Still working on what I want in retirement. This would weld sub-frames in a car or two or ...., fence posts and whatever I decide I want to play with around the house, patio tables, etc. I welded some in college and did an exhaust system some years later with a MIG machine and all was fine. Clearly I will have a learning curve that is zero problem as I will have a similar curve to learn being retired. My garage is set up with 220 in four locations so that is not an issue. I just don't see me needing 220 V machine. My consideration below. Thoughts?

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lincoln-...lder-K2514-1/100670934?N=5yc1vZc8lpZ12l9

I would not recommend a 110v machine unless most of your work will be on 3/16" or thinner steel, 220v in the range o 175-210 is a sweet machine for a home workshop warrior, plenty of capacity and still portable. If you need to weld in the field, a stick is nice to have in reserve...no need to limit yourself to one welder.

Started with a Millermatic 135, bought a Stickmate AC/DC, sold the Miller and bought a Lincoln 175T. If the Lincoln craps out I would look for a 200A MIG.

The Hobart 190 is an additional 150.00 and twice the machine in my opinion.

I bought a 75 ft (cut to 50') 10ga extension cord and installed 220v plugs on both ends to use the dryer plug in the house at my old place. I installed 220v in my new garage but the extension cord is quite useful.

Spot stuff and mobility make a 110 nice, but if you want to do heavier stuff, and use the thing for longer periods then 220 is the way to go.

I have a Lincoln 180 myself (220 volt)

Miller 211

Best machine in this higher price range,....and I HAVE run them all.

The power and duty cycle of a 220 V machine, with the versatility of a 110,......for doing a tack at the end of a 100' extension cord, if needs be.

WAY better gun and drive than any pictured, though the Hobart Handler's a pretty fine little unit, in that respect.

buy your machine from a welding SUPPLIER, ...not some big box store,...downline you'll get better support.

Don't get sucked in to all sortsa' fancy gas "Blends",....run straight CO2 and save a buck,but DO buy premium S6 wire.

DO run a wire wiper and use lots of wire lube / cleaner.

GTC

I'd second co2 just for its penetration properties. The miller is sweet and the Hobart is a bargain.

Were I buying anything LESS than the 211, I'd shop Craigslist or Flea Market used venues,....there are a TON of the big box store grade machines turning up CHEAP, these days.

Bigger $$ up front for the power of blue,...BUT the SOB WILL hold it's value, and ALWAYS be good trading stock.

GTC

I've owned a few and run quite a few, the Millermatic 211 is my favorite and the one that's in my shop. Can't say enough good about it.

Straight C02 works fine for the vast majority of what I mess with but sometimes I want a better looking weld and the 80/20 argon-C02 provides that. Argon also has a slimmer penetration profile which can be beneficial for fillet and butt welds. C02 has deeper penetration which I like on thicker metal.

I have a Hobart 140 Handler that covers most things I do. Also have a Lincoln stick for heavier stuff. I like the portability of the Hobart. These two make a good pair for my needs around the farm.

Miller 135 here. It's done a hell of a lot through the years. 211 is pretty nice too

No denying the arc density and cosmetics with 80-20.

I run a LOT of Argon through my Dynasty DX 400, and occasionally some "Tri-Mix."

Just haven't been able to justify adding it to my in house MIG processes.

When doing a "parameter development" gig, it's ALWAYS fun to play with the mixes,....it's just a question of economy and local prices, I guess.

All that said, I gotta' head over to the local weld supplier and dump some more hard earned back into consumables.

Have a fine mornin', Ya'll !

GTC

Hobart 230 Ironman here, love it. Miller bought Hobart some years back.
I think I paid 1500.00 at L&M Fleet supply.

While the 110v machines can get you by, some even nicely, I'd recommend against it.

Always buy the most machine your budget will allow.

"Dang this is just too much machine", said no welder, ever.

Who knows if one day you're going to want to weld up something you hadn't planned on.

Miller 211 is a great machine for the hobbyist.

