I was wondering if anyone is familiar with the Eastwood 200 AMP AC/DC Tig Welder. My main concern is being able to weld thin metal like some of the thinner barrels used in building the WK gasifier. I would appreciate any information or suggestions in regards to Tig Welders.
Conrad
Tig welders in general are great with thinner metals. The question is can you weld thinner metals with a tig. I can not. I am comfortable with my mig. For me it comes down to practice. I was not near as handy with my mig either till I spent the time with it I have in the last 9 months. A friend of mine has the Eastwood plasma cutter and loves it. practice practice practice
I would shy away from using a tig for assembly, first off it takes twice as long to tig the same weld as a mig. plus depending on your filler rod…heat, speed, gas flow, ect you may have more leaks…as cracking will occur and purosity will cause holes plus you need a closer fit where you can fill gaps with the mig… I use both every day in my fab shop. I use an HTP invertig 201…and I have been able to weld 2 pop cans together…but it took lots and lots of practice and fine tuning of my welder. Th high frequency alone can blow a hole in that thin of material…
Thanks for the response Dennis and Jim. I appreciate the input.
My only comment on the material thickness… if it’s too thin to weld easily with the MIG, it’s probably going to be too thin in the long run. I’ve nearly finished replacing the thin drums used (with a MIG) on my unit; in hindsight a bit thicker would have been a wise choice. 16 ga and thicker for me, in future.
Chris your statement about thicker metal is indeed a wise choice. I know in the future I will pay the extra price and use thicker material and I agree that 16 ga. or thicker is a good choice. The only drawback is there would not be any quick way of sealing lids like on the barrels. Have you ran across any good means of fastening the section and lids and still maintain a good seal other than installing a lip and bolting them together.
Conrad,
There are actually 16 ga barrels, that’s what Wayne uses. Thicker than that you’re looking at custom fab work.
The drum lip is fairly easy to duplicate, with a round rod bent into a circle and welded to a steel cylinder. Lids are harder to make, but easy to come by. I’d just buy the lids, as thick as you can find them, and make the drum to fit the lid. That way you still have interchangeable seals.
Flanges are hard to make and waste a lot of metal (cut out the middle). Sometimes you can buy flanges ready to weld, might be a good option.
Conrad, when you need flange material, call me. I have plenty here. My phone number is on my profile page.
Thanks Chris and Bill for the information. Chris you said Wayne uses barrels that are 16ga, that explains why he makes it look so easy HA HA . I’m sure the real reason is because of his many skills. I am curious where he finds barrels that thick. The barrels I’m finding aren’t that thick. As a matter of fact the barrels I’m trying and I repeat trying to weld at the present time are .030-.035 thick and besides that they are galvanized. These barrels will be for my hay filter. Bill from what I see you live in Ramsey MN. That is not to far from where I live which is Clear Lake MN. I met you at Argos last May hope to see you again.
After many attempts to weld pin holes I resorted to using seam sealer. I don’t know if it will stand the test but all I can do is try. It seemed like I was fighting a loosing battle trying to weld the pin holes shut due to the thin barrels.
