Last sanity check

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I'm diving into this world of welding and need some advice before I pull the trigger.First of all I have some experience in metal working, but that was 20 years ago, and I'm a avid woodworker...so using power tools/equipment is not a issue, plus I work with high voltage.I'm looking at the Thermal Arc 181i because of the 3-1 and $800 cost. Is this a good machine for the DYIer, hobbies?Helmets, I'm looking at two options. 1) The one that is a special offer with the 181i, which is a Tweco, on a rebate.2) Rihno Big Lens for $80I have been collecting some of the other equipment over time, and already have gloves, clamps, magnets, and a RA grinder. What am I missing?
Reply:Gas bottles, regulators, etc. for tig and mig.Some way to cut metal, such as a torch.Files and pliers, but you probably have those already.Different style gloves.  Thick ones for stick, thin ones for tig, and medium ones for mig/fcaw.Patience, a friend, and a bucket of water to quench your coupons.Oh, and a big 220 volt circuit with a 50-70 amp breaker (not sure what they recommend on that, but book will tell you).
Reply:If you are already a woodworker, then things like assembly, fit up and order of operations are things you are already familiar with. Most times that's what makes a project note worthy, not the welds themselves. Poor welds will detract from a project, but  good welds seldom makes up for poor fit up and assembly.The TA 181i is very new. No real feedback on the units yet overall. If it's anything like the TA 185 as far as quality and performance, you should be good. On paper it looks like a decent machine, but I'll withhold judgement until it's got some time out on the market myself. I'm not the biggest fan of "all in one" types of machines in general. Usually you have to give up quality and performance somewhere to try to do lots of things. The end result is usually a machine that will not do as nice a job as a dedicated single use machine. There are however some exceptions to this rule, usually they carry a higher price tag however..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:DSW brings up a point.  What are you trying to do?  All the different processes sound great, but they each have a curve, for some fairly steep.  Cost of equipment.  For tig, I forgot to mention you will need a bench grinder with a dedicated wheel for tungsten electrodes.  At least my school did.  Only tungsten on a dedicated wheel, never anything else.Skill set.  To me, tig welding was as far from stick as you could get.  Stick is a very different process.  For that matter, mig was (is) wildly more difficult for me than stick, but I am an oddball.  I am inescapably and tragically in love with stick welding.  Yet I don't have one.Knowledge set.  Although there's some common denominators, such as fit up, heat, penetration, warpage/ contraction, they occur differently for different processes.  And, each process requires different materials, settings and techniques for different situations and materials.All I'm getting at is a 3 in 1 machine is a hell of a lot to learn.  You can get a lot done with a AC buzz box for certain types of projects.  Same with mig/flux core aka GMAW/FCAW.  And OA.Point being, you might think about what types of projects you will do first, ones that are within a beginner skill set (like me) and pick a process that will do that.  Spend the money for a decent dedicated machine, and learn it.  While doing so, you will learn a lot of techniques and info that is common to other processes too and cut the learning curve a bit on them when you expand.For relatively limited list of projects, yet high flexibility, you might find gas welding to be the right place to start.  Plus you get the ability to cut, too.JMHO and some thoughts.  If you're like me, you will quickly realize that a good welder is underpaid when you realize everything they need to know and be able to perform.  And I haven't even thought about code welding.  Talk about dense.
Reply:Originally Posted by gmebeyI'm diving into this world of welding and need some advice before I pull the trigger.First of all I have some experience in metal working, but that was 20 years ago, and I'm a avid woodworker...so using power tools/equipment is not a issue, plus I work with high voltage.I'm looking at the Thermal Arc 181i because of the 3-1 and $800 cost. Is this a good machine for the DYIer, hobbies?Helmets, I'm looking at two options. 1) The one that is a special offer with the 181i, which is a Tweco, on a rebate.2) Rihno Big Lens for $80I have been collecting some of the other equipment over time, and already have gloves, clamps, magnets, and a RA grinder. What am I missing?
Reply:Thanks everyone for the help, and advice.The reason I chose the TA 181i is more based on 220V, MIG, Stick at a reasonable cost. As for TIG, well that is a "maybe" in the future. I plan to start with MIG (FCAW and GMAW), then stick.When I started researching welders I quickly grew past the 110V, FCAW only, which pushed me up in cost close to the TA 181i....and I'm interested in stick. Not having a lot of available room made the 3 in 1 machine even more appealing.As for dedicated grinders and tools, that is not a big issue as long as the cost and needed space is reasonable. As an example I have two bench grinders one for general (gray wheels 3600 rpm) and the other dedicated to wood turning gouge sharpening (white oxide wheels 1750 rpm).Reading the reply by RobJ reminded me that I still need to get a cut off saw. Any suggestions, is the Harbor Freight ones worth trying?
Reply:I am no expert but I put smaw and cut off saws in different categories of work.  Narrow overlap in what you can reasonably cut (not to mention only straight cuts) vs the thicker material I would turn to stick welding for.  If I had a stick welder
Reply:Originally Posted by RodJGas bottles, regulators, etc. for tig and mig.Some way to cut metal, such as a torch.Files and pliers, but you probably have those already.Different style gloves.  Thick ones for stick, thin ones for tig, and medium ones for mig/fcaw.Patience, a friend, and a bucket of water to quench your coupons.Oh, and a big 220 volt circuit with a 50-70 amp breaker (not sure what they recommend on that, but book will tell you).
Reply:dont "pull the trigger"..point being  yer probably not in a production environment and would be better off with a stick/tig machine than a wirefeeder..since the 3 in one is untried, why bother? if you aint into aluminum, a nice dc inverter would serve you well.
Reply:Originally Posted by killdozerd11Medium gloves for FCAW you don't do much FCAW welding do youSome of the work you do you want heavy gloves with a heat shield to say the leastbut he will never do that type of work with that machine
Reply:gmebey,I had a chance to try out the 181i at my LWS, it's a decent machine.  The only thing I would say is that it doesn't do AC TIG, so if you want to weld aluminum, you'll need to look at other machines.  Other than that, it should be a great machine for a hobbyist to start out on...just wait though...soon after, you may decide that you want a 300 amp Stick machine, higher output MIG, and a square wave TIG --Wintermute"No man's knowledge here can go beyond his experience." - John Lockewww.improvised-engineering.comManufacturer Agnostic:Blood----------Sweat---------Tears----|------------------|----------------|----Lincoln Red, Miller Blue, Esab Yellow