[TheForge] MIG Welders

[Woolley]

Aubrey,

My first question would be, what are you going to weld with it? No 
question a Mig is a great choice for light sheet metal.  I bought a 
Miller 140 which runs well enough but in a sense is a toy for a lot of 
jobs.  The duty cycle prevents you from running a lot of wire at once. I 
tried to weld some structural and it was a joke.  Also on some stainless 
steel kitchen equipment repair jobs I struggled with it at times.  I 
bought a Miller Maxstar 150 and have been more than happy with it. It 
can handle all my stick and tig jobs like kitchen repair, railing 
installs, light structural stuff.  If your stick welding is proficient, 
I'd consider it. Tig is a good method of welding thin material.

Regards,
Bill Woolley






Washington, Aubrey O. wrote:
> Okay Folks, I know we've covered a lot of this territory in the past, but I'd like some specific input on my situation.  I'm not a great welder and don't do a lot of it.  But, I've owned a Lincoln 225 AC machine for many years.  I was thinking of upgrading to the AC/DC model to see if that would improve my welding in sheet metal.  (I get a lot of burn through or sticking.)  Then this weekend I got a chance to play with a Miller 135 MIG welder.  That got me to thinking about other options.
>  
> Now I'm considering keeping the old  AC stick welder and adding a MIG machine to my shop.  I can use the stick welder for heavy duty applications, so I'm thinking of getting a 115V MIG machine so it can take it with me to locations where 230V is not available.  In doing a quick internet search, it seems that 140 amps is the largest that MIGs come in for 115V.  Roughly in order of price I've found the following:  
>  
> Millermatic 140 w/ Auto Set
> Millermatic 140
> Lincoln Power MIG 140C & 140T
> Hobart Handler 140 MIG
>  
> I have several questions.  Why are the Hobarts so much cheaper?  (Are they boat anchors?)  Is there any real difference between Lincoln and Miller (besides color preference)?  Is the "auto set" feature of the Miller worth the extra $80?  What is the difference between the Lincoln 140C and 140T?  (I didn't notice any difference in specs and there is only about $5 difference in price.)  What other issues should I be considering?
>  
> Thanks,
> Aubrey
>   
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