$2,000 to spend - Tig, Upgrade Mig or?

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I currently have a Lincoln 180T, A/C tombstone and an Oxy acetylenesetup. I don't weld much and am not very good but am getting better. I have high hopesof going to the local technical school to take some classes over the next two years.With that said, I have about $2000 I am thinking about investing in equipment for down the road. After school I hope to pick up some odd and end jobs. I have a 32x40 shop behind the house and need to make in money producing.What would you do? Buy a tig, upgrade the mig or?
Reply:I'd practice INTENSIVELY and STUDY.  Set up a practice area with a "tree" and get proficient on structural stick and MIG. I'd buy a used Idealarc or Dialarc 250 then practice 6010 and 7018. That's also big enough to stick weld anything too thick for your MIG, and won't dent your budget much. There's no substitute for "time under the hood", and that doesn't require very expensive gear.
Reply:Id save it. When you find something you want to have, you'll just know.[Account Abandoned 8/8/16 Please Do Not Attempt Contact Or Expect A Reply]. See you on YouTube! -ChuckE2009
Reply:What type of Odd and end jobs?Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Originally Posted by farmallI'd practice INTENSIVELY and STUDY.  Set up a practice area with a "tree" and get proficient on structural stick and MIG. I'd buy a used Idealarc or Dialarc 250 then practice 6010 and 7018. That's also big enough to stick weld anything too thick for your MIG, and won't dent your budget much. There's no substitute for "time under the hood", and that doesn't require very expensive gear.
Reply:I would look for a nice used multi process machine.  A good Inverter machine will do a lot more with a lot less input power requirements . that way you can add as you need stuff,  tig, spool gun, wire feeder etc.   used you can get a real nice setup for that kind of money.  I would consider a plasma cutter too but be sure to get a dedicated plasma cutter, not one built into a multi process machineTiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:http://atlanta.craigslist.org/atl/tls/2455667929.htmlI'd drive down to Hotlanta and pick up this ESAB 252Ed Conleyhttp://www.screamingbroccoli.com/MM252MM211 (Sold)Passport Plus & Spool gunLincoln SP135 Plus- (Gone to a good home)Klutch 120v Plasma cutterSO 2020 benderBeer in the fridge
Reply:Originally Posted by soutthpawI would look for a nice used multi process machine.  A good Inverter machine will do a lot more with a lot less input power requirements . that way you can add as you need stuff,  tig, spool gun, wire feeder etc.   used you can get a real nice setup for that kind of money.  I would consider a plasma cutter too but be sure to get a dedicated plasma cutter, not one built into a multi process machine
Reply:That 252 looks like a good deal.
Reply:depending on the thickness of metal your planning on working with in the future.. if you think you would be working with steel over 1/4" i would be upgrading to a larger mig..option-1 take your $2000 and purchase an ironman230, sell the lincoln 180t and with the money left over from your initial purchase and buy a thermal dynamics cutmaster42.. option-2  if you think the 180t will be enough welder for you in the future. do you have a good air compressor? if not i would probably be looking at a decent 60 or 80gallon compressor and a plasma cutter (thermal dynamics cutmaster42) to go with it... i would also try to fit in one of the cheap harbor freight/rong-fu/jet 4x6 horizontal bandsaws if possible.. those little saws are pretty nice to have around.. option3if you have a compressor.  buy the thermal dynamics cutmaster42 plasma cutter, the 4x6 horizontal bandsaw, a drill press, a decent belt/disk sanderoption4a used sycrowave 250 with cooler  i love spending your money tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:I have a plasma and love it, but since you already have the O/A setup and are on a tight budget, I'd save the money for something that gives you new or more capability.  The O/A can cover everything the plasma does.The sync250 gives you a lot of capability.  It'll weld any metal an odd job shop will see, and have the power for heavier stuff.  There are some downsides.  You won't be moving the thing around much.  Probably not a problem since you mentioned working out of your shop.  You'll need a stout electrical service.  Your shop may already have this, or you may have to spend considerable money to upgrade.  Tig is slower.  I mainly do hobby work with tig and don't care if it takes another hour on a project.  If you're doing paid jobs and you could be saving time using mig instead of tig, that's taking money out of your pocket.  Somebody might chime in on the gas costs on mig versus tig.  I usually run mig with more gas flow, but I'm using co2 or c25 and it's cheaper than straight argon.  I spend less than $100 a year on gas so I never worried about it.The xmt304 CC/CV sounds like a nice setup also.  I considered going this route.  On the upside you can get stick,mig, and DC tig in one machine.  I think these are around 80lbs so you don't need a forklift to move the thing.  The power draw is more managable.  The downside is this setup going to be expensive.  New price on the machine is around $3500 plus $1000 or more for a feeder.  I'm not sure how the used prices are, but probably over the $2000 budget.  Another thing I didn't like about the xmt304 is the derating when running on single phase (70amps less at 60% duty cycle).  I don't have 3 phase service so those ratings don't help me.  Another problem is all your eggs are in one basket.  If the machine has to go in for repair, you are totally down.  If you had separate machines for each process, you could still do some work when one machine goes down.  The tig is DC only so you couldn't do aluminum.  You'd need a spoolgun to do aluminum (more $$).  Also I think you'd need an external HF box (more $$) to do non-contact starts.  The xmt304 has 'lift-arc' low current starts.  I've never used that mode so I don't know how good it is.  The separate feeder is nice compared to the millermatic all-in-one that I have.  When I was thinking of this setup I wanted to make a boom in the shop with the feeder on the end.  This would let me work on big projects without rolling the machine around.Dynasty200DX w/coolmate1MM210MM VintageESAB miniarc161ltsLincoln AC225Victor O/A, Smith AW1ACutmaster 81IR 2475N7.5FPRage3Jancy USA1019" SBAEAD-200LE
Reply:Thanks for all of the suggestions guys, keep 'em coming.To answer a couple of the questions, I do have a compressor that produces about 16 CFM @ 140 PSI (verified) and my shop has 200 amp service.I'll give the seller a call on the ESAB252 later this afternoon and go look.