Welding Aluminum? Cost? Mig? Tig?help

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I have a Lincoln Powermig 255 I bought a couple years ago And now I'm wondering what's the best way for me to get into welding Aluminum. Should I buy a spoolgun setup to do aluminum for the machine I have? I'm guessing that would cost about $1000. And then I'd need another tank for gas.Or should I forget about the Mig Idea and save the money for a TIG. I'm guessing that I'd be welding 1/4" as the thickest only occasionally. I would think that I would be welding thinner stuff like diamond plate or thinner more frequently.How much  woudld I need to spend on a TIG and what can it do?
Reply:Migging aluminum works- but its loud, messy, smoky, and spattery. And it leaves pretty big beads, and usually, unless you use a run off and on plate, it leaves kinda buggered up ends. And it isnt real great for thin stuff- tends to burn thru. I once mig welded about a mile of 3/16" plate, but we ground out every weld. I mig weld aluminum when it is 3/16" to 3/8" in thickness, and its not important that it look real pretty.Tig welding aluminum, on the other hand, can work on any thickness of material up to the max amperage of your machine. Its a lot quieter and cleaner, and with practice can make very pretty welds. Its slower than mig, though. Personally, having owned a spool gun for about 20 years now, and used it on pipe, angle, plate, square tube, and round bar, I would skip it, and save up for a tig. A decent used tig can often be had for around a grand. A new, all the bells and whistles machine is closer to 3.For aluminum, you need AC, and you need high frequency. And it is a really good idea to get a water cooled torch, as aluminum gets hot, fast. With an air cooled torch, you would have to stop and let the torch cool down quite a bit.But if you get a tig welder, you will find yourself using it for steel, stainless, copper, bronze, and even cast iron, all the time. Its clean and neat, no cleanup or grinding, quiet and fun. I use my tig welder more than any other welder in the shop.
Reply:Hello RiesWould you please suggest me which manufacturer would be perfect if I would like to buy TIG welds right now. I would need them to weld Aluminum, SS, Brass. If I say my usage hour will be 8 hrs a day, could you suggest me a preferable rating (frequency, ampere, voltage) for DC or AC TIG weld? I have been thinking to buy two of them: one AC, another DC or what should I do? Or one AC/DC and another only DC. I would appreciate if peers attend this query. thanks.haS
Reply:Originally Posted by weldhasHello RiesWould you please suggest me which manufacturer would be perfect if I would like to buy TIG welds right now. I would need them to weld Aluminum, SS, Brass. If I say my usage hour will be 8 hrs a day, could you suggest me a preferable rating (frequency, ampere, voltage) for DC or AC TIG weld? I have been thinking to buy two of them: one AC, another DC or what should I do? Or one AC/DC and another only DC. I would appreciate if peers attend this query. thanks.haS
Reply:Originally Posted by Mr_FixitI have a Lincoln Powermig 255 I bought a couple years ago And now I'm wondering what's the best way for me to get into welding Aluminum. Should I buy a spoolgun setup to do aluminum for the machine I have? I'm guessing that would cost about $1000. And then I'd need another tank for gas.Or should I forget about the Mig Idea and save the money for a TIG. I'm guessing that I'd be welding 1/4" as the thickest only occasionally. I would think that I would be welding thinner stuff like diamond plate or thinner more frequently.How much  woudld I need to spend on a TIG and what can it do?