Check out welding tips, and tricks on youtube. The guy, Jodi, does a ton of great videos. A couple vids are testing several affordable machines. He goes into good detail about the capabilities, and limitations of each, including cost.

His vids are also very helpful. I've learned a bunch from his vids.

My first choice - before buying the Thermal Arc - was the Everlast. Made in China but to a very high standard. Also and inverter with all the bells and whistles. I went with the Thermal Arc because its a long established company.

As far as I know, almost all Lincoln's commercial products are made here in Cleveland.

Did 40+ years there and have good memories.

Joe

P.S. referencing machines and consumables, ancillary stuff; worldwide.

If you think you need a welder, buy a welder! Dont spend the money on a welder you cant get rid of. I see it like this...

Your probably going to like it, and when you have a welder your buddies know it, and its like a trailer...

you have more buddies when you have a trailer.

I bought a used Miller econotig. traded an newer miller wire welder for this machine and its great for anything I do. its worth 1500 bucks and I know I can sell it tomorrow for that.

If you buy something off name thats harder to do.

I've often thought that a lot of folks buy machines that exceed the user's capabilities...IOW, a fancy machine with all the dials and do-dads is wasted on a less-than-talented user (like me) so the OP needs to match his skill with the machine.

Yeah, skills can improve over time but, again, takes lots of practice and many users (like me) just don't weld that much.

Miller just released a multiprocess 220 that had ac and hi freq. but it’s almost 3,000. That’s a lot. I would still rather have separate machines myself. I don’t like the idea of switching it over all the time.
As far as buying a big name vs something like harbor freight or everlast, I bought the Hobart handler 10 years ago on a sale I think it just came out. Hobart is owned by the same company as miller. They are supposedly assembled right in the same building. Use a lot of them same parts they just cut costs in a few areas. Was going for like 1,000 on sale brought it down to 800 and it came with a few extras.
I just decided to sell it and my HYPERTHERM Plasma cutter. I figured the Hypertherm would go right away and I’d have to drop the price on the Hobart mig. The mig sold in a couple Days and I was getting non stop emails. Guy didn’t even haggle. I sold it for 600$, in 10 years I lost 200$. I feel if it was a lesser name I would have had to give it away. The Hypertherm, I bought from a guy but it was never used. I think I had it about the same time, I got exactly what I bought it for.
With some of these rebates you really can’t go wrong. The kid that works with me just bought the Lincoln multiprocess, I think it’s the 210mvp. Something like that. It had a 433$ rebate.

He's the man. I think I've watched every video. Great instructor. His arc shots are better than the giant corporations. A benefit to society.

Don't skimp on features. Get them all. If you have to go used to get it, do that. I bet Craigslist has some. Be patient and get what you want.

I was looking for a new machine this summer. I had a decent 110 mig and an old AC stick for big stuff. I ended up buying a miller 220v mig. I searched and searched for a deal before realizing that people that invest in these things hold on to them and saving a hundred or two off of $1200 or so wasn’t worth the warranty and dealership support.

I really wanted a tig but I wouldn’t get one that didn’t have a nice arc start, post flow to keep the ends of the welds clean, and I really like the newer ones with pulse fearures- so slick for getting great penetration and not blowing through thinner stuff.

If you want to do aluminum and chromoly definitely spend the top of your budget and get a machine that will be a pleasure to use for years

I tend to make purchases of things (guns, tools, machinery, etc.) that are capable of doing better than maybe I can. I'd rather have a machine that I can grow into and learn with, than one I grow out of a month after I buy it. All those knobs, bells and whistles are there for a reason. And the name brand stuff will be easy to get parts and service for way into the future. Unlike the offshore crap.

Dave Hughes (dick) told me in person at the nats in Indy when building an engine it’s cheaper to go fast the first time,this is true in so many areas of life.
I can’t even TIG weld yet but when I can my Lincoln 200 is sitting there ready to not only go but go beyond my abilities so that I can get better and not have to buy another machine.
The blue cart was built for my Miller 130,it now also has a Lincoln 210 MIG on the bottom shelf,not much I cannot do with those two carts.

100% best way to do it. I'd rather grow into something than grow out of it and just buy once.


