Sorry I have been mia for a little bit due to my pup getting an extremely aggressive form of cancer that spread from a leg muscle to lungs and causing crazy internal bleeding that requires a lot of keeping an eye on her. I even had to put my arm and knee surgery on hold as I have to carry her sometimes.
Anyways.... I went ahead and bought the AHP alpha tig200 directly through the manufacture to give a try. It should be here in just a few days as they were on backorder. I got it personally to give a try as for the money it does A LOT. The price they worked out was around 650ish shipped. I am hoping to get it in and play around with it to see if the hive thinks it's a viable option for the vote.
As always if anyone needs help with welding on a project drop me a line. Sorry I have not had a formal class in a long time but life has thrown me so many curve balls for a while it's hard to keep up with anything.
Im sorry to hear about the pup, Cupcake is going through Chemo right now and while its working it sucks. Good luck man
Thank you buddy, I hope all goes as well as it can.
Hey Kevin,
How is the AHP treating you? I’d love to play with it when you get the chance. I know its been rough with Mina, so please take your time. Hugs.
Tiff
I have not had a chance to run it yet. With everything going on and having to wait to grab an extra argon tank has been rough. I am hoping the one guy from Craigslist I talked to can meet this weekend to buy a tank as leasing sucks. I have a really decent repair job on a few rusted out hockey goals at the bottom as well as aluminum boards support structure in the next 2 weeks that has to be done so as all is running I will bring it down for a show and tell lol.
So where doe the AHP stand? Haven’t heard an update on the unit so curious where it stands.
Me too! I’d love to try it out! 
Between house repairs, the new pup, and work… It is no joke mainly in the box still 
… I have to head down to the OBX the 5th and am setting aside playtime when I get back. I have been doing welding work out at the ice rink and right now my mig and aluminum spool gun have been getting the job done as its just structural stuff. Another hurdle is I just ran out of gas in my 2 personal tanks at home and my third tank at the hive is contaminated with something as well as is a mig mix rather than argon. So consumables have me in a BIND. I did however get another 110v really nice mig unit and have it out at the father in laws that he ran into trouble with at his shop and just bought a new one from the matco guy. I am hoping its just a bad pot on the setting dials as he said the amperage is not really changing when turning the knob.
I have some pics from a larger scale waste oil forge for metal working and smelting. I am hoping to have it fine tuned enough for hive use on a weekend. Rather than expensive straight propane to run for a decent amount of time all that is needed is save a gallon jug of used motor oil and as soon as you temp it up with coal, wood, or gas mix, with the blower and preheated waste oil… holy hell it is hitting some temps! So far trans fluid, motor oils, fuel oils, cooking oils, etc are all working great.
With my wife and I’s opposite schedules as well as our new puppy and my parents we go over to help with as well time is not on my side right now. However if anyone is looking to do some welding projects I will have to be getting some aluminum tube as well as some other oddball stuff. If we want to look at a group order post what you might be needing as well.
Careful, someone may swoop in from space and buy it. (Just like the commercial)
more thinking for the space itself. there are a couple lincoln squarewaves posted in fb marketplace for a good price also.
I personally own the mig setup with added spool gun from eastwood in and it has been my workhorse at the shop for some time. I have heard good things about the acdc tig 200 from non brand snobs and people who only use 4k dollar rigs for iso and d ratings stuff. Only mod i need to make on my mig is add better cooling… lol but every machine runs better with a cooler. If it comes with a tank and the pedal, torch, etc are in good shape id see if he would take 400. Tank alone is worth 100 to 250 depending on size, gauges, flow meter, and being full especially!!! Had i not gotten the ahp to try i would have bought that without hesitation for what i do with a welder. To get better amperage control upgrades in torch, pedal, and cooling is a must for thin stuff.
as a side note, anyone looking for a little personal mig, there is a decent lincoln in an auction ending today at 12:30:
https://bid.bidfta.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi?schooliii270/HQ652735
With so many options being tossed around, I need to ask a question:
What about complexity / usability?
What about space setup?
1.) The value and power of the rigs we’re discussing are without question, but would it be better to go with something more easily set up / usable?
Hobart has a machine which has good reviews and is designed to be approachable for the less experienced. It also seems to have the AC/DC, foot pedal, etc we need. https://www.hobartwelders.com/products/tig/eztig_165i/. Reviews really do say that it’s a hell of a lot easier to set up and use for the non-pro / learner (me). I’m not recommending the hobart, per se, but wondering if we should consider “ease of use” here.
2.) I know that we’d need some special surfaces, equipment, accessories for tig – especially if we do Al. What are these, and what do they run?
Lorin
Hey Lorin,
I’m currently bidding on a hobart 165 on bidfta. Did you happen to see that also?
Tiffany
Nope didn’t see that. That’s probably what I’d get if I needed a tig. The hobart handler was the ideal mig for my needs, and similar in philosophy. I just don’t know if it meets hive criteria, or what hive criteria are…
https://bid.bidfta.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi?broadwelliii416/BW731886
I’m wishing I could get over there to inspect it in person today before 2, but Idk if its going to happen. I’m on the fence about how high to go.
The complexity of the machines that have been discussed are still in the hobby range. As far as complexity there would be basic cheat sheets. The main features i would feel the hive would need is cleaning action, frequency, and pulse. It allows you to repair and build outside virgin 6061 aluminum. Personally i feel we should look at machine that is rated up to 3/8 as the run time/duty cycle does not throw you into protection mode during a run. Just wanted to throw those out real quick, packing the car to head down South to see family.