I'm looking to buy a TIG welder and tube bender, can anyone offer any recommendations or advice?
Thanks in advance.
TIG Welder and Tube Bender Recomendations
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TIG Welder and Tube Bender Recomendations
Martin Walker
Buy a secondhand professional TIG rather than a new cheap one .
Get the biggest and most modern machine you can afford.
A foot control for adjusting welding current is almost essential.
If you're doing much welding on thick metal (say 6mm plus) you'll need a water cooled torch.
I got a modern versatile 350Amp TIG with water cooled torch , trolley, etc for about £1200 secondhand. It had a reasonably easy life with a racing car builder. THe dealer I got it from was incredibly helpful and gave lots of pre-purchase advice . He even delivered it , set it up , showed me the basics of how to use it , and hung around while I did my first weld. He also advised on and supplied a set of consumables. I'll dig out his details if you need them - he may be fairly local to you.
Get lots of practice - TIG is a little tricky. If you can gas weld, you'll have most of the technique, but will have to lose certain habits like flicking the torch away to reduce heat. In my opinion , MIG & TIG technique have very little in common.
For a reasonable sized TIG you'll need lots of mains power. Mine is 32A 3-phase, and uses most of it.
It also uses a lot of Argon. Although this may just be me having the flow rate set unnecessarily high.
Get the biggest and most modern machine you can afford.
A foot control for adjusting welding current is almost essential.
If you're doing much welding on thick metal (say 6mm plus) you'll need a water cooled torch.
I got a modern versatile 350Amp TIG with water cooled torch , trolley, etc for about £1200 secondhand. It had a reasonably easy life with a racing car builder. THe dealer I got it from was incredibly helpful and gave lots of pre-purchase advice . He even delivered it , set it up , showed me the basics of how to use it , and hung around while I did my first weld. He also advised on and supplied a set of consumables. I'll dig out his details if you need them - he may be fairly local to you.
Get lots of practice - TIG is a little tricky. If you can gas weld, you'll have most of the technique, but will have to lose certain habits like flicking the torch away to reduce heat. In my opinion , MIG & TIG technique have very little in common.
For a reasonable sized TIG you'll need lots of mains power. Mine is 32A 3-phase, and uses most of it.
It also uses a lot of Argon. Although this may just be me having the flow rate set unnecessarily high.