Also if you're not constrained by time keep an eye out for auctions, sometimes good deals can be found. I snagged a Powcon 300SM with a Powerdrive 2 wire feeder and cart for $550.00 a few years ago. That's a very high quality brand that even many pros have never heard of so prices aren't crazy. But I digress.

Key point to all this, get the most you can afford in a proven brand.

The 211 was heavy on my list a while back till my neighbor bought a http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/product.php?model=M00456 which is use primarily for small shop jobs but tackles the big jobs on his logging equipment with ease.

He's been gracious enough to let me use it when needed which saved me $$$$$. FWIW I like running 75/25 for most applications but each shop is different. Darn nice guy.

Stay away from the 110 volt toys from the big box stores and buy from a dealer for knowledgeable service and to help the independent businessman.

I've had a Lincoln SP 130T for about 20 years which looks to be similar to the 140 HD, the later seeming more versatile from a power source standpoint. (The 130 is a 220 volt source machine.) I've also used their 120 volt SP 125 and it isn't even close to the 220 volt 130T. Keep in mind that you can run flux core wire in any of the machines mentioned and get more penetration than what plain wire and gas gives you. The 120 volt machines - like the 140 - will run up to .035" wire, while 220 volt machines can also run .045" self-shielded wire (flux core). You can weld 5/16" to 3/8" when you get into wire that heavy. The 140 won't run it however. And, while I have never run the 140, I know .035" self-shielded wire is quite capable of covering the lighter welding one might find on many small projects. None of that is to say there aren't better machines out there. Some Home Depots may rent welders which might be a way to find out if that 140 is worth owning.

^^^^^

To further confirm, a 110v machine will only frustrate you.

Listen to Cross!

I've had a millermatic 130 for over 20 years, awesome machine and it does a beautiful job on 1/8" and thinner steel, especially running 0.020 wire and 75/25 gas. That said, you'd be surprised how often you want to weld 1/4" steel, or maybe aluminum. And that's where the 110 VAC units just don't have the juice to do the job properly.

Only thing worse than not having a welder is having an undersized welder.

I dont pretend to be much more than a "hobbyist" welder at all. That said, I picked up a Lincoln 140 from the welding store. Was about $100 more than Home depot, but had metal gears, not plastic. I more than came out ahead, as he gave me a small bottle, a free pair of ANY welding gloves in the store ($35 if I recall), and a handful of extra tips for the gun. They continue to get my business to this day (4-5 years later). THAT doesnt come with, at the HD store. My positive sample of one.
As to not having 220, it hasnt been an issue so far for me, but Im not welding heavy metals. I also live in an older neighborhood and didnt want to incur additional expense to run 220 service to my (detached) garage, as that would most likely make me bring everything else up to code. regardless, good luck on the welder, and I would strongly recommend using a commercial welding supply store and see if they can adjust pricing or add extras to make the actual cost a bit closer.

Watching this thread. Thinking a "metal hot glue gun" would be handy.

Careful, ironbender sounds much better than ironstickertogetherer. Unless you got your name the same way your kid did driving a truck

Ouch.




Forge welding ain't always the chit, yanno?

Appreciate the fine feedback. I will be home Christmas Eve for a few weeks and will hit up a couple of the local shops.

Re-treading horse shoes now, are you? (Would those be Damascus shoes then? )

I am a hobby welder, have 220 in the garage so I bought a Lincoln 180, mostly car work sheet metal and what ever needs to be stuck together.. So far a fine machine for the money. You start on the car path and the next thing will be a Plasma Cutter..

crossfireoops, or anyone else,

What do you know about the Millermatic 200 ?

That one has small stick welding capability included, but I don't know about the quality or performance of the machine. Looks to me to be strictly a hobby machine, although a pricey one.

I also don't know about the light weight of the machine - must be all electronic circuits without much transformer.

