I got one of the ubiquitous Harbor Freight TIG welders and got to play with it for the first time today. I did some welds that would have been impossible with my buzz box! Tubing joints, sheet metal, I even butt-welded two hacksaw blades together! Yep, on pupose even! A few more projects to get the knack down and then I'm going for a scratch-built SA42 rear for my m53 kit!
I have 'stick welded' for years as a hobby welder but TIG is something brand new for me. Thanks to everyone here who has posted all the great tips and links about TIG, I don't think I would have tried it without so much information first. This rig is friggin' awesome!
Yeah, I think that TIG is the cat's nuts. When I was welding up my receiver, I was doing it in my basement. My buddy asked how I was venting the smoke. I said what smoke? I can weld done there and no one even knows I'm welding. Plus there is no slag to fool with. Just nice clean welds.
Since then I have used the welder for other projects. Very handy gizmo to have.
I just used mine on a job with stainless, and then used the stick feature, It really is a lot of machine for the money. It just seems that a lot of little things are getting repaired, I wish I'd had one years ago.
Yes, it's a wonderful thing to be able to do your own welding rather than having a weld shop do the job. And if you have a weld fail, you know who to blame.
The little HF tig is the greatest thing for the home hobbyist ever. I have been using mine for a couple of years now and really got my $$$ worth out of it.
learning to tig is a must for a serious home gunsmith.
Good to hear artech! Funny, I was just planning on taking the plunge and getting the HF TIG tonight on my way home from work. Gonna have fun this weekend!
propos wrote:Yeah, I think that TIG is the cat's nuts. When I was welding up my receiver, I was doing it in my basement. My buddy asked how I was venting the smoke. I said what smoke? I can weld done there and no one even knows I'm welding. Plus there is no slag to fool with. Just nice clean welds.
Since then I have used the welder for other projects. Very handy gizmo to have.
Even if there is no smoke, there are still gases created that you probably don't want in your home. It is your home though so its up to you.
Pirate wrote:The little HF tig is the greatest thing for the home hobbyist ever. I have been using mine for a couple of years now and really got my $$$ worth out of it.
learning to tig is a must for a serious home gunsmith.
Amen to that. The first time I tried mine out I was very impressed. IMO it also wasnt that hard to learn to use.
Well, between all the positive press here and Pirate's tutorial, I bit the bullet this weekend and got my own HF tig unit. Now, I still need to get the gas and regulator, and to wire a plug on it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as it calls for a 220V 18A power source, it can be set up to plug into a higher amperage outlet if it has the right plug on it, right? I've already got a 220V 60A plug wired into the panel in my garage that I was planning on using.
Also, where are the best places to find the regulator and cylinder? Better to buy or rent?
dagobert wrote:Well, between all the positive press here and Pirate's tutorial, I bit the bullet this weekend and got my own HF tig unit. Now, I still need to get the gas and regulator, and to wire a plug on it.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but as it calls for a 220V 18A power source, it can be set up to plug into a higher amperage outlet if it has the right plug on it, right? I've already got a 220V 60A plug wired into the panel in my garage that I was planning on using.
Also, where are the best places to find the regulator and cylinder? Better to buy or rent?
The circuit breaker in your house is to protect the house wiring not whatever is plugged into it. With that said, you can plug a lower amperage draw device into a higher rated outlet. Example: a light is plugged into a 120 volt wall outlet, the wall outlet is rated for 15 or 20 amperes (circuit breaker), a 100 watt bulb draws less than 1 ampere. Search the forums for HF TIG plug wiring if you have questions or better yet take it to an electrician just to be safe. 220V can be harder than 120 to wire up because of having two "hot" wires.
I got my stuff from cyberweld, they seemed to have the best prices. Delivery was prompt and everything worked well. I did need to get an adapter for the gas line, but the local hardware store had them for a couple bucks. Here's the link: http://www.cyberweld.com/
Thought a smaller tank would be cheaper to fill, but found out that it costs about the same to fill a 40 cu. ft. tank as it does to fill my 20 cu. ft. tank. If I had it to do over I'd have gotten the bigger tank. Just my two cents.
