Spoolgun or Tig welder

[gearhead]

Several new jobs have come up for me regarding some welding of SS and/or aluminum nothing thicker than 3/16th (sink stands for boat docks). I have a Mig welder that I can put on a spoolgun but I was thinking about just buying a Tig welder to do the work. Would it be smarter to just buy the spoolgun and let it be, or spend the money on a Miller Syncrowave 200.

[stickwelds]

I personaly would go with the spool gun but do whatever you think would work best.

thunderbolt xl
hypertherm powermax 380
jet bandsaw

[MAC702]

How thin do you need to be able to go? The spoolgun will give you much more productivity, but TIG will go thinner and give more control over bead appearance, plus give you a SMAW and exotic metals capability.

[gearhead]

MAC702,

That's what I'm fighting about, the capablity of Tig welding on thinner material and the overal appearance of the weld. The spoolgun would be alot cheaper than a new Tig machine.

[aametalmaster]

You may get by with just a Teflon Liner for your mig gun, i welded a million miles of weld like that at work with a Delta Weld 452, but it may not work for you. A spoolgun would be faster and better than a liner but give it a try. A tig would be real nice if you want to buy another machine.
But a liner may not be avail for your machine, i don't know what you have....Bob

[Trap Doctor]

aametalmaster is right and a Teflon Liner will help in the decision process. I love my 15A spool gun. 0.062 - 0.075 cheep tool box’s are a dream to weld back up, if you prep and clean the material first.

The 15 A spool gun was difficult to get use to at first because of the weight and fiscal size of the gun and hoses. I've learned to loop the hoses over my shoulder and cross hand the gun for more control of the bead (appearance) .

Try to find someone in the area that has one and test it out first.

jim

[aitkenkingfish]

I wouldnt base your choice on the cost of the machine, but the cost of welding time. tig is very slow you will get faster but how long will that take. if you can mig the thickness & the weld looks good than you should mig I weld a lot of thin alluminum & do not have a choice but I sure whis I could mig it I could finish in a fraction of the time.

[PAToyota]

Sounds like for your project (boat docks) you could go either way. But consider what else you may be using it for.

A spoolgun is great for production work with a long, easy to access weld. But I'd never attempt using a spoolgun for something like a bicycle frame...

[aametalmaster]

Maybe a steel frame and the gun was loaded with .030 S6 steel wire...Bob

[sjmiller]

If the spool gun will solve all of your fabrication issues - then by all means buy it. It will be the cheaper solution. However, if you will need to do finished SS, Alum, then a TIG machine might be a better answer.

Steve