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welding

dspender

Well Known Member
Unrelated to our RVs, but I'm going to be doing to metal welding, tubular fuselage. Looking for suggestions regarding a welder (presuming I would use a TIG welder), make if there are better ones out there, and characteristics or capabilities I should look for in that welder.
 
Lincoln Electric typically offers a very nice deal on a good TIG welder to anyone taking their 2 hr. class at EAA Airventure. I suspect they will repeat this again this year. So if you are planning to attend and can wait until the end of July . . .

Cheers,
 
I’ve got an Everlast MTS Lightning 225 multi-process machine. It does MIG, Stick, and AC/DC TIG. If you think you’ll only do steel TIG, then I’d go with a single process DC TIG machine from Everlast or Lincoln. Miller IMO is the gold standard and ESAB is up there too, but your gonna pay a premium for those 2 brands.

The other thing to consider is the level of control. The cheaper (and/older) machines will be analog. As you move up in price the controls are digital which offer more precise parameter control and often more include more features.
 
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Go with made in USA

I’d stick with either Miller or Lincoln. Both built in the U.S. and have parts and service available. I had a welding welding supply and warranty service center and had a lot of people bring in the imported welders for repair. Parts weren’t available.
 
If you plan to attend Oshkosh this year, stop in at the Lincoln and Miller booth and check on the show demo machines. Several years ago I purchased a Miller Dynasty 200 DX that was used as a demo for the week. Machine had very hours hours and was available at the end of the show at a significant discount with a new warranty.
 
I'm not a pro welder by ay means but I did quite a bit as a youngster with stick, then I discovered tig which is so much nicer. A few years back I decided to get a new welder to hone my skills and play around with in my spare time. I first picked up one of the Lincoln 'hobby' tig/mig sets at Osh for a great deal, but after using the tig for a while I was not really happy with it so I sold it and got the Miller Dynasty 210 water cooled. The Miller was about 4x the price of the Lincoln but operation superior in every way. Miller is still the benchmark standard for welding equipment. Small torches with water cooling is the only way to go if you're doing a project like a tube airframe.
https://www.millerwelds.com/equipment/welders/tig-gtaw/dynasty-210-tig-welders-m30020
 
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I’ll give you the different answer.

I have a pro tig 205 from harbor freight. I love it. Digital controls, pulse, ac/dc. I got an open box deal out the door for $600. I’m positive it isn’t as good as the big guys. I’m positive that it will break down at some point and let’s won’t be available. (3 yr warranty). But for me, it has performed flawlessly and well beyond my abilities.
 
Check out primeweld 225.

+1

Very happy with mine and the price/quality/value mix is good for a hobbyist. A very capable machine with all of the modern features, including a quality pedal. Even comes with a CK torch.

Larry
 
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Short answer, no.

From my research, 4130 under .125" thick does not need to be annealed after welding to produce quality results. Pre-heating will help a bit and general guidance is not to weld on any metal that starts out below room temp.

Larry
 
The little inverter machines are great especially on aluminum but don't have the duty cycle specs of larger machines. Which is probably not much of a problem for the hobbyist. I have an older Syncrowave 350 with chiller that I bought for much less than the price of a small machine.
 
I picked up a Miller Diversion 180 from the Miller booth at Osh a few years back at a significant discount. It is really simple to operate, does 4130, stainless, and aluminum, and performs flawlessly. It took a lot of practice to get decent welds (slow learner, apparently) but I find the quality of the welds is really great. It is hard to tell that a knucklehead did them...

I have done a full 4 seat Bearhawk fuselage with it (trust me, that is a LOT of welding....)
 
I have done a lot of welding but tig only in the past 10 years but I don't think I could have passed a tig certification test even before my cancer. Lots of things come into play later in life that aren't good but mainly steady hands and vision. Use the best helmet you can afford. I don't know what gave me cancer but all the gasses I breathed wasn't good. You need good ventilation but can't let it destroy the covering gas. Right now, I think a rivet gun builds a great airplane. You can drill out bad rivets but welding something again is difficult.
 
