Question

[riceone]

I have a Miller Bob Cat stick welder and a Miller Mig and am a fair welder for a farmer. I can weld on bolt handles with stick or mig to my satisfaction. My question is what is the difference in a mig and a tig. What will a tig do that can't be done with a mig. Have debated getting a tig buy don't know what I would do with it. Thanks riceone.

[PTSideshow]

I think the easiest way would for you to go to the Miller web site and download some of the PDF's of welding books they have. The section on the introduction in the TIG book would help fill in the blanks. http://www.millerwelds.com/education/bookspamphlets.html
:D

[macona]

Tig is precision and pretty, mig is production and can be pretty.

They both have their place and a lot of people can get away with doing everything mig.

[davidh]

if you ever watch "orange county choppers" they tig everything. my lincoln ac/dc/tig with a foot pedal is great but its sometimes tuff to do it standing up, hunched over, and standing on one foot with the other one running the pedal. the finger control might be a blessing here. . . . i love mine for repairing aluminum tool housings. all small stuff, and VERY satsifying when finished.
davidh (the old guy)

[riceone]

I have printed out the miller information and am in the process of studying it., thanks. riceone

[wmgeorge]

I have a Miller Bob Cat stick welder and a Miller Mig and am a fair welder for a farmer. I can weld on bolt handles with stick or mig to my satisfaction. My question is what is the difference in a mig and a tig. What will a tig do that can't be done with a mig. Have debated getting a tig buy don't know what I would do with it. Thanks riceone.

TIG, with lots of practice you can be a good TIG welder. Very good welds, but lots of time. It requires clean metal, rust and oil free. You can do steel, stainless and aluminum all with the same gas and same machine.

MIG can be a good process, but most people don't understand that you need to clean off most the rust, oil and grease, plus turn the heat up to get a good weld. Oh, you can get some really good looking welds with MIG, but will it hold?? If you did the prep it will.
Best all around process, I'd say stick. Even with dirty, rusted, oily metal 6010, 6011 will work. Clean it up a little and 6011 and cap with 7018, darn near impossible to have a weld not hold. Done all of the above, not an expert... but just got done welding/ building a backhoe, Caddigger 608, not the kit!!
I have been using some Hobart 7014 rod, which I find to be a good all around welding rod, other than 6011 Hobart.

[macona]

Even in the field I dont know of many fabricators or heavy equipment repairers that use stick much still. Most will use a voltage sensing feeder with innershield or dual shield wire. If you can afford a good mig machine, which the OP already has, I woulnt bother with stick.

[R W]

I woulnt bother with stick.
A good DC stick welder will do me any day.

[riceone]

In my younger days I worked for a natural gas pipeline. All the welds were made with a stick welder. That was in the 60's. Some time in the 80's I noticed they were using a wire welder. Helper was constantly turning knobs for the welder. Last time I noticed they were back using stick welder. As someone noted you can have a beautiful weld with a mig and have all the weld on one peice and none sticking to the other.

What I am interested in the Tig if for small jobs, just for my personal use.
riceone

[wmgeorge]

In my younger days I worked for a natural gas pipeline. All the welds were made with a stick welder. That was in the 60's. Some time in the 80's I noticed they were using a wire welder. Helper was constantly turning knobs for the welder. Last time I noticed they were back using stick welder. As someone noted you can have a beautiful weld with a mig and have all the weld on one peice and none sticking to the other.

What I am interested in the Tig if for small jobs, just for my personal use.
riceone

I'd do what I just did, go to eBay and get a Miller Maxstar 150 inverter Stick/TIG welder on close out and free shipping Link > http://cgi.ebay.com/MILLER-MAXSTAR-150-STL-TIG-WELDER-W-REMOTE-907135012_W0QQitemZ140255437277QQihZ004QQcategoryZ 113743QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153 .l1262
The only difference that I can see between this and the newer one for $200 more, is the new one changes input voltage automatically, and this one you need to remove the cover and change two jumpers this is a 120/240 volt unit. I frankly would have preferred the foot remote vs the fingertip remote, but I was not willing to pay $240 more. This would be great for a farmer ( I was raised on farm) as it is very portable.
I have done business before with this eBay seller and they have great service, and much better prices than your local guy, who most of the time doesn't care if you even come in his store!
Edit... I guess if you have a Bobcat stick welder, you don't need portable, you already own!!

[bobhdus]

Are you wanting to buy the TIG kit for your current Bobcat or trying to buy a new or used welder? Kits are cheap. Most Stick welders will accomodate a scratch start tig welder starter kit. Just get your polarity right and add gas. Thing about Tig is that the dilution of your base material and filler are close to 100%. Stick welding is next best thing. Mig is more or less just covering a joint with fair fusion. Pulsed Mig is a big improvement over that. Honestly, though Mig works great everyone uses it, but if I were a farmer I would be using Stick, unless I had many components to weld then I would use Mig. If you were doing thin gauge or small stainless parts then TIG is best followed by Mig. You can use stick as well but the burn thru could be an issue. Consider the Tig start kit though before you spend a lot of money. This is my personal experience. I am no expert. I have been welding for years in a Maintenance Shop for a Big Auto Co. that buys the latest and greatest. I still prefer the old stick method. Good luck.

[NickH]

.............As someone noted you can have a beautiful weld with a mig and have all the weld on one peice and none sticking to the other.


Yes, provided the operative in question is incapable of using a MIG set, but then you'll find someone who's incapable of just about anything.

If you watch your weld and you aren't getting it right you can see it while you're welding, the weld pool can be just on one side of the weld and only lapping up against the other part, but you'd be looking, and you'd spot that, right?
Nick

[hardtail]

Almost all field repair, piping fab is done with stick here........

[NickH]

And yet they exclusively use MIG for refurb & repair on the A1 Abrams tank chassis, potentially a much more critical application than pipe repair, they do use trained staff at General Dynamics though :D
Nick

[torker]

All I can say..if you are going to buy a tig machine...for around a farm...don't monkey with the little ones. Get an older 250 amp minimum machine. you'll thank me if you ever have to tig up a good sized alu casting or want to tig some 1/4" up aluminum sheet or bar. Try welding a 1/4" T joint with a little machine and you'll get pretty fed up in a hurry.
Russ

[riceone]

Thanks to all for the replies. With what I have learned here and the infomation I have down loaded I will make up my mind whether I really need a tig or not. The internet is a wonderful place to find information. Thank you. riceone.

[quasi]

Around here virtually all field pipe line and construction welding is done stick. Welding fab shops doing oilfield stuff have been going more and more MIG, probably 75% MIG now, 25% stick.

I noticed you mentioned Bolt handles, as in rifle bolt handles? TIG is ideal for gunsmithing, at least for me. Sticks big advantage for me is economy, no bottles to rent, no gas to run out of, and I can get all the rods I want for free on the jobs I work.

[riceone]

My original interest in tig was for the few bolt handles I weld and for a screw hole in the wrong place ever so often. I am not a liscened gunsmith and only work on restoring and sporterizing a few Japanese rifles and the amount of use I would have for one would not justify the cost. But knowledge is always good and I have gained some from you guys and others. riceone