MIG or TIG

[GQ Toy]

Can those that are experienced with this gear explain the advantages/disadvantages of a Tig over a Mig.
I have a good size mig ATM but can get a similar size Tig for a very good price. Just trying to decide if I should buy it.

Alloy welding needs to be considered as well.

Any help much appreciated.
Cheers

[bru21]

tigs for alloy are in the 5k price range - need to be ac. they are really easy to weld very clean alloy with but far harder than mig to weld anything with a scheric of contamination with (will not allow weld pool to fuse before dropping through) mig forces shit outta the way.

tigs are great for showing off welding skills as all welds look good, many pro's do a second pass just to tidy up!

Tigs are too slow for general construction and will drive you mad after the novelty wears off. things like fishmouths in tube have to be real accurate and unless you have a decent notcher, bridgeport etc will take grinder and filling to new levels.

they are so so good for tacking too as the tacks are strong and are not in the way later when the weld is migged.

I have both a ac/dc tig and a mig and the tig is stored under the stairs covered in shit at work so i don't trip over it in my shed (its a big one transtig 180) thats how much I use it

have fun

bru

[awill4x4]

I'm biased because I Tig weld all day every day but if you can afford both then get both. Bru is right, a name brand AC/DC inverter Tig is going to set you back about $5K+ but they are an awesome machine to use and if you get the fully featured models with pulse welding you can put down welds that will rock your socks off with LOTS of pratice.
What sort of machine is it your looking at and what sort of price? Post it here and I'll give you an honest appraisel of its capabilities, I've used a lot of the inverter Tigs (and transformer ones too) so I may be able to let you know what to look out for.
Regards Andrew.

[bru21]

what are the 1k trade tools ones like, looking at getting a toy for s/steel. big one is too much effort to use

cheers bru

[zagan]

I can't talk much about TIG welding but overall depend on what your wanting to weld.

If your not going to do much alloy, then you might be able to get away with a MIG as you can get Alloy wire.

MIG won't be clean though, TIG will be the cleanest out of the lot.

Also figure out what metal your going to be doing as TIG will do some metals that MIG won't even do jack on, chrome molly etc.

[def90]

NEVER touch a trade tools welder - GMC would be better!

I have bugger all welding exp, but bought one of there migs to learn on and took it home to play with that night only to have the wheels fall off, the gun was broken and wouldn't feed and the wire spool wouldn't tighten enough to stop it birdsnesting it was wobbling that much!!

took it back the next day to but a uni-mig, which they told me this and that and it isn't enough for what they told me either!! i was told it was a 170amp, but its a 150amp, and was told you only need 50amps per 1mm alum, but have since been told you really need a min. of 200amp to do alum.

another salesperson in tradetools told me never touch any of there welders as they are super cheap chinese poop!!

anyway thats putting a nice slant on my dealings with there welders!!

[GQ Toy]

I'm biased because I Tig weld all day every day but if you can afford both then get both. Bru is right, a name brand AC/DC inverter Tig is going to set you back about $5K+ but they are an awesome machine to use and if you get the fully featured models with pulse welding you can put down welds that will rock your socks off with LOTS of pratice.
What sort of machine is it your looking at and what sort of price? Post it here and I'll give you an honest appraisel of its capabilities, I've used a lot of the inverter Tigs (and transformer ones too) so I may be able to let you know what to look out for.
Regards Andrew.

Cheers,
It is a CIG machine not sure on size, think it is an inverter type, comes with watercooled handpiece for stainless. Mate has it, bought it in a bundle with a big 3ph MIG and Generator. I will have a chat and get more details off him

[bru21]

I swear by my unimig 240. have a 20amp outlet hardwired 32amp breakers etc, and it has stood up well prob up to 10-15 15kg rolls through it and still going without touching it. got an alloy kit too works well. wouldn't go smaller though as use it flat out often

[zagan]

I've used a few different MIGs for work, plus a couple Sticks as well I like having the black heat peal up off the weld after I've done a pass no need for hammers lol

Anyway, I havn't used a UNI-MIG but they look quite good have all the options (back-burn, pre-burn, stiching etc) but you'd want at least a 220amp welder just to get good penatration on 5mm to 10mm mild steel, no idea on alloy I'll have to get some scrap alloy one day, 220amp MIG will have enough heat for blasting through gal (bluescope rolled gal etc) if you ever do that, might take a couple passes on dipped gal though.


