) usually considered the best (in no particular order) are Kemppi, Lorch, Murex/ESAB, EWM, Cebora, Fronius, Migatronic (i think they're pretty rare here now) and a few others, all available in the UK, not sure what the EWM, Migatronic, Cebora or Fronius aftersales are like, i would guess cebora would be good there are a lot of their machines around, but i can say for sure that ESAB and Lorch are both very good, knowledgeable uk staff and will get any problems sorted with out any hassle, and i think kemppi are said to have good after sales too. in Bridgend they collected the machine from me and brought it back a couple of days later.
long lists of good european welders and american, usual ones are Miller and Lincoln for the best american ones and also Thermal Arc, as for european ones (what i'd buy
the ESAB repair place that sorted my tig when it had a minor issue must be very close to you
the ESAB performs great and is a little cheaper than the others they're all between £2000-3000ish inc vat in the UK all really nice machines, I like the whole feel of the ESAB the torches the control panel is well thought out and quick to work with, and it is a pleasure to use.
hey, when I was buying my tig, I came to the conclusion that the ESAB caddy 2200i AC/DC TA34 was the best balance of performance and price for me, I wanted a good quality machine that'd last, the options in was looking at were the ESAB, the Kemppi the MLS2300 ACX, the Lorch equivalent, and the Miller dynasty 200, basically it came down to not seeing that any of the others had much advantage over the ESAB and the ESAB was expensive enough already, plus I wanted the foot control, an extra torch, fillers, gas, it all added up, and the ESAB looked like the best option, and if I was doing it all again I'd look at the same ones and buy the same one
I've also just got a Lorch M-pro 252 control pro, also a lovely machine, great build quality, and also a pleasure to use, and I am sure their tigs would be just the same.
I'd go and have a go with a few, suppliers shouldn't mind you trying the kit out before buying
I can recommend ESAB and Lorch as really nice machines, great to use and generally good service from the suppliers and the companies them selves
but the R-Tech has a good reputation, with many happy customers, they are made in china though if that's what you are trying to avoid, personally I don't like the machines with all the knobs.. 1 knob and a load of sealed buttons to go through the settings is the way to go, I know that r-tech are now making a digital range too, but they're rather close in price to the european brands
gas isn't cheap either, you use a lot more than with mig too, I don't do tons and tons of tig, not all day every day kinda thing, but I worked out that it still makes sense for me to have the huge BOC cylinder, off the top of my head the rent alone is £85ish a year +vat I think.. though you can start with just the machine and the kit it comes with assuming it comes with a torch and that, the only other bits you need to get to weld at all are tungstens you might as well get full packs, it's worth it, fillers and gas+regulator if it doesn't come with one, that'll get you started and it's what I got to start off basically, but not long after I got the foot control and small torch, better helmet and a load of other bits. but I like the speedglas and the 9002d has lasted ages, so I see it as a good investment and I'd rather have the nice one and keep it for along time than keep getting new cheap ones. haha
the r-tech would be a fine machine I'm sure, but in my opinion, the ESAB and rivals are much better and made in europe but that you have to pay for of course, so on a £1500 budget, I'd go with the r-tech.
Thanks for the reply 'Ragnarok', dont mind long replys its good to get the info!Mine was £1950ish plus the extra torch and foot control, torch was crazy expensive at £250 and pedal about £300 plus whatever other bits and pieces they add up, a couple of packs of tungstens, various gas cups, gas lens, collets and collet bodys, fillers, gloves, then I ended up needing a new helmet too, because the speedglas 9002d doesn't pick up low amps, so I got the 9100xx and keep that for tig only and the 9002d for mig, i think it's a good idea to have separate masks for mig and tig personally, or at least some extra lenses so you can have a clean one with no spatter just for tig
take that lot there it's gunna be around £2800ish inc vat for a decent tig set up, and I think the price has gone up a bit since I got mine, some extra haggling may get it down a bit though..
the £2800 is pretty much a minimum based on getting a big brand and a really good helmet, extra torch (if you want a small one I got the ESAB WP9 size one, in addition to the WP26 that came with it) foot pedal and all the rest of the bit you need and you still need gas
so if you want one for £1500 you're gunna be limited to R-Tech or Tec-Arc pretty much and you'll only just manage to get one of those probably once all things are included
also helmets don't have to cost a lot for tig, the SWP one has a good reputation as a cheap tig mask
but once you get a tig.... you're gunna want a plasma
I use my kit mostly for making things for around the place, I live on a small farm/small holding and I also use it for repairing cars, making bits and pieces for other people, you know general welding/fabrication/maintenance currently not trying to make money doing it but I'm planning on starting some kind of small business when my new workshop is complete, currently have a small workshop but the new one is going to be 30ftx50ft so fairly large, with potential to add another 30ftx50ft to the back if I need/want to.
Building a new bridge for the track in is my next project, gunna be a big one!
all my kit saves what it costs or more very quickly vs getting someone else to do welding or whatever, so yeah, why not get nice welding gear, plus when I start a business or whatever I'll have a lot of the kit I need already, at least to get going
very long reply sorry haha probably not that relevant to what you're after
