I have a MIG welder which I bought from new from Machine Mart and is a Clarke 180 (I think).... It is the smallest model that requires a 25amp socket rather than the normal 13amp plug. I have done some welding on the landrover namely the battery box and lower bulkhead plus I've done welding on previous vehicles. Anyway I've decided that I want to make some items from aluminium and have a go at TIG welding. I've got ali and stainless wire for the MIG but have been told that TIG would be better for what I want to do.

So having not tried TIG before what do I need that is different? Obviously my mask, clamps, gloves etc should all be fine.

What power output do I need in order to weld steel and aluminium on cars and motorcycles?

Any decent models to look at?

A friend is a professional welder so will show me the techniques but he gets all his stuff for a different market so not really best placed to advise on what I need.

cowasaki said:

So having not tried TIG before what do I need that is different? Obviously my mask, clamps, gloves etc should all be fine.

What power output do I need in order to weld steel and aluminium on cars and motorcycles?

Any decent models to look at?

A friend is a professional welder so will show me the techniques but he gets all his stuff for a different market so not really best placed to advise on what I need.

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TIG is a million miles away from MIG welding in terms of technique. Starting with the basics, welding gloves are not suitable for TIG work. You would be using a soft, flexible glove, ideally a goatskin palm with a leather cuff. This is so that you can 'feel' the torch and the filler rod, something you cannot do with heavy welding gloves.

Next you need to decide between an air cooled torch and a water cooled torch. In terms of cost the air cooled torch is a lot less than the water cooled torch, and for the type of jobs you describe an air cooled torch is absolutely fine.

I would recommend a foot control, this allows you to slowly initiate the heat, and after the weld is complete you can slowly reduce the heat. This soft start and soft stop prevents temperature shocking the metal. The foot control controls your amperage, more amps = more heat. Some cheaper TIG machines have the amperage control actually on the machine, I wouldn't recommend this.

You need to research your machine carefully, if it doesn't have a foot control does it have provision for one? Sockets to accept the foot control range from 6 pin to 19 pin, check to see that a foot control is available for that specific machine and not gone out of production.

I've used Miller, ESAB, Lincoln. All pretty good machines but not always available as single phase. Not a lot more I can add, don't rush to buy your machine, do your research

r tech are good machines for the price, although if you want to blow your brains out go for a kemppi. you might be suprised if your mask is an auto darkener, it might not be sensitive enough for low amp tig welding. at work i use a big 3 phase 400 amp ESAB, but your looking at 10k base for one and a healthy supply of leccy

make sure the set you buy has HF start, non hf have their places such as working near sensitive electronics, but you go through tungstens a lot more.

and most of all, remember you need an ac/dc set for ali, you can weld ali with dc but believe me you will need a hell of a lot of power to do it!

You'll want an AC machine for Aluminium, and a supply of Argon instead of C25 or Argoshield or whatever you use on the MIG.

I use a Lincoln SquareWave 175 for TIG and Stick which runs on single phase. It's a bit basic by today's standards, but ok for a hobbyist like me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fb0w6aBvDY

Go to a college class and use their kit and advice,you'll trash a lot of tungstens while learning.
Fab skill to have,most satisfying,I bought a Thermal Dynamics 200A AC/DC set,bloomin luverly.

I hate foot control as I'm normally standing or on a ladder when welding
Goatskin gloves are nice except when welding a big lump of ally or copper cos it gets a bit hot!
Nothing useful to add to the above posts other than it is sometimes best to learn on a old donkey set which will make you learn your craft after that once you get to use a modern inverter set you can daydream whilst welding a intercooler

Thanks, some useful info here. I want to be able to repair stuff but also fabricate items out of steel and Ali such as brackets, boxes, tanks etc. I have used MIG a good few times and I have found it reasonably simple to use especially using new stock. I bought the Ali wire and argon but I haven't actually tried the MIG for that.

If I buy the TIG is there any good reason to keep my old MIG or would it become completely surplus?

cowasaki said:

Thanks, some useful info here. I want to be able to repair stuff but also fabricate items out of steel and Ali such as brackets, boxes, tanks etc. I have used MIG a good few times and I have found it reasonably simple to use especially using new stock. I bought the Ali wire and argon but I haven't actually tried the MIG for that.

If I buy the TIG is there any good reason to keep my old MIG or would it become completely surplus?

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You need to keep the TIG and the MIG - become a welding snob ! Seriously the Tig set will not do all of it,its quite specific.

eightinavee said:

You need to keep the TIG and the MIG - become a welding snob ! Seriously the Tig set will not do all of it,its quite specific.

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No, tig is to slow to do all of it but specific to one job its not, where as a non synergenic pulse mig is a limited thing, now a pulse mig with spool gun:cool

pressbrake said:

No, tig is to slow to do all of it but specific to one job its not, where as a non synergenic pulse mig is a limited thing, now a pulse mig with spool gun:cool

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Sorry,but nobody in their right mind would use a tig set to weld a rusty LR chassis.Nor would anyone use a mig set to weld a cracked cast iron cylinder head. Maybe I should have explained better.

No problem, its a really decent welder and I've just fitted a new swan neck so worth keeping hold of then.....