[TheForge] Welding gear. [lincoln]

[RIES NIEMI]

Gabriel-
your website is Central Welding supply, which is based in lynnwood. I have
had an account with those guys for the last 8 years (I go through a lot of
welding supplies) and have bought several machines from them, and they are
very reputable. 

You should go in to the actual store closest to you, and talk to em. Make
them let you actually weld with that little lincoln, and see if it will do
what you want. Then ask them what else they have, used and rental returns. I
bought a Miller 304 inverter machine from them that was a rental return,
which is way more machine than you probably want or can afford, but it was
almost $1000 less than retail, and there was nothing wrong with it. It is an
awesome welder for stick, mig, and tig.
 Any Central branch can check on what they have at any of the stores.

It is hard to beat $360 bucks for anything but a buzzbox, and those little
110volt migs will actually do quite a bit. A buzzbox will do more, however
it does need 220v. I have a 110v miller wire feeder, and it comes in awful
handy on job sites.

In the long run, however, if you are planning on working with metal for
years, I recommend looking at tig welders. You can weld more different kinds
of materials, better, and unless you are doing production, the slower speed
of tig is balanced out by the complete lack of spatter and cleanup.
As far as brands go, Miller and Lincoln are like Ford and Chevy- intense
rivalry, but really they are both the gold standards for the industry. And
nowadays Hobart and Esab are both built to very high standards too.