If I buy a TIG will I miss the MIG?

I am wanting to learn to tig weld and be able to make pretty things out of aluminum, stainless.... I am looking at a miller diversion 165. It does it all... But can I sell my mig to offset the cost or will I be sorry I don't have both someday? I have used the hell out of the mig but I have only used a tig once, badly. Tell me why I shouldn't blow the tax check on a new machine and then sell the old one.

If you can wait just a few, the next issue of GRM--in the mail right now--has an excellent article by Carl Heideman that compares MIG and TIG. Short answer: It's more than a black and white situation.

Speed... TIG is slow... sometimes you will get bored with standing on your head trying to TIG a cage or something together and just want to be done with it...

So ya bust out the hot glue gun and git er done...

I use both TIG and MIG a pretty fair amount at Wreck Racing. The MIG is really nice for tacking steel, when you need something done quickly, or when you can't, or don't have time to get a really nice fit between two pieces of metal. MIG is also really great for filling gaps and welding in hard-to-reach areas.

In the fabrication work we do it's really nice to have both, but if you don't mind taking time to prep joints and materials well, then I think in most cases you can get by with just the TIG, which is more precise and gives stronger joints in most cases. Just my opinion of course.

Keep the MIG, there's jobs it's just better suited for. MIG is more forgiving to dirt or rust (like auto body) or mill scale. TIG doesn't like dirt at all, nor breezy/ drafty conditions like an open shop or outdoors (although you could increase the gas flow rate). TIG will still do these jobs but it's gotta be clean, clean, clean. Miss any dirt, rust or coatings and you'll be sharpening tungstens all day.

I used to use TIG for everything even though it had a stick. I bought a Millermatic 185 and use it for 95% of jobs now.

I waffled between the two for about two years, and ended up buying TIG. I figured if I were to buy ONE welder, TIG would probably be the best.

I like the quick-and-dirty speed and convenience of the MIG.

I like the quietness, cleanliness, quality and precision of the TIG.

I will likely buy a cheap 110V MIG as well, just for the quick-and-dirty jobs.

If you can swing both, do it.

Also consider the Diversion 180 - a bit more money, but it has a lot more oomph for thicker metals (especially aluminum).

You might be able to do a spool gun on your MIG to do aluminum.

mocking up say a bracket and tacking with a TIG in a tight space can be really hard.

i'd say if most/all your welding is done on a bench TIG is perfect, but if there's contortion involved in getting something welded on a not necessarily super clean car i'd want to still have the option of point and shoot MIG.

I have both. Lincoln 180 MIG and 185 TIG. Miller makes some good stuff also. All other brands are suspect in my mind.

Yes you will miss the MIG. Mostly because you wont be able to do anything resembling a weld with the TIG for some time!

The advice given about TIG needing to be clean is no joke. TIG likes polished, acetone wiped metal in order to do those beauty welds we all like. Oh, and about 1000 hours of practice.

The other thing about TIG is that it is best practiced on a bench! You need the moves of a porn star to work that pedal in some of the positions you will end up welding in.

So yeah, the TIG is a great tool once you get on to it, and I think it will make you a better welder for the effort it will take to learn, but don't give up the MIG.

buy a tig and practice for years to get good at it, then you'll probably be good enough to ditch the mig
When I tried tig, I couldn't believe how much trickier it was than mig...
If you're doing alot of show work or work that HAS to look great, or doing alot of work with aluminum, then the tig will be worth it, though.

I had TIG only for years. Now I have both. For bench work, for aluminum, and when I want something pretty, TIG is rad. But TIG sucks for convoluted, upside down under a dashboard welding pot metal to rust kinda work, and MIG makes that stuff easy.

My $0.02

I grew up with TIG and did all bench welding (well, about 95% was bench welding, Tool & Die shop)

The Al-U-Mini-Um needs a lot of heat/power especially if it is thicker stock. Maybe you need a demo day at a local supplier to evaluate/decide ?

BOTH!

Growing up we had both, when i moved 7hrs away i took the TIG cause im the only one who used it. I greatly miss having the mig for those quick jobs or to just tack stuff together. I have gotten pretty good and using the TIG in strange situations but what you dont think about is if you need both hands to weld with, what is holding the part you are tacking?

