I've had the tig 200 for about a month, only have a few hours time on it. As stated before the manual is only a GUIDE, not an instruction manual on how to tig weld. I've gas and stick welded but mostly mig weld. This tig works great on steel and is very easy to set-up(pretty much look at the chart on the side of the welder). My practice pieces were on some .125 wall square tube and the welds look great (except where the tungsten dipped in). I can't wait to do rocker panels and patch panels with this. Aluminum is much tricker (from what I've been told by numerous experieinced welders), especially if you've never tigged before. With some practice and the correct tungsten I'm positive it is obtainable. It seems some are concerned by the cable ties on the torch head for the thumb control, they make sense to me, keep it simple and compact. I think that Eastwood did a great job with this tig machine. I was on the fence about this for a month or so. I can't afford a new Miller or Lincoln, checked out the Everlast Power Tig 185 (nice unit) and all the used stuff was either 100 years old or so new it was close to the price of it new. I can honestly say I made the right choice. Get a full tank, some scrap pieces to practice on, experiment with some settings and go to town. If you can get it on sale, it only will sweeten the deal.