I finally took the plunge and purchased a TIG welder. Realistically I've needed one for several years but could always get some time on someone else's machine (or rent one) when necessary. Now that's less of an option and with several projects coming up in which I will need to weld a lot of aluminum I figured it's now or never.

From Sure Arc Welding Supply I ordered a Miller Econotig. It's an AC/DC power supply capable of up to 150A in GTAW (TIG) or SMAW (stick). I had originally been looking at the Syncrowave line from Millar but the price went up dramatically with the only advantage being pulse capability. Since the Econotig came complete with a pedal, torch, electrode holder (for stick), gas regulator and hose it's a great starting point when the buyer doesn't have a previous setup.



At the same time I picked up the Econotig I also purchased a small tank (bottle) of argon, a pack of spare tungstons and a few pounds of aluminum and stainless filler rods. In addition I had to grab a 50 ft 8 guage extension cord (this cord is a beast and weighs damn near 30 LBs) so I could run the unit in the garage. As the only convenient 50A 240V outlet I have is for the oven, I also made an oven to equipment plug adapter cord, seen at the far left.

The sad thing is that right now I don't have anything to weld so I've only spent a few minutes on the machine so far. I made a few trial welds on both clean and dirty steel and aluminum with nice results. The arc is generally easy to start and very controllable. One issue is that went I went full throttle for the full 166A in AC, it took about half a 2nd to blow the fuses on both legs of the oven circuit. If I intend to do thick material (specifically aluminum) I'll need to wire in a dedicated circuit.

 

shouldn't you be cooking thanks giving dinner now instead of this? you should post the pictures of the welds.

 

Contrary to popular belief, Aaron cooks his turkeys with welding equipment.

 

nice purchase, running the extension cord from the kitchen in true redneck fashion, gotta love it

 

that wouldn't surprise me ... the other day at welding school one of the guys needed to heat up his soup, but since it was in a metal can he couldn't use the microwave, so he took a bigger pipe filled it with water and kept on welding straight lines on the pipe till the water was boiling and dropped the can in there... not sure how safe it if though lol.

 

Turkey is best done with the controlled arc of TIG. With good pedal control the result is a beautiful golden brown without the hassle of basting.

 

That tank of argon will last about 15 mins when you start getting into those projects, but You can't go wrong with a Miller product.

 

Very nice unit . If your short of project ideas I got lots. I need a trailer, an aluminum intake box, roll cage....

Was good to meet you and the others last weekend. Thanks for all the info and ideas. I have already found a set of S5 na rotors and front counterweight so the rebuild is going ahead over the winter.

 

I'm not sure if you're kidding about the bottle or not. The last time I did a lot of TIG welding was when I built the manifold for my GT40R. I rented a Miller Maxstar and used the same size bottle. With that bottle I welded the entire manifold, downpipe (and wastegate plumbing), turbo outlet pipe and a v-band onto the catback. All told it was about 8 hours behind the torch.



Though the way things are going I might be upgrading to a larger bottle soon.