Welding Tips and Tricks

hello guys I was hoping somebody would be able to assist me in a few questions I have about tig welding aluminum, I have been shopping online and cant make up my mind on what would be a fairly inexpensive tig welder for welding aluminum to make a few dog boxes for myself and a few friends and also be able to convert back to weld steel on the play truck. any ideas???? Thanks in advance

Look at the Everlast line. Lots of bang for the buck there!

thanks ill check them out

Hi, Travis,

For dog boxes, I'm assuming the aluminum won't be thicker than 1/8"/11ga., unless you breed werewolves?

You'll be looking for something that can do 180A in short bursts (to start the puddle and build heat) and maintain 80-120A for a while. The Everlast, mentioned previously, has a 185A unit that might fit nicely. It'll go back to steel nicely, too, with a reasonable duty cycle in that 100A and under range.

You'll likely get other brand recommendations. I don't recommend a brand myself, as my experience is all with the "big guys", but the requirements I've spelled out above should put you in the ballpark for what you want to do.

Steve S

Steve S thanks for the help and no they don't quite get that big lol. I looked at reviews for the everlast and every one I read was they don't hold arc and are junk right out of the box.

Could you please post these review URLs to this board?

I would like to view them first hand.
I bought an Everlast machine and love it.

As a starter machine, you really do get a lot of value for your dollar.
There are better machines on the market, but can you afford them?

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_q ... fkddpo-CCA

Travissg22 wrote:Steve S thanks for the help and no they don't quite get that big lol. I looked at reviews for the everlast and every one I read was they don't hold arc and are junk right out of the box.

I'm not exactly sure how to post links but YouTube has one called "everlast welder crapping out"(language is alittle harsh) and theturboforums.com has them and even here weldingtipsandtricks.com one guy states "Chinese POS" another guy post that he got one even though he had read all bad reviews and the first time using it it messed up and had a hard time getting someone to return his call, argued with him on the phone and so on and so forth. I see that some are Chinese and some are Canadian...is there a difference?

Some people have experienced some unstable arcs with the everlasts, but with help from the tech support hot line, this was quickly fixed. If jody runs them, all us lesser beings should sit up and take notice.

Mick

Thank yall for all yalls help, I called everlast and talked to a guy and he helped me figure out what id need and got me straight. I'll be ordering one in the next week or so!

Thermal Arc 186