CROB
Dirt Disciple
That's an issue as my only working space is a tiny room with white walls.I don't think TIG is that expensive, as long as you don't want to weld aluminium then a DC set with HF start is all you need, you can pick up a decent brand second hand for £200. On top of that you'll need filler rods, tungstens, bottle of argon gas, TIG gauntlets and a face mask.
You only have one set of eyes so a decent mask is important, so if you want to go cheap here get a old fashioned non-darkening type for £30 to £40 and just nod your head to drop it down when your ready to weld. Honestly the £50 auto-darkening types are a waste of money and soon stop working. I've had several quality brands over the decades and currently use a Speedglas but they are £300 to £400.
Ideally you'll have a bench grinder with a wheel on it you ONLY EVER use for sharpening your tungstens to avoid contaminating the tungsten.
Oh yeah, don't paint your garage walls white and then weld there as the UV and IR light will bounce off them and cook the back of your neck and ears. When I've had to weld in an environment like that some factor 50 suncream is essential.
I'd love an AC set I so I can weld Ally but they are £1500 to £2000 for anything half decent, I keep looking and hoping....
@novocaine sure you could build a bike frame with MIG or ARC, it might have to be on the heavy side though...
Will just have to get used to being cooked!
But I think a cheap dc set and an old school helmet would be fine.
I'm not looking to make money doing this, just kill the time.
As for a bench grinder... May have to make do with just grinding the tungsten off the concrete floor.
Can you run a DC machine off of normal mains electricity or do you need 3 phase?