Who Here Builds Cars WITHOUT a TIG Welder?

...and just uses a MIG, or, occasionally, a, (God forbid!), arc welder?!! My hot rod builder neighbor, when I was a pre-teen, taught me to oxy-acetylene weld, and by the time I was in junior high and could take shop class, we were taught to arc weld...years later, I taught myself to wire-weld...

...while working at a custom bike shop a couple years ago, I had the chance, during down time, to start to learn to TIG, but haven't pursued it, not having my own TIG welder...

Do you guy's who don't TIG, feel a need to learn how?, or are you comfortable with your current set-up's?

 

in sure learning to tig and having the tig welder would be great, but i have been happy with both of my mig machines to do anything that i need,

 

Mig and arc....A good tig is way out of reach and should be watercooled......

 

MIG-it!

I never used a TIG, but the MIG and gas-rig fit very well in my hands

 

I had a nice TIG machine, until Hurricane Katrina put it under 5 feet of salt water back in August of '05. I replaced it with a Millermatic 212 MIG, and to tell you the truth I really don't miss the TIG that often.

Bob

 

My little mig has gotten a lot of use over the years, and I'm putting together car number 2 with it. I would never say it's anywhere as nice as a TIG, but it works for me.

I'd love to have a TIG but finances have never allowed for it.

 

me and my buddys use both mig and stick and even gas. very rarely do we ever need to borrow someones tig.

 

Ox-acetylene torch and an arc welder have done fine for many years. Most hot rods ain't rocket surgery.

 

I do. I didn't get a mig until about 10 years ago. I'll bet there have been more cars built with an arc welder in the past than anything else. 99% of your backyard,garage,shadetree, whatever you want to call us can't afford a tig or most can't use either[me included].I use coat hanger and a torch also. TP

 

no tig , but use the hell outta my 135 buzz box and a torch ... some of the finer details I wish i had my hands on one or actually wish one of my friends did ... i can do it but its so damn slow

 

I'll join this club!

Maybe, one day, I'll even ditch the flux-core and get a bottle, but that's gettin' pretty hi-tech...

 

This was built with an arc welder....


...and this was patched with a wire feed.....

 

I'm looking to replace my Hobart 180 (stolen) with another Mig. Thought about a Tig but I'm so comfortable welding just about anything with a mig other than aluminum that I'm going back with a mig.

 

MIG here.

Want a TIG but not in the budget..

IMO a tig forces you to be a better fabricator...

 

I just purchased a tig and have hilt a few o/t cars without. I built a roll cage for myself with a flux core 110 wire feed machine. Maybe young and dumb but it was tested and passed just fine. I only got the tig for tighter, more precision welds. A lot more prep work and more picky on my positioning, but the cleanliness of it is nice

 

From my limited experience, absolutely.

 

I have 2 MIG's, one big and one small.....they take care of 90% of my welding. For anything else I use a stick welder. Never tried a TIG...

 

never even used a tig, but a mig fits me and my budget reeeeaaaallll good

 

im just using a gasless mig. hopefully i can upgrade to gas after i move. i would like to learn to tig but i just need to find someone in my area who wants to teach me

 

The tig is like any other tool you don't need, until you get one and say i can't believe i went without it for so long. I only have a tig and i weld alot of things that would be better off with a mig, but using the tig makes me more aware of fit and finish. I have been using only tig for the past four years and helped a budy do some work at his shop with a mig a few months back, i didn't like it, splatter, larger beads etc.

I am not a mig hater and if i had some extra $$$ or room i would add one to the shop it definently has its place. Anything a mig will do a tig will too and then some. I do find it handy to weld stainless, and aluminum at will. Tacking pieces of work together during mockup is handy with tig, you can just fuse it and weld over for final. Wire feed tacks usually have to be ground down before final weld.

 

I'm teaching myself, as i did with wire feed. I'm sure I'd be better if i took classes for both, but personally I'm finding tig to be easier.

 

It is amazing how many times this subject is brought up. There has to be a hundred threads here about the different welding systems.

 

I should also mention that I have always used it on the bottle, never have used flux core.

 

It is amazing how many times this comment is made in the hundreds of threads about different welding systems.

Any, my 2 cents worth.
Flux wire Mig and Arc and occasional Gas for me.
Can't justify buying a Tig and learning to use it.

 

I'm probably in the .01% of people who can TIG but have never used a MIG. I've always used the tig for everything. I've tack welded a few things with the MIG but thats about it.

 

I've been gettin' MIGgy wit it for about thirty years. My motto is "If ya can't weld good, weld a lot". I didn't write it, but I stayed in a shitty motel...

 

I Arc weld everything, including sheet metal.



It doesn't look pretty but it holds up well. Someday I'll use the Tig attachment for my welder but for now I'll just keep Arc welding.

 

If you can TIG, bad ass, but that's an art, not a skill. Anyone can MIG within an hour. Maybe not pretty, but...

 

I have always used mig. In fact I just purchased a new unit finally. That money was actually gonna go for a tig but my old unit took a dump and since I had planned on replacing it anyway..........well now im saving for a tig again.I want both mainly cause I have a sickness when it comes to tools,but also I dream of bieng that "better fabricator". I believe its true as well. But I am definitly working at making the better functional welds with the mig for sure!!!!

 

Tig welded dirty sheet metal.