Deciding on welder, mostly doing tack welds on aluminum wire.

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I make sculptures by twisting aluminum wires together.http://imgur.com/a/mNubgnDThe difficulty about this style of art is that those wire twists are held together by the friction of the twists. To avoid going into a very long explanation, I will just say that making sculptures this way is difficult, because every single wire must have part of itself twisted into other wire parts.At the beginning of this month, I became very interested in welding as a way to improve my sculptures. I would be able, I saw, to weld wires together at a few key points in each sculpture. So I set about learning as much as I could for hours a day, every day.As much book knowledge as I've learned, though, I have no hands-on experience --- because I don't own a welder yet!That's why I was hoping someone could direct me towards a good welder for my purposes.My initial desire has been to get an AC/DC TIG, as it makes small, clean welds and it's what I've done the most research in. But I can't work as well unless I have a free hand to hold pieces in place. So, me using TIG is partly dependent on not having to use filler if I'm just making tack welds that won't be much strained, anyway.The other option is a MIG with a spool gun for aluminum. This would be messier, but it's supposed to be easier to learn MIG.What do you think about this?Thank you for your consideration.
Reply:Spool gun would be a difficult welder to use for that. They are generally in spray mode for aluminum and it is just way too many amps. Not saying it is not possible to turn them down into short circuit, but it will be a nightmare. TIG is probably the best route. Need A/C tig for sure. A Miller Diversion 165 would probably work just fine. A lot of people outgrow them quickly wanting to weld thicker aluminum, but if you don’t want to weld plate aluminum you should be just fine.
Reply:With TIG, you can tack without adding filler. On aluminum, it will be a very weak tack but can be enough to gat another tack in place. I think you may be disappointed with how much welds interfere with the look of your sculptures but I do love my TIG welder and can’t imagine not having one.
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Originally Posted by walker

Spool gun would be a difficult welder to use for that. They are generally in spray mode for aluminum and it is just way too many amps. Not saying it is not possible to turn them down into short circuit, but it will be a nightmare. TIG is probably the best route. Need A/C tig for sure. A Miller Diversion 165 would probably work just fine. A lot of people outgrow them quickly wanting to weld thicker aluminum, but if you don’t want to weld plate aluminum you should be just fine.
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Originally Posted by Kinstrome

Miller seems very expensive, is there anything cheaper for an entry-level hobbyist?
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Originally Posted by jwmelvin

With TIG, you can tack without adding filler. On aluminum, it will be a very weak tack but can be enough to gat another tack in place. I think you may be disappointed with how much welds interfere with the look of your sculptures but I do love my TIG welder and can’t imagine not having one.
Reply:I wonder if solder would work for your art?
Reply:I tried it a few times, scratching and fluxing the metals in what I thought was the right way, but I never got it to work.
Reply:I agree with jwmelvin about Primeweld, I recently bought a DC Tig Machine from them and it has been great.Century FC-90Primeweld TIG 200D
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Originally Posted by GoK4rtFanatic

I agree with jwmelvin about Primeweld, I recently bought a DC Tig Machine from them and it has been great.
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Originally Posted by Kinstrome

Yeah, I went ahead and ordered it last night. It will take a while to arrive but it looks like it will be worth it.