[CMerlin]

Good day all,
Being the fix everything guy in the shop I really need help with my tig skills or lack there of.
The 4 decade old tig unit I have now sucks, There was one guy who used to work in the shop who was a good tig welder and he could not even get an arc started half the time and he did it was very un stable.
I did achive a small victory that might help, got permission to buy a new / good used unit. Budget however is about 3200.00

It is not going to be production unit so duty cycle can be low, materials vary from stainless to alloy steel, nothing exotic and Al 3/8" would max, more often 1/8-1/4" on all above mentioned materials.

I like long walks on the beach, sun sets, and good conversation What it said introduce yourself!! Seriously though what would be some recomendations for an invter unit. I can stick fairly well after little warm up. I have a beast of a lincoln mig which I like. I have heard the addage that miller is fer drinking and lincoln iss fer wlding. Any truth?

[cj737]

Sounds like a Lincoln bigot puked out that adage...

Outside of the 3/8” aluminum, a good multiprocess box would be my recommendation. Miller MultiMatic 215, or the Lincoln MP210. Both will stick, TIG, or MIG, and run a Spoolgun for Aluminum. Though I don’t think either would weld 3/8” aluminum under MIG Spoolgun. Even with a TIG, 3/8” aluminum will need a 250 amp box minimum.

But both of these boxes are lightweight, “maintenance work” perfect, and either weld their balls off all day long. Well under your budget too. With some prep, preheat, and chamfering, you could get the 3/8” done, but not in a single pass.