Since everyone is talking tig these days..

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My dad has a complete tig setup he no longer uses thats been tempting me for the past couple months, my limiting factor though is finding an actual use for it.I've used it extensively in school though and loved every minute of it, they taught me the fundamentals in order to be able to weld professionally using gtaw. However. The work I do is mostly heavy repairs (smaw) and heavy/light fabrication (smaw/gmaw).I cannot see how I could make gtaw feasible in the work I do, so I need your help, I need ideas of how to sell gtaw to my clients who mostly want quick relatively crude general fabrication done, or repairs done to heavy, well used dirty equipment in the oilpatch.Those who are hired to tig: what is the majority of work comprised and how do you recommend I get my feet wet in professionally welding with tig?Freelance Fabber91 GMC 3500 Portable welding truckLincoln Weldanpower 8000 gas welderMiller CST 250 Smaw/Gtaw inverterMillermatic 210 gmaw line welderHyperterm plasma
Reply:thats a pretty good question actually, where i live there is no point for me to buy a tig for my business, just not really very practical, tigs are great machines and produce awesome welds, but slow, and the metal has to be clean clean, which is pretty hard when your welding old farm equipment and such. i would like to see what everyone has to say about this topic.
Reply:i would get a tig if it was a new fab type business...rollcages, headers, smaller structural frames, stuff like that.  i think zap and his tig have a more intimate relationship than most marriages.  i dont think ive read anything with him using anything else so far.
Reply:I so some welding in my shop.  I had a seat out of a truck that has been patched a few times.  I had the truck for one day.  I took the seat out, cleaned it up, sent the cushins out for re doing.  I tigged all the cracks, then added a piece of 1/4 X 2 hot rolled to each side.  I tigged that piece to everything along the way.  Thick, thin....  It made for a nice job.  This seat will never break again.  I could have done it with the mig, but this job did come out better."If the only tool a man has is a hammer, he will see all his problems as nails"I am finding work for it.  I have a TA 185 and found on DC I usually leave it on 185, so I am looking at a bigger machine.  Probably an Invertec V 350.  I also use my Ranger 250 to tig."Build it and they will come"I also leave some of my best tig work around the shop so people can see what a fine job it does.Sure makes a great root pass.DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Maybe it's not so much finding a way to sell TIG to your current customer as it is introducing TIG as a way to attract new customers. I an a firm believer that each process has it's limitations. I would never even think to use TIG on some of the repairs I've posted on this site it just wouldn't be practical. Having the ability to offer TIG as a process is only a benefit for your shop you just need to find a way to promote it.One way you could introduce it to your existing customers is to be selective in choosing the process you use... If you need to fab up some small brackets and you feel you could do it with TIG as efficiently as you could with another process, use the TIG. Let them notice what you're doing (not that everyone will care or elven notice a difference) If they ask about the difference in the weld appearances you can inform them that you offer TIG as a type of welding. What you really need to do is find companies that would have a need for TIG.... motorcycle dealers, performance shops... bakeries or food service in general... hi-tech manufacturing. The need is out there you just need to tap into it._________________Chris
Reply:Originally Posted by LSX89RSi think zap and his tig have a more intimate relationship than most marriages.  i dont think ive read anything with him using anything else so far.
Reply:there is a fab shop around here that has a guy that does tig. when you go in to have stainless or aluminum done, he just has you pay him cash. Just so the guy can keep his skill level up. He does a great job, I had him do a beer keg for me, sweet job. So I guess Its something that you don't always need but when you do there are only a few places that can do it.
Reply:i got my tig rig in my gang box, but i only use it a few hours a week. most of the stuff i do is busted cat equipment and dump bodies. the welder before me never used tig, so my boss shies away from it. but i am allowed to use when needed, like a throttle linkage i did last week. the mig and stick are just too big for it, so i prepped the linkage and tigged it up. only took a few minutes and don't have to worry about it. all the processes have their place like lorenzo says, but people shy away from things they don't know about. introduce tig as a valued added product, because of time it takes."Retreat hell, were just fighting in the other direction"Miller Trailblazer 302, Extreme 12 VS, Dimension 400, Spectrum 375, HF 251D-1, Milermatic 251 w/ spoolgun  Hypertherm 1000Lincoln sp 1702000 F-450 to haul it
Reply:One of my plans is to find an alumimum intake manifold, break it, weld it and leave it around the shop.  Subliminal advertising. I have heard people say "You can do aluminum?"  They have to know before you can get the work.And I agree a Tig is no place for a cracked boom on a backhoe, cutting edges, and things like that, BUT a broken aluminum transmission housing, or building up a part, it is right at home.
Reply:TIG has a place in heavy repair. Not often, but it makes some jobs a lot easier to get ight the first time.One of my favorite jobs with TIG was an engine mount for a large tow-behind air compressor. Mount broke and the engine shifted, and the alignment had to be as colse to dead on as possible. Pulled the parts of the mount out (several hur job), CAREFULLY cleaned up and ground back the break, laving just enough of the materail at the brake to get the alignment of the parts, then tacked the parts. Went back, got the engine back into alignment with bars and jacks, the thing slipped right in with minimal drag. Luck is a wonderful thing. Pulled the mount back out and filled out the welds, skipping around to keep the alignment. A day of my life to do the whole job, with about half a day for another guy on the heavy stuff. (followed up with replacing the bolts at the bell housing, and  a few other things that got distorted or broken by the weight of the engine)Stick would have made it tougher to hold the alignment of the parts and get the fitup, especially if something neded to be adjusted. Ditto MIG. To get a good set of tacks would have been way too much weld.
Reply:I've met Zap, I've watch him weld, I've read the posts, I've picked up some pointers from him with regard to TIG, I respect his abilities and his knowledge. I've also been to his shop and I've seen what others in his shop have used the SMAW process on and let me tell you, if it wasn't for Zap, welding would not be something I would consider a staple in their operation.__________________