Myron

Yup, that's an inverter based system,....with the attendant advantages and a few disadvantages. Absolutely SUPERB for moving around a plant doing maintenance or for PORTABLE service,.... delivering fine arc shaping in several modes,....but VERY shy on "slug it out" duty cycle rating,...the area where the BIGGER inverters or the transformers truly excel.
.....the sorta' rig you'd WANT in a race car support trailer, or perhaps a large trawler. I can tell you that the "backround" 25K hertz frequency will make for a decent, but not perfect DC TIG ferrous process, and that in the stick mode one will want ear protection, if it's anything like my Dynasty 400.

I don't see the Multimatic 200 as a "Shop Machine", myself.

Good timing, I'm meeting with a Miller distributor ma�ana, and will get his HONEST opinion about this particular machine,...

cheers,

GTC

crossfireoops,

You are saying that the the welding current output is 25k ?

If that applies to the stick output, that thing will scream insted of buzz.

Myron

What compressor did you get?

Is it the old 200 Miller? If so it is one of the best wire-feed welders ever built. They still bring $1000+ at auctions around here. I've been offered brand new welders in trade for my 200 but I still own it. I have a 304 now but the 200 is an AMAZING back-up machine that I still use on occasion.
I like 75/25 gas for mostly new metal and a few repair jobs. CO2 works better for dirty metal but the welds aren't as pretty and it's hard to control splatter at higher amps. I tend to use the stick for ugly projects or outside projects.
Get a 220 rig at the highest amperage you can afford as the projects will always get bigger. A 120 machine would be handy with some .023 wire for the thin projects. .035 gets tricky with under 16ga. material.

My ideal welder for a hobbyist (I've been one for many years) would be a 200+/- amp rig that runs on 220 since you have it and the ability to swap .035 wire and .030 or .023 wire by simply swapping the rollers. I think 75/25 gas is worth the expense but my $0.02.

x2, especially on the unimix gas.

No, I'm not.

The incoming 50-60 Hz is INITIALLY ramped up to a 25K BACKROUND FREQUENCY,....which is than "Shaped",....e.g. chopped back down to lower voltages / higher Amps.

You WERE asking about the MULTI MATIC 200, correct?

GTC

White_Bear,

No. This thing is a fairly recent design, a very light (29lb.) portable machine that is all electronic. It would be great for a carry-around machine, but I have some misgivings about it.

That is why I questioned it's capability.

Myron

crossfireoops,

Yep, my bad. I called it a Millermatic instead of a Multimatic.

Electronic circuit welders are a foreign language to me and I don't fully comprehend how they work. Will have to do a bit of reading up on the newer ways of doing things.

Myron

75/25 works pretty good for hard wire and dual shield too. I've ran tons of straight CO2 at work, but for my shop I use 75/25 as it runs smoother and you get less splatter. I'm not telling you this buddy as I know you are probably one of the most knowledgeable welders here. My mig is also small compared to yours, but it works great for a home shop. It's an older (10 years old) Miller 175 (220) and it works real nice. I've also ran tri mix and 95/5 etc. etc. but 75/25 is where it's at for me doing body work and exhaust type jobs at home. I work in the Marine industry where we run straight CO2 and it's good enough for the coast guard and ABS standards/x-ray quality welds..

Ed, we know you don't skimp on rifles. I suspect/hope you will do the same when it comes to picking out the right welder. A miller 211 would probably fit your needs very well. Good luck in your search buddy and I'd suggest pm'ng crossfireoops on this. He has tons of experience in this field...

Yes, I have decided on the 211. Miller has a $100 rebate going now as well. Looks like I can get one for a grand.

Good choice with the Miller 211, a grand well spent.

The Millermatic 135 and .023 would have been been preferable to the Lincoln 175 and .030 on my last auto restoration where almost all of my work was sheet steel.

Good choice dittos

The only thing I'd add on this fine morning is a recommendation that one avoid the cheesy "Cart" that may be offered (the one with plastic wheels and tiny casters, unless it's thrown in for FREE. Scratch building a really good one is a great way to shake out your new machine,....put it through all it's paces, as it were.

Good deal. I'll bet Ed is going to like that machine...

Lincoln just came out with a new machine, one that will probably be my next machine.

Link


Phil