Newbie Welder

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Originally Posted by kndllmtt

I personaly have a preferance for TIG weilders, they can do up to 1/4 inch steel and sheet metal that requires very little clean up. But they cost more, and take a little more skill to use.

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I know very little about TIG... tried one once at school, played around with it for an hour or so. very different than MIG, which I have lots of experience with, and stick, which I have a little experience with. Now maybe it was just the settings I was using cause I didn't know what I was doing, but it seems to me that TIG is a LOT slower than MIG or stick. Seems like you could have somewhat better control, though.

My only other experience with TIG was indirect -- when I was working as a welder one of my coworkers convinced the boss to buy a TIG machine, how I don't know, we sure didn't need one for what we were doing. Anyway he spent way too long setting it up and when he finally started playing with it, he kept blowing one of the main fuses to the building. I don't know if it was something wrong with the machine or what... If memory serves it was a 100 AMP unit and we *should* have had enough power to the building but he kept blowing one of the legs nonetheless. So I guess my second question is - do TIGs use more power??

No they don't. I just bought a Lincoln squarewave 255 TIG water cooled machine. It will go from 5 amps to 315 amps. AC and DC for the exotic metals. In the process of looking at craigs list every 15 minutes for the welder I wanted I pass up tons of wire feeds. Cheap also. Definitely get the gas shielded model.
TIG is slower and makes less heat. I was able to fuse weld the sharp edges of two razor blades together. Not pretty yet but just wait...:D
The thing about a welder is getting one you can grow in to. Get the biggest one you can power up and afford. I will never buy a welder unless it has infinite amperage control. I will be in the market for a good mig some day. I have a miller thunderbolt stick welder and my new TIG. I would trust a stick weld ten times over a wire feed weld. But they make ugly welds compared.
I also took a class at the local community college for mild steel TIG. I recommend it if it is convenient. The internet is also a great source of information. I am considering going back for Aluminum training but my try it at home with no instruction gene is throbbing at the moment.:D

Try the welder before you buy it. I had to buy a new lead for my water cooled torch. What I am saying is don't buy it, unload it and go on vacation for a week and then try it out. I got it fixed but I could have talked down the price by a mile if I had known. It apparently worked when he left for the 4 hour drive. The bouncing on the trailer must have fractured the copper lead inside. Works well now. Typical...