When I started reloading, I did a ton of research and in the end I bough a full progressive press. Soon, I'm going to add a bullet and case feeder and I'm just going to pull the handle and check powder.


The internet gun sites I was on went ballistic because you can't start with a progressive. You need a rock chucker. After you load 100k rounds with that, you can maybe, MAYBE step to a Dillon Square B or whatever they call that. Another 100,000 rounds later you can get the 550 but don't you dare buy an auto indexing press yet. You need 100,000 rounds more.


I bought an auto indexing press and didn't look back.

I bought a Lincoln Square Wave TIG 200 to learn on. They were $1200 when I bought mine. Nice machine except it doesn't have adjustable post flow so it wastes a bit of gas.
I believe they are made in Mexico.
Also, I only have a single stage press for reloading but it a nice single stage.

I bought a Lincoln squarewave 200 last year.
Brand new from a vendor in Chicago.
I paid 1300 or so shipped.

It’s a fantastic machine. The only feature it doesn’t have that I’d like it post flow adjustment.

I have the 175 and agree on the post flow. I wonder if I can hack an adjustment onto it? That package of documents just may have a schematic

There is nothing wrong with the SS press if that's what you need.


I would NEVER in an online forum tell someone they are so dumb they have to start with a SS press or they were a danger to themselves.

As you know, reloading is a repetitive process. It's not that hard. I would expect if you can run a race car, you could easily learn most anything you wanted to.

To tell everyone that they need to start that way is arrogant at best.

Somethings not mentioned, I got Miller Syncrowave 500, its a 600A Tig machine, it's a beast. I added a gas mixer, for Helium/Argon on the thicker alum stuff. I see some machines have the built in option. If you start doing any thicker alum, it helps. I currently use a pedal for most everything. But when inside the car, that soon becomes awkward. I thought I could connect up the newer wireless foot pedal. No deal unfortunately. I'm considering getting something newer and smaller that will allow the wireless foot pedal.

How much use will it get, and how thick of metal do you want to weld?
Most of the entry level units are < 200 Amps and use air cooled torches. This is fine for 1/8" and thinner metals, but when running 150+ amps (3/16" or thicker material) the air cooled torch will get hot in your hands fairly quick. This may be OK if just doing small jobs, but if you plan to weld long hours at high current look at the liquid cooled torch units.
There is a big jump in price going from air cooled to water cooled torch unit.
You will want to check what torch the welder is using to make sure it is compatible with common torch cups, and other torch consumable parts.

The older non-inverter units can be found at decent prices, but are big and heavy, and use more power to operate. The newer inverter units use less power for the same output, and are smaller and lighter.
For example, a Miller syncrowave 250 weighs 378 lbs, and uses 96 Amps @ 230 volts. A Miller Dynasty 280 (Inverter machine) weighs 52 lbs, and uses 30 Amps @ 230 volts.

If you are going to do roll cages and such where a foot control would be hard to use, look at getting a remote fingertip control.

I hear there are some good entry level machines now, but I have had my Miller Dynasty 280 DX for several years now, so I haven't look to see what is on the market lately.

My first tig machine was a thermarc. It was a scratch-start, dc only machine. I later bought a Lincoln square wave 175 for the capability of doing ac aluminum work. I used that machine for a few years, and decided to add the water cooled torch. It just isn’t practical to use the gass cooled torch if you are doing a lot of aluminum work. That machine only gave me trouble once. My area near the welder was also in my grinding area. The grinding dust accumulated in the arc initiating points and caused the machine to start the arc very poorly. Cleaning the points was simple, and brought the machine back to “like new” operation. I would recommend this machine to anyone who needs a versatile home machine. I still use that machine at work for small projects.
My current machine at home is a Lincoln precision tig 275. It is very nice and smooth in operation. It came equipped with a cart with storage, on board cooling system, tig pulser, ac balance control, etc... the one drawback is it takes up a lot of floor space. On the plus side of that argument, none of my friends come over asking to borrow it, because it is not a mobile machine. I picked it up on craigslist for $2500 from a business that was closing.

And some of us have financial constraints. The difference between "what I need" and "what I want" can amount to big bucks.