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from harbor freight to the other extreme

I posted a few days back about getting the little harbor freight tig, and what fun I was having running beads. I was hoping the cheap machine would cure the 'tig fever' I had for a nice machine....

well, I live about 35 minutes from HTP in illinois, you can probably guess the rest! The HF tig is being returned, and I am in awe of my new invertig 201. What a difference! The arc on this machine is way, way smoother than the harbor freight, which I suppose it should be for 10 times the price. And I now understand the true glory of the foot pedal.

The pulse feature is great, that really seems to 'pace' me when moving a bead across.

Anyway I'm in love with this tig stuff, it is almost magical to watch that little ball of fire at the tip of the tungsten, direct it just where you want, as you modulate it's heat with the pedal. What a cool process.

Is there a way I can post a photo of a weld w/o me having my own webspace?

- John

P.S. if anyone in chicagoland is looking for a millermatic 135 MIG, I'm going to be selling mine.

Reply to
runch
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Congrats on the new passion. I have been loving TIG for 22 years.

You can post pictures at the metalworing.com dropbox.

Just go to

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It explains the whole thing.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Ernie,

What IS the latest, greatest > >

Reply to
Vernon

Thermal Arc's new machines are interesting. An improvement on their already good designs, and still hitting a price point well below the competition.

I still prefer Miller for quality.

BTW your Maxstar 140 was made by Fronius in Austria for Miller. It was discontinued because Fronius couldn't keep Miller supplied with repair parts in volume. The Maxstar 150's, 200's and 300's are all made in Appleton Wisconsin.

Miller keeps improving their machines with little fanfair. The current Maxstar 200DX is quite different from mine from 6 years ago.

Miller's new Dynasty 700 is the current king of the hill, as far as inverter TIGs go.

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Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Thank you, Obee Welder Kanobee,

I should have limited my inquiry by price and amperage. I virtually never weld anything larger than 0.25". And, since I have socked away a couple of Syncrowave 500s, I can also live without square wave.

Therefore, 200 - 250 amps DC would be more than fine. And it would be hard to justify more than $1500 - $2000.

I have also been real happy with Miller. But for some reas> >

Reply to
Vernon

Unfortunately that puts you into the pricier machines.

$ per amp, there is a huge leap from the 200 amp to 300 amp machines.

The simplest solution would be a Maxstar 300DX.

The Dynasty 300DX, and Thermal Arc Arcmaster 300TSW are the 2 contenders for AC/DC inverters. Since they are close in price I would go for the Miller.

Lincoln doesn't even offer an advanced inverter TIG machine in that class. The smaller Invertec 201 is an import made by Selco and originally called the Genesis 200.

There are a host of inverters available from Europe, but parts and support are non-existent in the US.

Reply to
Ernie Leimkuhler

Ernie,

Tanks!

V Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:

Reply to
Vernon

I almost bought that machine too

it was 3rd on my list actually and the only non locally supported machine that was in contention

the difference between a Scratch start inverter and a dedicated tig machine is HUGE

When i changed form my XMT 304 down to my new Synchrowave 200 i suddenly was amazingly better at TIG welding

it seems like using the XMT304 on small stuff at low amperages was like trying to hang a picture on the wall with a tack and a sledgehammer

I switched to a more appr> I posted a few days back about getting the little harbor freight tig,

Reply to
Brent

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