Since this build will be made with much thicker stainless joints.
On the front bumper build the heaviest joint was just a 1/4 to 1/4 inch butt weld, my little 105 amp home made tig welder was just barely able to weld that.
The heaviest corner joint was 1/8 to 1/8 and the 105 amp tig was able to weld this with ease just from one side.
On the rear bumper I will be welding at least 1/4 to 1/4 inch almost every where. But could be as thick as 3/8 or 10mm, just depending on what shows up at the scrap yard, I am not paying retail for 1/4 inch stainless diamond tread, it is rather expansive and I am rather cheap.
And I am going to weld both sides for maximum strength. Getting into that 90 degree corner is going to be kind of tough, its going to be really difficult if the machine I use cant provide enough power to melt the 2 sides of 1/4 inch or thicker plate.
So I am eyeing my 230 amp craftsman welder to be converted to tig.
Really the only thing keeping me from using the full power of the craftsman is my air cooled WP-17 tig torch, its only rated for 150 amps DC and 115 amps AC. I have read the WP-17 torches fail spectacularly if you give them more than 200 amps. I am too cheap to blow up my perfectly good WP-17 and have to replace it and still have to buy an appropriate torch.
Also 105 amps AC seems to be the practice limit of what the WP-17 can handle, it heats up quick and burns up collets with ease.
So I am thinking I will get a WP-18 torch. Its water cooled and rated for 350 amps at 100% duty cycle and 250 amp AC 100% duty cycle.
Then use my
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ing-32417.html cooler-pumping unit as my torch cooler because I am cheap.
I am not spending hundreds upon hundreds of dollars on a torch cooler.
Why a 350 amp 100% duty cycle torch on a 230 amp machine? Because I may want to combine the DC outputs of both welding machines, which could add up to right around 350 amps and 230 amps AC is awfully close to the 250 amp AC limit.