Welding Tips and Tricks

I'm enrolled in welding classes at my local community college, working on TIG. However, due to class & work schedules I'd like to be able to get more "seat" time (how do you get to Carnegie Hall?) away from class and am considering buying a TIG setup to achieve this at the house. I read through all the reviews on this site but would appreciate any input or recommendations (I already own a Miller MIG which I'm very happy with) from either the off-brands or the traditionals. I've looked into buying used on CL & ebay for months now, but there really isn't anything out there in my area, ebay seems to be full of new "buy-it-nows" priced higher than my local Airgas! I'd almost go the Harbor Freight route, get the warranty and look at the sunk cost as a extra tuition fee but the aluminum is the prob. there.

Here's my parameters:
- AC/DC, must be able to handle aluminum
- comfortably weld 1/8" with a decent duty cycle
- 208VAC is fine
- enough user control so I can experiment rather than relying on an automatic machine
- HF would be nice although I guess learning without would make for a better weldor with?

Thanks in advance for any help.

After I got out of school bought a dynasty 200dx air cooled out of my price range at the time but now worth every penny.

I was in need of a basic machine for working with very small steel parts. I almost bought a cheap horrible freight model but decided to do some on-line research. That's how I found this site. After a few weeks of looking at about everything on the market I bought a Everlast Power TIG 225LX. More money and machine than I initially wanted, I think it well handle anything I may ever want to do with it. I believe there is a review here at WT&T. Call Everlast sales, they well make you a good deal.

My first TIG is a Miller Divesion 165. Great simple little machine and will do up to 3/16"- .185 without any problems and it will do the .125 all day long with no problems, But I am selling it to get a bigger TIG now,( not trying to sell it here up for sale locally in Florida), going for an Everlast 256 because I need to do .250 aluminum now and the Diversion just not big enough . But for a beginner the 165 is a good little welder in my opinion.
Gary

Thanks for the input guys. I found an almost unused Lincoln TIG-185 on CL for $900 with a little home made cart with 20 tungstens. It welds beautifully, I've was running aluminum beads until the Texas heat forced me to retire for the afternoon!

Don't be so quick to undersell the smaller welders. Their rating is usually based around the use of straight Argon gas. Add a little Helium into the mix and you can make the smaller welders perform quite well.

My outake on it is that if you don't need it don't pay for it. I went with a big old Lincoln Precision 225 full dresser that I found on CL for 2000.00 with a water cooled torch. It was only about 6 months old according to the recorded date of purchase. As a full time Technology Director I get enough of pushing buttons and figuring out complex problems. I weld for myself only and I really like heavy metal. I wanted a machine with just enough bells and whistles to get me through my 2 hour evening mind meltdown and I wanted one with the majority of the components assembled in towns that I could find on a U.S. Map. Just a thing I have about keeping the bucks as close to my own neighborhood as I can.

If you're thinking about the Everlast's just make sure you do the research first. Read all the articles and then look around at comparable welders. You might be suprised to find that the same basic machine is being sold under several different brand names and for a wide range of prices. I don't know if it's any good or not, I backed off when I read about some of the problems with shipping and damages.

Do I crave a Dynasty 200DX full dress machine.. You bet I do.. Do I need one.. Not in my lifetime.. I'm 57 years old. If you're a young buck and considering a welding career and get a welding job you'll probably only use you own machine for emeregency repairs because once you've done it for a while it'll be the last thing you want to do when you get home at night.

Another thing to consider.... Look at eBay and CL and notice how well the Millers and Lincolns hold their value.. If you decide you want to upgrade later, you can, and without taking a big financial hit.

i own a miller syncrowave 200 with digital controls, its a small (in size) welder thats very affordable, i added a bernard watercooler to it with a ck-20 torch same size as the wp-20 yada yada

i think jody will agree that ive only been welding nearly 6 months now but i would consider myself a professional welder, i do it everyday for atleast 8 hours a day sometimes 12 hours and i work most every day including weekends owning your own shop is great aint it?

the syncrowave 200 is a great machine, esp with a water cooler you can weld a very long time before the fan even kicks on. its small enough that if i need to wheel it around my shop (which i hardly do) then you can do it easily due to its smaller size compared to the welder i should have bought....

the syncrowave 250 digital controls. if you dont mind space, get this welder if you can. it has a few more options to control the arc which would have come in really handy for me on alot of jobs

then of course you have the newer, smaller machines. which are expensive and i cant afford one so i cant give any feedback...the syncrowaves are very good machines and are very affordable. trust me...they hold up to daily abuse just fine

at my shop we have 2 syncrowave 200's used for stainless steel manifold production work, they are used daily and work awesome