[TheForge] PLASMA CUTTER/WELDER/BRAZER

[RIES NIEMI]

I have not used one of these, but I have to say I am suspicious. I have been
welding, a lot, for over 20 years, and I have learned one thing about
welding machines- buy good ones.
It doesnt matter if you go red or blue, but the money you spend on a good
welder will always be worth it. It used to be you really had to buy a tig
machine and a mig machine, but with some of the new inverter machines, you
can get one machine to do both.
Miller has a finance plan- put a third down, pay the rest off monthly for a
year. Lincoln probably has something similar.
These water plasma machines are a russian invention, and while I am a Finn,
and therefore likely to distrust the russians, my wife is half russian, so I
can say that my bias is technological rather than xenophobic- which would
you buy- a ford or chevy truck, or an imported russian one? The russian one
will be a lot cheaper, but parts, resale, and reliablity are all big
concerns for me, and my american made welders and plasma cutters are day in
day out moneymakers, extremely reliable.
I am not one of those who only buy american- although my welders are
american, I have machinery in my shop from Spain, Germany, Italy, Taiwan,
China, Japan, Turkey, and even Chicago. But a cheap russian device that
promises to do everything?