To expand on this comment, it appears ITW choose to position the brands
slightly differently so the overlap is minimized.
At the present time, it appears that most Hobart welders are made at the
ITW/Miller plant in Appleton WI. The cases are often different, but the specs
are usually the same. The sales outlets are often very different. Hobart has
been positioned as the brand sold at non-welding shop outlets. For instance,
Grizzly, Northern Tools, Tractor Supply, etc. have all been selling Hobart
lately.
Miller quality has always been excellent in my experience, the ITW Hobart
welders are not like the old Hobarts, but they should be very fine machines.
Mark V.S. in Austin, TX
-----Original Message-----
From: mporter@zianet.com [mailto:mporter@zianet.com]
Don Malling writes:
>
> This sounds very interesting -- maybe the Hobart is a Miller in
> disguise?
>
> Would be nice to hear from the Hobart owners their impression of its
> quality.
>
> Seems I can recall that the Hobart came with the gas kit. I know the
> Lincoln does not. Not sure about the Miller.
Just for clarification, Miller and Hobart were independent brands, both with
long histories. Both, in a relatively short period of time, were bought out
by ITW (Illinois Tool Works), and at the time Hobart was purchased, there
was some talk about getting rid of models which competed with each other
between those two brands. Don't know if that was finally done, but I do
notice that some welding supply houses carrying Miller don't carry Hobart,
and vice versa. Maybe ITW is letting the two brands not compete regionally,
something like that.
And of all the brands, Hobart has had the reputation for the best training,
bar none, albeit it is now being done by a separate subsidiary of theirs, I
believe. Hobart even sponsored a reasonably low-cost two-week school, for
artists who wanted to become familiar with metal arts welding, at their
factory near Dayton, OH. Don't know if they still do it, after absorption by
ITW, but people I know who've been say it was a gas.
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