TIG Welders

[JET]

The best lower end TIG is the Thermal Arc 185. The prices have went up recently, but they are a full featured TIG. They were $1,700 new a year ago. I haven't checked too many prices recently. It is also an inverter TIG, so it is very small and light.

Stay far away from the Tig-mate and most other cheap TIG's, they are scratch start at some don't have RF for aluminum.

[Halon]

Well I am not going to spend 1700 on this. It is going to be something I just toy around with. If it ends up being a scratch to start, well for my application I don't think that would be all that bad. I'd prefer it not to be, but if I'm spendin 1500+ just to get something that isn't a scratch start, well then that just isn't going to happen.

[Pushit2.0]

I would think a suit case welder would work best for you.
http://www.millerwelds.com/products/tig/maxstar_150_sth/
Or check Ebay/other online sales for used welders.

~John

[JET]

Yeah, the MaxStar 150 would be the lowest I would go. Anything under that is pretty crappy. The problem with scratch to start is that you need a nice sharp point for a nice weld on SS, the scratching can kill that. This is why most people don't have a TIG at home, they aren't cheap for one that is going to work well.

The biggest changes with the better ones is the RF modulation. You can weld aluminum much better. Some of the cheaper ones won't even do cast aluminum.