I want a TIG welder. I realize they are all over the $1200 mark, so "cheap" is obviously relative.

Which one is considered "best bang for the buck"? Ideally I only intend to buy ONE tig welder the rest of my life given they cost a good amount of money. This is for home shop use, cage fabrication, aluminum fabrication.... car stuff essentially.

Thanks

 

miller sycrowave 180SD ....

 

Lincoln PT185, most features for the money

 

that's what I have and its awesome, but the miller gets the job done and is cheaper

 

1500 bux on ebay. [damn cheap]

 

a used one might be signifantly cheaper, if you call around places that weld or shops. It worth a try if you are looking to save money or if you dont want to deal with the headache the syncrowave is goo also

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by phat51 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lincoln PT185, most features for the money</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats what we have... great welder with ALOT of bang for the buck

 

You should also look at the Thermal Arc 185(185amps) .
It's a inverter type machine runs on 220v does ac/dc tig and stick welding and weighs about 40 lbs.somewhere around $1700.00 complete
I bought a Miller dynasty 200(newbie in welding)it cost a little more but , runs on 110-440v weighs about 50 lbs. so I can take it any where.
When I was first looking for a tig I almost bought a syncrowave 180 untill I found out abot the inverter machines

 

Thermal Arc TSW185 i have it and love it.

 

I have the lincoln PT 185. I love it! got a great deal @ weldingsupply.com they ship directly from loncoln = fast shipping. the Lincoln has consistantly been cheaper by about 200.00 on every web site ive been on. Honestly between lincoln and miller, its like the old chevy or ford battle. they are both very good welding compaines, and every year each company comes out with a machine that is slightly better that the others. For example Miller came out with the syncrowave 180sd and 2 years latter lincoln came out with the 185, which is more feature full machine than millers and its cheaper than miller. but just wait till next year miller will one up lincoln, they go back and forth and hand and hand.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fulldragcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have the lincoln PT 185. I love it! got a great deal @ weldingsupply.com they ship directly from loncoln = fast shipping. the Lincoln has consistantly been cheaper by about 200.00 on every web site ive been on. Honestly between lincoln and miller, its like the old chevy or ford battle. they are both very good welding compaines, and every year each company comes out with a machine that is slightly better that the others. For example Miller came out with the syncrowave 180sd and 2 years latter lincoln came out with the 185, which is more feature full machine than millers and its cheaper than miller. but just wait till next year miller will one up lincoln, they go back and forth and hand and hand.</TD></TR></TABLE>

hey how much did you get your 185 for. i'm shopping for one right now, a local shop quoted me 1599 for everything but the cart and the argon tanks

 

i paid 1620 with shipping from PA to MD.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DEA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You should also look at the Thermal Arc 185(185amps) .
It's a inverter type machine runs on 220v does ac/dc tig and stick welding and weighs about 40 lbs.somewhere around $1700.00 complete
I bought a Miller dynasty 200(newbie in welding)it cost a little more but , runs on 110-440v weighs about 50 lbs. so I can take it any where.
When I was first looking for a tig I almost bought a syncrowave 180 untill I found out abot the inverter machines</TD></TR></TABLE>

How do you like the Dynasty 200? We have a syncrowave 250 at the shop, but I was thinking about getting a Dynasty for my garage. I used a Dynasty 300 at the last race welding a broken control arm and that thing welding great! It is the most expensive one miller has though.

 

Tony,

Check out the Thermal Arc Pro Wave 185. It has almost all of the features of a Dynasty 200, but it is $700 to $1000 cheaper than the Dynast 200. It is an awesome TIG unit! I just bought one a little while ago and I love it.

http://www.thermadyne.com/news...d=220

You can find the TA185 at these stores below. I bought mine from AAA Welding. They gave me great customer service!
http://www.aaaweldingsupply.com
http://www.brwelder.com/indexTemplate.cfm

John

 

Thanks John, i'll have to look into that one some more.

 

i can appreciate a portable good power tig welder such as the Thermal arc but arent we forgetting about lugging along the sheilding gas bottle and regulator. i would think if you want portable welding get a small flux cored mig, and forget the gas bottle.
I guess you could get a real small like 10 or 20 CU. FT bottle just for " outa the shop / portable" welding jobs but kinda sound like a pain in the but. gotta do what ya gotta do though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fulldragcrx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i paid 1620 with shipping from PA to MD.</TD></TR></TABLE>
i got mine for that price with the cart, ready to weld pak. sorry i didnt read you entire post.

 

fulldragcrx...Though my TA-185 is light (40 pounds) I did not buy it for the portability. The TA-185 has alot of features for the price. The unit is comparable to the Dynasty 200 and beats out the PT-185. Also since it is an inverter unit it will run full amperage on a 40 amp circuit. The Lincoln PT-185 needs a 60 amp circuit to run max amperage which is a high amperage circuit since most home users have a 100 amp service coming in the house from the street.

John

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1fastVX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">fulldragcrx...Though my TA-185 is light (40 pounds) I did not buy it for the portability. The TA-185 has alot of features for the price. The unit is comparable to the Dynasty 200 and beats out the PT-185. Also since it is an inverter unit it will run full amperage on a 40 amp circuit. The Lincoln PT-185 needs a 60 amp circuit to run max amperage which is a high amperage circuit since most home users have a 100 amp service coming in the house from the street.

John
</TD></TR></TABLE>
very true, it just seemed as though everyone on Honda-tech were recommending it cause it was so small and portable. I'm sure its a great tig machine but size should not be its biggest selling point.

 

my lil brother just picked up a used lincoln machine. its the equivalent of the 180sd, but i forget the model. works pretty well for the price which was about ~$500 including accesories minus the bottle.

btw, we just finished up a turbo miata project...same color as your avatar
http://www.full-race.com/Miata.html

 

what about an older hobart 250? i dont know any specs on it, just curious if anybody has any info on them.

 

what no ones gonna mention the diy alternator on a stick?

 

hey tony, i ahve a dynasty 200dx. and i like it. however, for thick aluminum its kinda too weak. it can weld up to 1/4 inch, but it doesn't do it well.

 

Anybody have or use the Dynasty 300? I think i might as well spend the extra and buy it, I'm gonna have it for a long time, might as well get the bigger one.

 

i've used the dynasty 300 too. pretty much the same as the 200dx feature wise, but shouldn't be limited to 1/4inch alum like the 200dx. i think with the higher end millers you cant really go wrong. they both have so many features, more than i know how to use lol.