Talk to me about: Tig Welders

Tig - Tungsten Inert Gas Welding.

Uses High frequency injected voltage onto a tipped tungsten rod to form an arc in with an inert gas (usually argon or argo-shield mix) surrounding the arc. Metal is added using welding rods in ta similar manner to gas welding.

There are two types. AC or DC. DC is for use on steel, AC for aluminium. Most cheap sets are DC only. Most sets are now a form of Motor soft start, this transmits the high frequency and carrier voltage to the tip. Starting and stoppling is either via a scratch start (as with MMA), a foot pedal or a push button on the torch.

Advantages:
Can weld all types of steel and dissimilar steels easily. Is very good with stainless and requires no change of wire. Can weld thick and thin metal. Also the torch can be used as a heat source for other types of coating. Can weld aluminium with an AC set. Very compact sets, small argon bottles will last a long time. Very neat, flat welds possible.

Disadvantages
Initally difficult to pick up. Required good co-ordiation and a steady hand. Argon can be expensive as can the better sets. Easy to make holes in thin metal especially with aluminium! Can be fiddly when in tight spaces as you have to feed wire in like a gas welder. Root run is as hard as nails and a curse word to grind off.

expierence
I worked in the food industry for years and became a good tig welder over time. It is hard initially, but there are exercises to do which improve you co-ordination with the torch and the rod. Holding the torch one handed is usually thr worst bit especially if, like me you do not have a steady hand. One tecnique is to put the cord over your shoulder to suport it's weight. Once mastered though, I found Tig a very quick and easy way to repair and make new welded components. even on thick steel and stainless to mild welds it flew through. Grinding the point back on the tungsten tip is a constant chore whilst learning. On steel it has to be sharp (rounded for ally) and once the point is gone the arc will not hold. You can use S Steel rods for most steels and they will form a strong weld and once expierenced the welds will be very neat and require little grinding back. Root run though is a curse word. The stalagmites of weld on the reverse side if you are not purging are as hard as old boots and grinding then takes a while. I found a quick run over with the torch delt with it better though.

If you want to see tig on cars, watch Americal Hot rod. Those guys use Tig all the time.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the input so far guys.

I'm not interested in doing ally - it'd be only for steel.

American Hotrod and Chopper are what got me interested!

I don't have a steady hand either - it's looking like a good mig is the way forward.