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Is it worth TIG welding Hardox? I plan on making a bike frame in the future so thinking about getting a TIG welder, but would it be worth it getting a more powerful one to weld a hardox chassis up? Welds look neater, but having goggled, its not clear if there is any strength benefit.
I know to TIG welding is tougher then MIG but I have no issues learning. I have arc welded at uni and was pretty good at it.
Given equal skills, TIG welding should be stronger - you will get a smaller heat affected zone. Its probably just me, but I find TIG is easier than MIG welding.
For our application, the big disadantage of TIG, slowness, isn't a problem.
I also agree with Nick, I find TIG easier than MIG.
TIG welds cleaner and gives me more personal input on the weld itself.
On the other hand, it's also because I don't use any other methode to weld at home. And I dare to say I did weld a few Hardox parts in use in Robot Wars.
MIG is easier for tacks, long welds and welding dirtier materials.
Good points about MIG, I forgot about welding steel with hardly any cleaning. Another possible advantage with TIG is that its easy to change between materials - I can swap from steel to titanium or aluminium with just a few switches. That might not be useful for you now, but maybe in the future?
Tig is nice but will cost more in the long run due to the slow welding speed and high gas useage. A good inverter mig unit is perfect and will also weld aluminium no problem with a few extra bits.
I bought a chinese tig machine off ebay. Nice machine, used it for titanium in the past. Nice thing is that it also doubles as a stick arc welder.
I have a really nice portable Kemppi inverter MIG and its diabolically hard to change the Teflon liner for aluminium wire, so I never bother with it. A larger welder with interchangeable torches makes swapping much easier if you buy a 2nd torch, but its not as easy as just pressing the 'AC' button on a TIG :)Quote:
Originally Posted by adz600
I have an imig 160 amp unit . Liner removes quite nice and has different rollers. Seems to weld nice done ali repairs on mighty mouse and ceros
Kempi are lovely welders