Heres the deal. I'm trying to figure out what i need to get for my father for a scratch start tig setup for a fathers day gift. I know a bit late for it to be shipped in time but better late then never right? lol
So i know he has a miller gas powered welder. Probably a 250 or 300 amp stick welder and a argon bottle. I my self know very little about tig so im hoping you guys can give me a idea of a decent torch setup and regulator for the argon. Also i wanted to make sure and give him a verity of tungsten. Or atlest a good general size to get him started. Also is there Anything im forgetting here?
More importantly, if you want to give dad a welding-related gift (Good idea, with the information you've posted!) it's way too late for a "ship-in". Find a MAJOR welding supplier in your area, like Praxair, AirGas, or Air Products, not "Joe's welding supply", and talk to someone. Try all three. Someone will understand where you're coming from, and make a deal for you.
We can offer you tons of sources, but to buy online and get it before/on Fathers' Day will cost you easily as much as sourcing it locally.
Consider, if your local supplier doesn't have what you have in mind "in stock", asking about a gift-card.
"Happy Fathers' Day! Here's $200 to spend on whatever you want!"
Sad to say going local means about a hour drive to a welding shop that like to give me incorrect or junk and are pretty hard to deal with people. Not really a place i would like to go for this. Actually they have annoyed me enough that i decided to go threw another company for my own welding supplys that delivers everything about once every 2 months. costs more and the wait sucks but i guess i never asked him if they sell stuff like this. I think they only sell consumables. But he wont be around for another 4 weeks. Also the other problem is at some point it will have to ship threw the mail as dad lives 8 hours from me in another state.
One more thing is i was incorrect on the welder he has. I didn't know he got rid of the miller and now has a lincoln ranger 10,000. I asked the model number attempting to not give away the reason i want to know haha I think it worked. If i can get it online would probably be easier.
EDIT the local welding shop i talked about actually is a "joes welding" type of place. Most the shops around here use a service like the snapon tool truck for there welding supplys. They come out of the city 3 hours away and deliver stuff out in this rural area once a month or like the one i found every 2 months. you just get your self added to the delivery locations and they stop by ever month or 2.
I bought one of these and I love it. Combine one of these with a stubby gas lens kit from HTP, the HTP flowmeter someone else mentioned, and some 3/32 2% lanthanted tungstens and you will be off to the races. I have been using my with my Hobart stickmate welder, and it has stood up pretty well so far. http://www.amazon.com/WP-17FV-12R-Compl ... f=pd_ybh_2
Louie1961 wrote:I bought one of these and I love it. Combine one of these with a stubby gas lens kit from HTP, the HTP flowmeter someone else mentioned, and some 3/32 2% lanthanted tungstens and you will be off to the races. I have been using my with my Hobart stickmate welder, and it has stood up pretty well so far. http://www.amazon.com/WP-17FV-12R-Compl ... f=pd_ybh_2
Yea i was looking at that one. didn't know how good they was. was also looking at the 200amp one just incase he would need that high of amps. Thanks for some feed back on that
I also have a stickmate. so far a decent little machine.
Drifta-X wrote:What's your budget?
U might be surprised at how cheap some of the hf start tig machines can be.
Probably around 300 i figured. but thats part of why i asked. if 300 bucks ant enough to get a decent setup why waist the money and just spend a little more.
Not sure if he would even use a HF welder lol It wouldn't say Lincoln or Miller on it lol One time we was talking about it i said how about a HF tig welder and he said why waist the money lol Fathers right?
Actually reading all the posts would lead me to believe that Mopar was thinking Harbor Freight and Drifta-X was talking about High Freq., but that's just how I read it, might be wrong though.
I ment HF for Harbor Freight. I attempted to copy the use of hf and it seemed right to make it caps. I guess i'm not up on all the lingo used these days lol Maybe i'm better off just spelling it out haha Sometimes i really wish everyone just spelled it out because i have to go search around to find the meaning and depending on the subject changes the meaning. It is getting hard to read these forums anymore unless you fallow them all the time witch I don't do anymore. ohh well. hopefully that will get us back on topic.
i did get ahold of His local welding shop and they said for the setup would be over 500 bucks! So i said the heck with it blow the budget way out and bought him a millermatic 211 MIG welder Mig would probably be more used by him anyways. Hummm now i wonder if i can get my kids to buy me one. I'm a bit jellos
Yea i was looking at that one. didn't know how good they was. was also looking at the 200amp one just incase he would need that high of amps. Thanks for some feed back on that
I am not sure what to tell you. They are both air cooled torches so they are both going to get hot at some point. The 200 amp torch is a 26 series which means it is bigger than the 17 series. It is all about what he will be welding. Smaller stuff, he will want the smaller torch to fit into tighter spaces and have more dexterity. Larger stuff, he will want the larger torch.
So i said the heck with it blow the budget way out and bought him a millermatic 211 MIG welder 
have to take a few more days off to do it.