I own a Primeweld 225 and it works fine. Lots of dials to play with.
You do need to learn how to run it.
I just welded a heavy 02 sensor bung onto my .035 Stainless Steel exhaust pipes for my RV-6A. 50 Amps and Argon flood in and out.
Learning curve ahead. Practice Practice and then weld.
Oh ya I think they are about $900.00 on Amazon. I use a cart from Harbour Freight for $100.00
Argon is ouch where you find it. And of course you need filler rod another flow regulator and a T for the line.
Great reviews for a machine of this price.
Hey it's just money.
Art
 
You might want to to look at Miller or Lincoln factory refurbs as well. The Miller guy told me most of theirs spent 1 year at a trade school and are then run through the refurb program. I bought a mig at Oshkosh and it looked like new, came with a warranty, but was quite a bit cheaper.
 
Just like any other tool, how much you depend on it, and the results you are looking for will for sure play into what you can get away with and thus price.

I've owned Red and Blue Tig machines, and the Blue is significantly better. These days I sport a Miller Dynasty DX 210. It's very expensive, but also works really really well.

Before I bought it I tried the ESAB, but the machine just wasn't that great. The menu's had software glitches and the fan ran at full speed regardless if you were welding at 8 amps or 80 amps.

Anyway, here is what you care about:

Inverter or Transformer. The Transformer tig machines are huge and heavy, the inverter machines are light and portable. Inverter machines usually have dual voltage input while you will need 220 service for a transformer based machine.

AC/DC: The AC models can weld aluminum as well as steel. The DC only models can only weld steel.

AC wave control: Some AC models can do a sine wave, or square wave, or change the frequency of the wave.

Duty Cycle. The higher the duty cycle the longer you can use it before it overheats. This isn't an issue with 4130 aircraft tubing, but when working with thicker aluminum, it matters.

Service/support. I wouldn't touch a harbor freight tig, but I've heard people getting decent service out of Everlast, and of course Miller and Lincoln are the gold standard.

So, a base model with 60% duty cycle at 200 amps that can weld aluminum but doesn't have any ability to control the wave can be something like this:

https://www.everlastgenerators.com/product/tig-stick/powertig-200dv

Which is pretty similar to the Lincoln Square wave 200.

A step up would be this guy that has 60% duty cycle at 250amps that has all of the nice aluminum features:

https://www.everlastgenerators.com/product/tig-stick/powertig-255ext

The Miller which is a much nicer unit, but not technically any more featureful is this one:

https://www.millerwelds.com/equipme...options-title=dynasty-210-dx-120-480-v-907686

Personally I'd get a Powertig 255ext or the miller depending on budget and how much you depend on it.

schu
 
Get a gas welder with good tips and learn how to use it. Does a great job with 4130 tube and has so many other uses. ie. heating tools to bend them. Heating nuts to unfreeze. Brazing. Etc

Moving 3B to hangar soon for final assembly. KCVH
 
Pro Tig 205 vs Primeweld 225

Anyone done a comparison between the Pro Tig 205 and the Primeweld 225 when it comes to aluminum welding?

I see that the Primeweld 225 comes with the CK Pulse CK17 Flex Torch and Cable recommended as an upgrade in the Pro Tig 205 reviews. List price is also $250 lower.

Finn
 
Anyone done a comparison between the Pro Tig 205 and the Primeweld 225 when it comes to aluminum welding?

I see that the Primeweld 225 comes with the CK Pulse CK17 Flex Torch and Cable recommended as an upgrade in the Pro Tig 205 reviews. List price is also $250 lower.

Finn

Shoulf find some online. From my research, the 225 is the best value in the imports, especially whey you consider warranty. Primeweld has a 3 year warranty and will cover shipping of the bad unit. Feature wise, it is really not missing anything and the experience / reviews are very positive. The HTP stuff seems to be at a better level of quality, but double the price and the red/blue are 4X price.

Someone mentioned duty cycle. The 225 is pretty good. I think it is 100% at 140 amps and 30% at 225. As a hobbyist, this is pretty good. Fan does run at full blast, but it doesn't bother me.

Larry
 
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+1 for Primeweld 225

I recently purchased a Primeweld 225 and have been very happy with it. I couldn't see the value in paying a premium for the equivalent red or blue machine. Warranty and service support are also on par.
 
I have both red and blue. My red is a tig200. I am not happy with the tig200, especially for aluminum. The arc is nice, but on aluminum the machine is a bit too smart and shuts off unless you give it a lot of amps to get going, which if you are doing thin stuff doens't work well.
 
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