know if a Mig can do cast iron?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by matt_sb2000 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Tig can weld anything. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Can any tig welder weld anything? What do you need to tig weld thicker metal or different types of metal?

From what I understand if I wanted to weld aluminum not every tig welder can do that. Is this correct?


Thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bluebird &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks for the reply!! Do you know if a Mig can do cast iron?</TD></TR></TABLE>

yes it can.
i have welded a few external gates to cast honda manifolds (IE: HF/STD).
also, father works for honda of america and gave me a **** load of papers about welding, and they say you can weld cast, but need to pre heat and post heat welding (as in torch the manifold first, weld, and then keep the torch on it and let it cool very slowly).

 

thats correct.

Not all tigs can weld everything. Some tigs are DC only which means you cannot weld non ferrous materials (anything that isn't made of steel / iron)

others have AC/DC so you can weld all metals but are just old school AC and you cannot adjust the shape of the waveform etc etc... These are old school but work ok.

then u get into all the modern "squarewave" tigs and ****. I just ante'd up and bought one of these so i wouldn't have to deal with it again for the next couple of decades.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by pete98m3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thats correct.

Not all tigs can weld everything. Some tigs are DC only which means you cannot weld non ferrous materials (anything that isn't made of steel / iron)

others have AC/DC so you can weld all metals but are just old school AC and you cannot adjust the shape of the waveform etc etc... These are old school but work ok.

then u get into all the modern "squarewave" tigs and ****. I just ante'd up and bought one of these so i wouldn't have to deal with it again for the next couple of decades. </TD></TR></TABLE>

So this squarewave tig can weld both metal and aluminum?

Also if you don't mind me asking...What do these squarewave tigs start at for price range?

Also how big are the welders? Are they huge like you need a pick up truck to haul them around?

 

well there are two types really. There are the old school based, transformer tigs... Thats what i have. They have 95% of the features, cost half as much, but weigh a ton.

my small unit 180 sd weighs in at around 300lbs? +/- 50 or so i don't remember the exact # anymore.

It has a hook on the top so you can lift it with an engine hoist (lol)

there are some newer school models that are called inverter tigs... They are well under 100lbs. This is getting a little technical but basically, wall power is 60hz, my machine because it is a transformer you can verry the shape of the wave but the frequency is and always will be stuck at 60hz.

the inverter machines can vary this frequency up to a lot faster so you get a smoother ard and yada yada yada. I didn't think it was worth it and yes i've welded with both.

oh PS all this only matters when your AC welding on aluminum or magnesium DC is the same its just a tig.

180sd's (transformer, 180 amps, what i use) start at around $1200 + you need a good helmet , some spare torch parts, and an argon bottle (or two) so after all thats said and done my whole setup with 3 bottles, extra regulator for back purging a bunch of spare parts and a nice helmet i spent around $2k.

the inverter machines are around . just over 2k to start with... so you'll end up spending well over that to get setup.

http://www.millerwelds.com

All miller tigs i believe are ac/dc, even the econo tig, but i would go up to snychro 180 its a much better machine.

 

Thank you for all the answer's gentleman!!!

 

Another question with the tig welders. Can any tig weld through any thickness of metal? I am assuming no. What determines what thickness of metal it can weld?