i bought a Lincoln 175 square wave. its AC/DC and works great. got the whole set-up with a tank and all the leads, stingers, ground clamps, regulator, ect. for barely 1000 used. maybe 10 hours on it. at the time there were 2 other people asking about the same on craigslist.



DC tig welders arnt bad. they even have some 110v ones. but i would stick to a AC/DC anyway, you might kick yourself later on when you have to get a AC capable machine.



oh, and square wave machines will save you a bunch over time in terms of electricity consumption. if you weld a lot that is...

 

I have a 600 AMP Hobart machine. AC/DC/DC reverse polarity. TIG or stick. It has a pedal control that works with all of the options. It is 50 years old at least. I bought the whole rig from Hobart directly. It was a lease machine that big factories use when the get a job with a bunch of welding to do for a short period. I paid $350.00 for it. The shop guy hooked it up and welded some stuff for me, to be sure everything worked. Then he left the new cables and torch he got from the retail shop on the machine.



They laoded it into my VW bus. It stuck out the side about 18" and I drove it home on back roads at about 30 MPH, with the side doors wide open. We put 60 pounds of air in the right side tires. When the fork lift guy took the load off the forks the rims almost went through the side walls.



I use only Argon. Never a problem. For lots of heavy welding use a water cooled torch. For liter stuff or tight spaces.



Anybody who wants to watch must wear the whole protective clothing outfit. Holding just a dark lens in front of your eyes is no good. You will get UV burns to your eyes off of the white shop walls. You will get a sun burn on your face except for a rectangular shape across your eyes.



Let the gas run across the weld for a few seconds after each pass. You will eventually trap some high pressure gas in a weld defect, and it will pop just as you flip your helmet up, and a molten piece will go up your nose or into your eye. It also keeps oxcides out of the weld.



Buy the most capacity you can afford. Even a used machine, or waiting a while. , so you can buy or lease a big machine, or if not big, one that can do anything. AC/DC/DC reverse is the minimum.

Learning all of the systems is like a passport to a job wherever you land.



Lynn E. Hanover