I have only done welding in community college classes (there is no way i could afford a decent welder), but I actually think TIG is alot easier. I couldn't learn to set the MIG machines they had to be able to weld anything, but after I took a class I could TIG fairly well.

It sounds like the answer is both which means.. really... just the MIG. I am not sure I can justify the $1.6k purchase price for something I don't use for everything I need.

In reality - I just want a TIG so I can fabricate things with aluminum (rivets make radiators leak when you use them to attach brackets :) ) and make pretty exhaust pipes, attach AN nipples to fuel rails, injector bungs to intakes... but for almost everything else - I'd reach for the MIG.

I've struggled with this issue as well. I've had a MIG for awhile, but I took a TIG class several months ago. I was surprised how easy it was and really impressed with the precision and control it offered.

Given that I only do this stuff as a hobby, however, it is really difficult to justify the cost of entry for a nice TIG machine.

I've actually been looking at the recently released Eastwood TIG machine. Yes, I know it is probably not as good as a Miller, but I can almost justify the price...

-Chris R.

Did you look at Eastwood's new Tig? $899 200A, 110/220. 3 year warranty.

Also, there is Everlast Micro Tig 185A, $899 (after you buy the pedal), 220 only. 5 year warranty.

I really want someone here to buy each of these so I can get a trusted opinion. I like the Diversion 165, but the cheapest I've found is ~$1300 w/o foot pedal.

There are the inevitable "made in China" discussions to follow, but I'm sure that the Miller is too. Main thing I like about it is that it's a known name brand.

^ What they all say ^

I had a little cheezball Italian "Daytona Mig 130" 110V machine forever. It got me through the welding-intensive years of Sprite restoration. A fair deal on a like-new Miller Syncrowave 180 TIG w/ every accessory and consumable imaginable got me into TIG after a while, and a pop-up great deal on a Millermatic 185 doubled the number of uses for my 220 outlet in the garage. Actually, I got the behemoth compressor from the same guy so it tripled.

My new garage has room for a welding bench so I'll finally be able to deploy my water-cooled TIG torch rig and generally be set up to use the thing. That said, in the past I used it rarely as I had to move everything in the garage to make a clear spot on the floor to set up.

Even with a dedicated space, much of what I weld is stuff like garage racks and shelves, steel tube stuff, brackets, making tools while needed during jobs. For these purposes MIG is king. I've used the machine enough that settings are intuitive. I do hope to become adept at TIG though.

So both.

Apparently there are some videos of the Eastwood TIG machine in action on Youtube. I haven't had a chance to check them out, but I have heard that they make the machine look reasonable.

Also, some Eastwood reps have gone on record on at least one Welding forum saying that they have parts in stock for the machine and will stand behind it...

-Chris R.

With regard to the foot pedal - I am not sure how much actual use that would get. The Miller has the adjustment on the torch (optional foot pedal @ $150) and for anything where I'm not sitting at a bench I expect that would suffice. Who can use a foot pedal upside-down in a trunk?

My only TIG experience was in a classroom and nowhere near comprehensive but my recollection was that once I got the puddle going and backed off a little - the foot never moved again so I imagine a high-frequency starter would eliminate my only need for dynamic adjustment.

though my TIG experience is only a little more than classes, i have definitely used the pedal to back off on thinner material where youre getting close to the edge and especially aluminum as it heat soaks so fast.

Giant, arent you in PA?

If you really want to TIG something you can always swing by with some nice beverages and use mine, im down by the philly airport.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: Who can use a foot pedal upside-down in a trunk?

I usually place the TIG pedal under my elbow, or between my knees, or whatever works. You figure it out. And hope nobody posts a picture of it.

monsterbronco wrote: Giant, arent you in PA? If you really want to TIG something you can always swing by with some nice beverages and use mine, im down by the philly airport.

Thanks for the offer - I do zing by that way pretty often pulling a trailer loaded down by additional beverages. I am up north by Scranton but you are right on my way to NJMP.

Swing by when ever!