I can tell you UNI-MIGs are designed and made in Australia in melborune anyone telling you they are from China is pulling your leg or simply have no clue about welders, I noticed that when I was last at a trade tools.

however by the same token I find it really funny that you reckon GMC is better as there stuff is "Designed" in Australia but produced in china.

If you know what your wanting to do, then goto a proper welding shop and they will/should point you in the right direction.

Def90: I goto Perls at Moss St for my welding stuff, they are a nice bunch and know what they are talking about and can let you know what the right welder is for what you want to do.

hit up those people for some info on what you should be getting, you'll pay more for a welder from them though, I notice they have just gotten in the UNI-MIG welders and they are a bit dearer than the trade tool prices for UNI-MIGs.

They would also have used welders as well though that could be an option for you, as for welder they mainly deal in CIG and linclon/liquidarc welders.

Hope that helps.

[sudso]

Can those that are experienced with this gear explain the advantages/disadvantages of a Tig over a Mig.
I have a good size mig ATM but can get a similar size Tig for a very good price. Just trying to decide if I should buy it.

Alloy welding needs to be considered as well.

Any help much appreciated.
Cheers

If you dont know what the advantages of tig over mig are then wait until you get one and you'll wonder why you didn't get one sooner.
I've always had one to use wherever I've worked so I've never needed to buy one

The main use for a tig is to weld stainless, aluminium and other exotic metals.
Tig can weld a lot more variety of metals than a mig and give you better control over current flow etc. depending on the machine's features.

With a tig you can do good welds in any position or direction.

The welds look bling

A properly welded tig joint is stronger than a mig weld.

SOME DOWNSIDES: (yes there are some)

Tig machichines and tig welding consumables are expensive, especially if you want A/C as well to weld alu.

Tig welding is slower than mig because like brazing, you are heating, melting and adding filler wire.
Also the fit up of the joints to be welded has to have virtually no gaps or very small ones as it's harder to bridge the gaps with a tig.
Also the work needs to be well secured and sometimes over or under squared as tig welds pull the material around a lot more than mig welds do as it cools down, especially with stainless steel.

Material cleaniness cant be undermined with tig welding. All material foreign to the metal you are welding should be removed because the tig electrodes and welds are very sensitive to contamination and can make for a weak welded joint.

Tig welds on alu and stainless etc. usually require cleaning and polishing afterwards, sometimes using dangerous chemicals such as pickling gel for stainless for example. (contains nitric acid)

So all the above adds time to the job but the tig welder is a necessary tool for certain types of welding and definitely has it's place in the workshop.
If you can get one cheap I'd say go for it. You know you wanna
If you want to weld alu with it make sure it is an AC machine as well or you are wasting your time.

cheers, sudso

[MQSWBUTE]

i had me cozin do some welding for me today using a cigweld mig welder great job great finsh yea i dunno what else to say the chassis rail will snapp before the welds which i been told is a triple fillet weld looks great very happy with it next it the soa brackets to be welded then new cage and diff centres (for space when lockers fail)

[V8Patrol]

What Sudso said
X2


We had 2 tigs @ work ...... sold one off due to lack of use and kept the better unit.
We recently sold good one for much the same reasons, simply not the use in our situation...... I used it more for homies than work used it on customers jobs !

Kingy

[def90]

cheers zagan will go down and have a chat to them.

i meant only the 'tradetools' brand are crappy, I know the uni-migs are a good tried and trusted brand in welding, but they just sold me one too small for my application - and lied about the amperage (i should have double checked myself, i know)

[GQ Toy]

A delayed followup to this. It is a Transtig 180 AC/DC with normal and watercooled handpiece, all hoses. reg etc included for $800

[awill4x4]

Buy it for $800 and put it on Ebay, you should get $1200 to $1500 without any problems.
Regards Andrew.