I am rounding out my year end equipment purchases and am considering a TIG welder for bolt handles. I was looking at Miller. I don’t know a lot about TIG. How much machine do I need? What would you guys buy? Budget is around $3-4K.
Gunsmithing TIG welder for gun work
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you can get a thermal arc/tweco/esab tig and stick welder for around $450. Should be good enough for gun work.
If really all you want to do is bolt handles I imagine air cooled is fine and you won't have to spend anywhere near your budget.
For your budget though you can step up to liquid cooled 200 or 250 Amp with a lot more features.
I have a synchrowave 250 Miller I picked up used years ago that I use for rewelding aks for my business.
But it gets used for hobbies like automotive or general fabrication a lot.
I'm not smart enough to tell you what the latest and greatest is though.
For your budget though you can step up to liquid cooled 200 or 250 Amp with a lot more features.
I have a synchrowave 250 Miller I picked up used years ago that I use for rewelding aks for my business.
But it gets used for hobbies like automotive or general fabrication a lot.
I'm not smart enough to tell you what the latest and greatest is though.
Do you foresee the need to weld aluminum in the future? If the answer is No then I would purchase
a DC only TIG welder.
The next question is how important is it that your new machine be American made?
American made, I would look at the Lincoln SquareWave 200 which they are having a year end sale on now. And is AC/DC
Foreign made, the line of welders made by Everlast has proven itself to be a solid choice.
Look at power requirements: 110 or 220, single phase or 3 phase.
Most of the welders out there maybe purchased as a kit so all you would need to ad are consumables, a bottle of Argon
and a tig water cooler if you want/need a water cooled torch.
a DC only TIG welder.
The next question is how important is it that your new machine be American made?
American made, I would look at the Lincoln SquareWave 200 which they are having a year end sale on now. And is AC/DC
Foreign made, the line of welders made by Everlast has proven itself to be a solid choice.
Look at power requirements: 110 or 220, single phase or 3 phase.
Most of the welders out there maybe purchased as a kit so all you would need to ad are consumables, a bottle of Argon
and a tig water cooler if you want/need a water cooled torch.
I assume you're like minded with your budget of 3-4k but I'll add that going cheap on any thing related to metal working is a huge mistake.
Welders whether mig, tig, or stick.
Plasma cutters, milling machine, lathe whatever.
Once in a while a friend or aquaintence will say "hey I got this xxx, can you get me going on it"
Some sort of cheap home owner/hobby things and the limitations present themselves immediately.
If budget was lower I'd recommend the most expensive fairly priced used item in that budget.
Same as gun stuff. "Buy once...."
Welders whether mig, tig, or stick.
Plasma cutters, milling machine, lathe whatever.
Once in a while a friend or aquaintence will say "hey I got this xxx, can you get me going on it"
Some sort of cheap home owner/hobby things and the limitations present themselves immediately.
If budget was lower I'd recommend the most expensive fairly priced used item in that budget.
Same as gun stuff. "Buy once...."
Since there are likely some welders in this discussion, can anyone tell me how difficult this welding job would be.
The picture isn't real crisp but the magazine cutout and the trigger cutout intersect on both sides. I would like to have the gap welded up but I prefer to find someone with the right welder and the skill to do it so it wouldn't require any machining to clean it up. The slot is about .060" wide and about .125" tall.
The picture isn't real crisp but the magazine cutout and the trigger cutout intersect on both sides. I would like to have the gap welded up but I prefer to find someone with the right welder and the skill to do it so it wouldn't require any machining to clean it up. The slot is about .060" wide and about .125" tall.
Any DC stick welder could be used as a rig machine. .. in the right hands. I have used my Lincoln vantage 300 to do a few handles as well as a synchro wave 250. Both easily handle the job.
But if you want new and and all the features a miller dynasty has most of the bells and whistles..... Pre and lost flow. Pulse as well as the ability to change the wave form ..length and peak to peak.
Has AC and can run off 110 or 220 with a simple plug swap.
Very good machine and can be found well
Within your budget
But if you want new and and all the features a miller dynasty has most of the bells and whistles..... Pre and lost flow. Pulse as well as the ability to change the wave form ..length and peak to peak.
Has AC and can run off 110 or 220 with a simple plug swap.
Very good machine and can be found well
Within your budget
Went with the Squarewave 200. Seems like a nice enough machine and very feature laden for the price. Any resources for learning to tig bolt handles?
glad you got one!
idk about that in particular but getting some similar pieces of metal (shape/size) and practicing would be a good start. where are you starting? i should have asked that first. first time w/ a tig? or just that type of weld in a corner?
youre gonna want to clean the pieces real well.
when i weld on aks i actually boil the parts any more if possible to degrease them.
that oil really starts coming out of the pores and seams when it heats up.
then wire wheel.
probably want to turn a brass or copper or aluminum rod to fit snuggly inside the bolt as a heat sink.
idk about that in particular but getting some similar pieces of metal (shape/size) and practicing would be a good start. where are you starting? i should have asked that first. first time w/ a tig? or just that type of weld in a corner?
youre gonna want to clean the pieces real well.
when i weld on aks i actually boil the parts any more if possible to degrease them.
that oil really starts coming out of the pores and seams when it heats up.
then wire wheel.
probably want to turn a brass or copper or aluminum rod to fit snuggly inside the bolt as a heat sink.
Miller makes a good tig welder. I had a Syncrowave 350LX for years and finally replaced it with a Dynasty 210DX. Talk about fine control. I mostly weld SS and mild steel with a little Al and Ti thrown in. Look at Jody Collier's videos (weldingtipsandtricks) on you tube.
- Carl
- Carl
