Um, welding without high freq is pretty much impossible on aluminum.
ALL major brand welders will have high freq, what you need to look for is that they have square wave adjustable high freq, which most any good one does.
I recomend the smaller Miller synchrowave or the small Lincoln unit. Both are square wave, I have built entire cars, aluminum intercoolers, roll cages… all with a 180 amp machine. Aluminum takes the highest amps, but the 180 will do anything you wana do. They are air cooled torches, which unless your doing huge ammounts of aluminum, won’t be an issue, just wear gloves.
Oh, remember, anyone can weld aluminum or steel flat, it takes years and years of experiance to do quality out of position round work.
I am telling out honestly, that machine is too small. Its only 165 amp, and its duty cycle is 20 percent. Which means that at max (and with bigger aluminum pieces, you totally will be) you weld for 2 minutes, and it has to rest for 8 to cool down.
You need a COIL based machine, which will give you more bang for the buck, and can handle alot bigger duty cycle.
$2095 with all the stuff minus the bottle and skills to use it. BELIEVE ME, this is the machine you want. The extra 900 dollars will be so so worth it.
Or
Can be had with all the parts minus the bottle for $1995
Get a different machine for less, and you will regret it. I promise.
could just go with a used 180SD, they can do around 200amps on 220v @ ~60% duty cycle me thinks.
But then again I still don’t really see him hitting the duty cycle that often on that diversion.
I would rather spend the 1.2k on a used machine, rather than a new one though… Since 1.2k can’t really buy all that great of a new machine.
But can buy a pretty good used.
The Millermatic 350P I bought a while back, was used from a local weld shop… no issues with it yet, other than being super fucking dusty.
I bought a Trailblazer 302 new though, from an authorized seller on ebay.
No issues with that… just need to make sure if you buy one from someone on ebay, that they’re an authorized miller seller, otherwise the warranty is void.
Im going to be building a R1 powered Locost… so not a TON of heavy duty stuff, mostly square tubing and then some roll cage work (which i could always mig if tigging a cage is going to be a PITA)
so i only need to be able to weld that tubing…
What are teh model numbers on that lincoln and miller?
Right now i swap my bottle at mills welding for my mig welder, i assume that service is available for tig machines as well right?
I COULD stretch to 1500 for a used machine, but i kind of liked that 1k price point
yea, high freq isnt needed to tig aluminum and neither is ac. DC is straight polarity and doesnt have the cleaning effect that a AC machine will have. Square wave is nice but also not necessary. Many people get by welding aluminum with DC and scratch starting so keep that in mind while searching as well. Just takes longer to heat up the aluminum and its not as pretty when completed. But obviously id rather spend the xtra few hundo and get a decent ac/dc machine. Also ALOT of people have great luck with some of the china build machines that are selling at a fraction of the price as your name brand lincol,hobart,miller, etc. They all use the same name brand electronics on the inside as the name brand machines.
Im in the same boat and have been doin alot of research on what to and what not to buy.
Biggest downfall of that Lincoln is its very low duty cycle. If you’re doing a lot of aluminum, you’ll usually be running at high amperage and that 15% duty cycle will really start to become annoying.
Im currently building a VG30ET (Nissan 3.0l Turbo V6). powered Locost. You on www.locostusa.com ? track only? Ive been able to make my Lincoln Handy mig work up to this point. What chassis are you going to make?
Why not just build the car with a MIG welder? Just trying to learn TIG for the hell of it? It’s an awful lot of money to spend(not my place to speak to that though, just sayin)
Because ive always wanted to learn how to TIG, and i am going to be doign lots of little suspension brackets etc… and i have a whole winter to teach mysefl… ill probably try to keep my mig to have, its a nice quick tool and i dont think i could get more then 300 for it anyways, so it may not be worth it to sell it
Yes im on locosutusa.com ive already started this project once, had the motor and a bunch of other parts, then found the deal on the SC for my m3 and sold the motor for more then i bought it for… and never even had to ship it to my house
it will start off “track only” but i may get it registered for the street… but thats a LONG way off, im planning a 1 year build on it so i can slowly chip away at it…
I am building a book chassis with miata IRS so the back half will be completly differant, i think i also have to go wtih ta +4 chassis as well to fit the IRS in the back
Did you ever start a build log there? If so whats your SN there?
I don’t think that legally you can reg a BEC for the street, I know that a few have been able to as they are not asked what kind of engine it is… just a FYI.
1 year build, i WISH! lol… Its been much longer than that for me, but i only get out to my garage now once a week if im lucky with the baby.
Yes i think that a +4 is needed to fit a miata rear end and suspension in there.
my SN on there is Viper966, but i never started a build log, cuz i never stuck anything together, just bought the motor and some parts from a donor miata
Do you know a site where i can lookup the regulations for building a custom car in NY? i couldnt find much on the site
It doesnt come with a torch or regulator though… but it does come with a foot pedal and the grounding clamp
any suggestions on an air cooled torch under 100 bux?
also where around here should i get the cylinder/consumables? ive always used mills welding supply because it was right near my parents, and my mig tank is leased (swap program)
Mills has a good selection, and they are the local Lincoln dealer. I would go there. You will LOVE that machine.
If you need help setting up a push button for doing roll cage work, let me know. The machine wasn’t setup for easy pushbutton installation, but it can be wired and its great for doing inverted roll cage work. Once you go tig, that mig will sit in the corner un-used. My brand new millermatic 210 does, and its a $3,500 machine with its spool gun and stuff.
