I'm wanting to get a TIG welder for my home shop, I'm wanting to practice mostly aluminum but also some sheet steel auto body work. I have an old Miller 330A/BP that works but it is too heavy to move around like I need to do.
My recommendations from rec.crafts.metalworking is to find a syncrowave 250 and I would like to do that to replace the 330A/BP but it's not exactly portable either.
Here's some machines I've ran across:
Everlast inverter TIG 250A unit with lots of bells and whistles for $1500.
Miller and Hobart has the 165A welders that output 10-165A for $1299 locally, they look the same spec wise and pictures but the Hobart comes with the foot pedal, it's sold separately on the Miller. These are around 50lbs too.
The Miller Diversion TIG 180 is of interest too. The only problem I have with the 2 small Millers and the Hobart is that they are rated to weld a minimum of 22 Gauge sheet metal, some other welders claim to be able to weld much thinner.
Lincoln has a square wave TIG 175 for a reasonable price but it's 185lbs. The weight would be OK but if I could find a 50lb welder to do the job under $2k or so it would be nice.
What about the Lincoln Precision TIG 225? It weighs a lot more than the others but I could still move it to the work a lot easier than the old 800+ pound miller I have now. This is getting to the price range where I could get syncrowave 200 or it's easy to find a syncrowave 250 in the $2000 price range for a good used welder.
Are there any AC/DC sub $2K TIG welders that weigh ~50lbs that will weld thinner than 22 gauge that would be recommended?
Or is there a recommended welder I could find used that would be more portable than the syncrowave 250?
I would like to get a light weight welder now and later find a Syncrowave
250 to replace my 330A/BP. Any recommendations?Thanks!
RogerN