I am looking at buying a welding setup to aid me in some metal work I need to do on my car. I have welded before with a stick and with an auto feeding mig machine. Usually I have access to equipment at Pratt Fine Arts. It's closed due to COVID, and also not so convenient for working on my car ;~) I wonder what you guy recommend? I don't like to buy poor quality tools. I see this on Craigslist, which looks pretty good? https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/tls/d/bothell-miller-millermatic-211-mig/7263318752.html Thanks in advance!
You will not be unhappy with that welder. Miller is a name you can't go wrong with. It will provide years of good service and resale value is good, too.
I have a slightly older "211". I'm not a welder but was advised by many that its a great machine and it has served me well. I've also been told to be cautious of used machines.
Miller 180 is what i used for years, loved it. I only sold it because I needed to weld thicker material. The 180 is a 220volt machine. It will handle anything on a car.
I'm happy with my Eastwood 135. It was under 300 to my door. It runs on 110 which I already have in my garage. I bought a bottle to mig with, you can get a spool gun but if you want that you should get the 175. It has infinitly adjustable for wire speed and amps. I have the 135, I talked my brother into getting one but I don't think he has used it much, and my buddy has the 175 and he likes it.
I have the older version of the Miller 211 auto. 110volt and is what I use to weld in body panels. Bought it new and have not had any issues with it. Don’t know what kind of work you need to do on your car though. Just body and thinner stuff you will not have any problems. All my welders are Miller, mainly parts and I have a welding store in the next town over.
great machine there. I have the 110 version of this machine at home. It is perfect for body work and sheet metal and exhaust work. you can buy the 110 model brand new cheaper than this used one, so for light duty work I would go that way. If you plan do do heavier materials then this would be and awesome choice. Miller is the best in my opinion.
Eastwood 135 w/gas here. Happy with it. I don't use it daily or even monthly ,but it was great for replacing floor/body panels on my 70 project....JIM
I have had 3 millers and 1 Lincoln, both companies make fantastic machines. My local welding supply store said from there end miller is easy to deal with if there is a warranty issue. The Lincoln Viking 3350 helmet is amazing
I've got a Lincoln 180 Dual Power MIG, and it's served me quite well for several years and roughly 50lb of wire now. It's pretty flexible in the thicknesses it can weld without getting finicky, being a 120/240V machine. That said, my brother is liking his Hobart Handler 140, though he does almost exclusively sheetmetal welding (a LOT of bodywork). If you're not looking to weld the heavy stuff, it could be a cost-effective option. If you're looking for some TIG action, my Lincoln TIG 200 square wave has been great as well, though it doesn't quite get the mileage that the MIG does (I mostly use it for fancy stuff and brazing dissimilar metals). It's also dual voltage. If you're fine spending Miller money, they're what I used to use at work, and fantastic machines; the only reason I didn't go with them is price and previous great experiences with Lincoln. As for Eastwood, that was the first personal welder I ever had, went halfsies on it with my bro years back after first learning to weld with Lincolns. It served well for light-duty stuff but hasn't aged well over the past 8 years or so (it'll only do 20ga or thinner, and it zaps the heck out of you if you're not very thoughtful of what you touch...). It is one of their older MIG machines though, dunno what their current offerings are like.
There’s a company called HTP that sells welding machines. These are Italian STEL machines rebadged as HTP units. I frequent welding web as I take in a lot of steel work in my retirement and there’s a lot of folks there that really like those machines. I’m a dyed in the wool Miller guy, I have a Miller 130 , Miller XMT350, Miller 60 series bench top feeder and a Miller suitcase feeder . If I was in your shoes I’d look at a Miller 211 , the new inverter unit are light and powerful, my last job we had one that was used for everything and it was a pleasure or one of the HTP welders . https://usaweld.com/
I bought a Lincoln welder that uses 120 volt or 220 volt. If you ever want to weld thicker metal you will need 220 volts. The unit I bought will do stick or wire feed, the digital display lets you pick metal thickness and adjusts amps and wire speed based on that. Takes all the guessing out of the correct settings
I looked at the reviews and prices, and went with the Eastwood 135 as well last year, no complaints so far. I wanted the Hobart Handler but it suddenly became scarce and pricey. The Eastwood uses Tweco consumables, which is nice. It is sure easier to weld with than the 90-amp flux-core welder I had been using. I bought both for body work on my GS, but I found a frame weld that came apart, so I am gonna try to weld that back up, too.
