Gonna buy a TIG welder

i have a thermal arc 185 and love it, pay'd like 1700 for it, its capable of a/c welding as well great machine!! you could get the exact machine from the mac tools cataloge with their name on it for 3800 lol
go to this site join and search for t/a185 or thermal arc or tig welders http://www.hobartwelders.com/mboard/index.php they have a lot of reviews and it is a well liked machine, they also have other product reviews as well and some kick ass projects

good luck

i just recently bought a lincoln powermig 215 for doing heavier stuff and its fuckin badass..burns all SD.coms thick shit like nobodys buisness...i dont see the need to have a TIG when your just doing body work and frame and suspension stuff...

Thermal arc is a good machine. I would highly reconmend getting a water cooled unit so you can do aluminum. They are more $ but gives you more options. It takes about 3 times as long to weld with TIG but the end result is worth it if you are good.

I bought a thermal arc 185 back a little bit and am very impressed with it.

Here is a link to where I got mine from: http://www.asedeals.com/firepower_tig.html

It says Firepower, but its a Thermal Arc ArcMaster 185.

Anything under 200 amps, a water cooled torch is unnecessary, unless you are using it for hours at a time. Weldcraft makes a Crafter series air cooled torche that is rated at 300 amps. Yes it gets warm after a few minutes, that just means it is time for a break. You can always add on a cooler later.
I vote Syncrowave 200. Watch the input amperage on the transformer machines (like a Syncrowave) They need 50 + amps to run at rated output. That is why I sold my Syncrowave and got a Dynasty, I didn't have enough amperage in the garage to run it anywhere over 100 amps on AC.

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honestly... don't waste your money on a tig welder. It's a nice skill to learn and a nice machine to have around, but get yourself a nice mig first. You're never going to use Tig on any kind of frame work you do unless you're building control arms, 4 link bars, or a roll cage. other than that though you most likely won't even touch your tig.

But if you're dead set on getting a tig, I have the hobart Tigmate. It's a stick and tig welder in one machine and works real well for me. however it doesn't get used too much anymore cause I've since bought myself a miller 210 wire feed which is awesome and the best purchase I've ever made.

I tig my whole new frame and wouldnt change it for the world.The welds are great it just takes ALOT more time.End result is awsome.I couldnt imagine going back to the mig to do some of this stuff. Here is what i use a Miller CST 280 suitcase welder.

i just picked up a millermatic 210 the other day. cant wait till i get my 220v hookedup in the garage to start burning some shit up.

i had a synchrowave 200, but too many bells and whistles.... duty cycle was nice, and the fan on demand was great.... but i wanna get a lincoln 175 thats a couple years old, they are as basic as it gets and work great..... if you wanna tig weld an entire frame, get a finger control and a shitload of patience.......