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decent starting out welder?

Chinese copy of a Lincoln is what that looks like to me. I'd stay away from it and look for a used Miller 135 or a used Lincoln 135...

The 135 amp 110 volt machines are great "first machines" that will be quite useful for a good long time. You want something that is gas ready so you have the option to use gas shielded micro-wire, or gasless flux cored wire.

Rene
 
Yea when I first looked at I was like Sweet Lincoln for cheap!!! :doah:
Ok well after reading through some threads on here I think I decided what I want to get. I am just going to save up for a Millermatic 180 Autoset!
 
kyser_soze said:
I started with a Clarke 135 it has provisions for a gas hookup.
Click to expand...

My first home machine was a Campbell Hausfeld 80 or 90 amp POS. It was what i could afford, and I had 15+ years of welding behind me to help me deal with the machine's shortcomings. I would never give this machine to someone with no experience. They would blame themselves for it's shortcomings.

A good quality machine is a must for someone that is leanring, it eliminates the machine as the source of any problems, but also limits the problems to operator error. Being inexperienced and dealing with "cheap machine quirks" is very tough.

Rene
 
I bought a Millermatic 211 last summer.

I love it, you can run it on 110 when you need to, or 220 and get a better duty cycle and higher amperage than even the 180 in about the same size.

Also for beginners it has the autoset feature, where you just select the metal thickness and weld. (assuming you have it set for the insalled wire diameter)

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_211_autoset/


You should be able to get the welder alone for about $950. It comes with all the gas hookup except the bottle.
 
Get yourself a 110 Lincoln from home depot it has the gas or electric options. It is the first welder I bought and I still have it and it welds anything I need it to weld.
 
Hobart Handler 180, this is a 220V mig with gas and is a very capable welder and Hobart is owned by Miller. Got mine at Tractor Supply for $789.00 and it even came with a Hobart auto-darking helmet and a small gas cylinder so it is ready to weld right out of the box!
I think this is now called a "Handler 187"
 
tRustyK5 said:
The 135 amp 110 volt machines are great "first machines" that will be quite useful for a good long time. You want something that is gas ready so you have the option to use gas shielded micro-wire, or gasless flux cored wire.

Rene
Click to expand...

offroadblazer764x4 said:
Get yourself a 110 Lincoln from home depot it has the gas or electric options. It is the first welder I bought and I still have it and it welds anything I need it to weld.
Click to expand...


I am not a welder by any means... but these two posts say just what I was going to say.

What I have done, very minor... was using a Lincoln 110V. Had to let it cool down sometimes and do a couple double passes, but it worked real nice.
 
GMC Truck said:
Hobart Handler 180, this is a 220V mig with gas and is a very capable welder and Hobart is owned by Miller. Got mine at Tractor Supply for $789.00 and it even came with a Hobart auto-darking helmet and a small gas cylinder so it is ready to weld right out of the box!
I think this is now called a "Handler 187"
Click to expand...

The miller 211 is about $995 on ebay. To me it would be worth the couple hundred extra for a unit as versatile as it is.
But thats just me :D
four_by_ken said:
I am not a welder by any means... but these two posts say just what I was going to say.

What I have done, very minor... was using a Lincoln 110V. Had to let it cool down sometimes and do a couple double passes, but it worked real nice.
Click to expand...

I think I will not use a welder as much as some but I would prefer to have a bad ass one for all of my projects. :D
 
The way I look at it... a 120v welder is so versatile because it is so much more portable and able to be used so many more places, it should be the first bought.
Then if bigger projects are needed or a more powerful one is needed... then drop some real cash on one.

At least thats my plans. :D
 
yea i bought it. i recieved it 3 days ago and im going to test it out monday. Il post some pics but i dont have much weldeing experience at all so if it looks decent then its a good welder.
 
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