Chris...
Miller and Hobart are same company... Hobart is their consumer product, Miller
is their commercial product... both are excellent machines. Lincoln is also a
name brand machine and a good choice. parts are easy to find on a saturday
afternoon at the welding supply store... and even H.D. sells some Lincoln
parts for the welders they sell...
I have both a Miller and a Hobart... the hobart is a 110 volt 100 amp
"suitcase' welder... great for light sheet metal up to about 1/8" runs flux
core or plain wire with gas shield... for light stuff it'sgreat. .
the Miller is a Millermatic200 220v 200 amp and it is handier than a shirt
pocket. does light stuff 11 ga on up to 3/8" or better (never did have
anything thicker than that to weld.
the thing you have to decide is what you plan to do most of the time... and
what your expectations are.... some of the less expensive low voltage machines
have a very short duty cycle 5-10% where the larger commercial rigs will run
high duty cycle 80-100%... if you ever plan on doing anything but sheet metal
I'd buy more than I needed... you have to include the gas bottle rental and
the install on a 220 volt circuit in the shop (if you don't have one) I
shared a compressor and welder on the same circuit... just never ran both at
once... finally split them off on seperate breakers...
my advice ...stay away from H.F. and Walmart... it's cheap import stuff that
you'll never be happy with and can't find parts for. H.D. sells some
Lincoln...light end stuff for home users.
Check with the local welding supply and ask about rental returns, lease
returns and used units taken on trade... that's how I bought both of mine and
have been very pleased. I'm no expert welder but I've had some experts using
mine and all said how much they liked my welders... so I'm figuring ...good
deal John ! You can see them in the classifieds sometimes where someone is
low on cash and short on time.
Also buying from the welding supply guy gives you a good source of tech info,
support and repair help... Walmart and H.F. will give you a new
box...maybe...with your receipt... and an argument
my 2"
john
like old ford trucks ??? check out my site
http://jniolon.clubfte.com
or our mother ship at
www.ford-trucks.com
|