TIG welder for hobby use

R

rotrax

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 Dec 2010
Messages
16,431
Location
South Oxon and Littlehampton.
Visit site
Since I retired 7 years ago I have used a very good local welder for my S/S, Alloy and steel welding. My MIG, Oxy Aceylene and stick welder went when we sold the motorbike shop.

I think I could use a hobby TIG welder, purely to keep my skills up and to be able to progress jobs in house-I have a fully equiped workshop apart from welding kit.

A look down the local Toolstation and on ebay has not helped much-the Toolstation guy's had never sold one so knew nothing about them and ebay TIG welders vary from £100.00 to thousands.

I am up to speed with MIG, gas welding and stick welding. I have only used a TIG once, modifying a brake pedal on an American Flat Track bike in the pits at Springfield. It was another competitors kit, powered by a Honda genny. Worked very well, neat weld, good apparent penetration, quickly done.

Anyone on here recomend something? Preferably with easy to get gas.

Thanks in advance.
 
You might look around this site: https://www.stahlwerk-schweissgeraete.de/en/home/

They give a five year warranty and people report back that problems are quickly sorted. Virtually any inverter stick set will do scratch start TIG, some come with HF start, which is nice. Good for Steel and SS.
I nearly plumped for a TIG/MIG/MMA/Plasma off them, but a decent MIG came along.
Of course, if ally is your thing, expect to spend more money :)

Have a read around the mig-welding forum, sections on all types of welding and where to find cheap gas.
 
I bought a Chinese -made 200A AC/DC TIG from Ebay and it's the best thing I've ever done, I just love it. I was a fairly skilled hobby stick and MIG welder already but TIG is just so useful and so much fun, fun, fun.
2 features I wouldn't do without are HF start and AC for aluminium but this does rule out a lot of the cheaper ones.

For gas I went with BOC's hobby deal which I think is under £60 p.a. rental for a Y size Pureshield argon. I just think of that £60 as my subscription to the 'weld anything any time you like' club and don't worry about whether or not it's the best price I could pay.
 
davidjackson said:
Oh no! You’ve not bought the plans to make an origami steel boat, have you? :)
Click to expand...

Now, now-you know me better than that!

I just costed out how much I have paid for small jobs-the latest 20 quid for two small welds on my Mk 2 outboard crane-and worked out I could have bought one by now. The convenience of having it ready to use when needed is perhaps the prime reason for wanting one.
 
My brother researched this and ended up buying an R-tech machine for home use, from a single-phase supply:

https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/welding-equipment/tig-welder/

They are basically re-badged Chinese machines, but they come with a 3 year guarantee, a UK service centre, excellent support etc. The features are of course comprehensive, all the usual slope-in, slope-out, pulses etc. Being a TIG set, you can of course use it as a stick welder if you feel the need.

He bought the machine second-hand and it had a minor fault, and they had it collected and returned within a week, not even a postage charge. If you read the various forums, their support is widely praised.

You can buy a very similar looking machine direct from China, but it may be worth paying the premium on the price for the excellent service and support.
 
I've now got an AC/DC R-Tech machine and as said they are good machines with excellent service and support. Even gave me an hours free tuition when I bought it. It was over £600 but at that stage I had gone as far as I could with my little Chinese jobby.
 
vyv_cox said:
I bought a Rohr TIG on Ebay. Not the cheapest, about £200 I think. Has been very good, particularly the autostart function that my previous one did not have.
Click to expand...

I've been thinking about getting a TIG with autostart and that's just within my budget. Is yours either of the HP-200PP or HP-160L? Found those on eBay for about the price you mention but they don't specify autostart, just high frequency start. Is that the same thing?
 
I've had several professional TIG machines, and only ever used HF start on them ... I think "autostart" is just a cheap version alternative to proper HF start with a single spark.

The advantage of true HF start is that on low current AC welding, you can opt for continuous HF, which keeps the arc alive in conditions where it would otherwise have died out.

I would avoid using a "lift start" tig, that is a step too far in the cheapness stakes.
 
Yes, lift start/scratch start is just another way for saying "we are too cheap to include a start circuit" ...

all the RTech machines are proper HF start as far as I know, if you go that route. Even the most basic of their machines has slope in, slope out, pulse, adjustable post-flow etc ...
 
Yes, most excellent channel. Check out "Mr Tig" as well, he's good. I've used one of his "tig finger" heat shields for many years.

As we are on the subject of TIG ... if any other welding-obsessed type is reading this ... I have a full pack of 3.2mm 316L tig rods ... which I seldom use. Would anyone want to trade a few kg of 316L 1.6mm for some 3.2mm?
 
Elbows said:
I've been thinking about getting a TIG with autostart and that's just within my budget. Is yours either of the HP-200PP or HP-160L? Found those on eBay for about the price you mention but they don't specify autostart, just high frequency start. Is that the same thing?
Click to expand...

Not at home now so cannot answer precisely. The machine is the 200 version. It is very easy to strike an arc on starting the weld but I do not recall the precise description. It is a vast improvement over the previous one I owned that did not have it.
 
Goingback to scratch start and lift start. The first is basic, a bit like using a stick welder, but the latter has a low out put to get the arc going, then raises the amps as soon as it is established. My basic DC inverter has this and I tried it a couple of times, before getting the ad-on box that gives HF and gas control.
Also know as 'soft start' as less likely to cause the rod to stick to the work.
R-Rech are still Chinese machines, but like everything, it is about quality control and paying for a decent after-sales service.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top