MIG or TIG?

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I'm going to get a welder but I can't decide between a mig or tig. I don't plan to do anything too heavy.  If the learning curve is not too steep, I'm leaning towards the tig because I'd like to do aluminum and finer work.If I go tig, I was thinking of a Miller Maxstar 150 with remote and high freq. start.  Seems like this would be a pretty versatile setup.  Again, I won't be doing any heavy stuff with it.  Mostly small parts fab for motorcycling and perhaps some firearms stuff.
Reply:NuetronIf you will be focusing on finer work and want to do aluminium go with a TIG machine.  However, the Miller Maxstar 150 will not tig weld aluminium.  It does not have an AC output.  You will have to go with an AC/DC output machine like a syncrowave or dynasty.  What do you think your max thickness of aluminium will be?  That will dictate what size machine you will need.I have a syncrowave 250dx tigrunner and love it.  I was looking at the 180 machine but decided on the larger machine and I am glad I went larger.  Originaly I thought I'd be working with mostly 1/8" AL and the 180 machine would be enough.  It turns out that I have been welding 3/16 and 1/4 inch often.  Get the biggest machine you can afford that way you won't be disappointed later on down the road.BrianLincoln Mig 215Miller 211Victor Torch SetMiller Maxstar 200SDMiller Syncrowave 250DX Tig runnerMiller Trailblazer 302 running on LPMiller Extreme 12 VS SuitcaseEllis 1600 BandsawMiller xmt350 CC/CVLincoln Vantage 300
Reply:Thanks Brian - I missed the ac/dc distinction for working with aluminum.  I'm afraid I'll have to go with mig to start.  $2000 is more than I can justify for hobby use.
Reply:NuetronYou can get a miller mm210 with the spoolgun package for $1800.00 delivered to the house.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...502894294&rd=1Take a look at the Thermal Arc Pro-Wave 185 or the Lincoln Precision tig 185, both about the same price.Hope this helps.BrianLincoln Mig 215Miller 211Victor Torch SetMiller Maxstar 200SDMiller Syncrowave 250DX Tig runnerMiller Trailblazer 302 running on LPMiller Extreme 12 VS SuitcaseEllis 1600 BandsawMiller xmt350 CC/CVLincoln Vantage 300