I had made up my mind to buy a small TIG welder for my bodywork, either a Lincoln 175 Pro or Miller Syncrowave 180, in order to make nicer welds with less build than I can get with my MIG welder. In many cases, I would be puddling very close joints in sheetmetal with no filler rod. I used to do this with my Harris oxy-acetylene torch, but warpage was always a problem. Recently, I've been looking at micro torches, such as the Meco or the Smith Airline AW1A/AW10A as a much cheaper alternative. Anybody have experience using these on 20 to 28 gauge sheetmetal? How do the results compare to a TIG? It probably isn't quite as nice or as versatile as a TIG, but for $120 compared to $1500 for a TIG machine, it's worthy of consideration.
- posted
20 years ago