I took an auto body shop class from Feb-may and learned how to MiG weld, now i am looking for a welder. I'd like it to be able to weld both steel and aluminum. From your own experiences which do you prefer/ recommend. Plans of manifolds and exhaust work. Thanks. Erin.

 

just for starters if you plan on welding aluminum your going to have to learn how to Tig weld. But for a Mig welder i like lincon and iv been using mine for a while

 

Mig will do aluminum with a spoolgun and the right accessories, but it is tricky and Tig is better suited for it. Miller is the brand suggested by most of the pro's on this board.

 

i like the lincoln cause thats what i learned on in school so i guess that is why im partial. but the miller and hobart stuff is real quality as well,, and you dont have to have a spool gun just the right equipment

 

I also like Lincoln. If you are planning on building anything requiring larger tubing(roll cage) I would go with something 230V. The basic 120V Mig welders are great for small jobs though.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fuzzynutz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i like the lincoln cause thats what i learned on in school so i guess that is why im partial. but the miller and hobart stuff is real quality as well,, and you dont have to have a spool gun just the right equipment </TD></TR></TABLE>

That's why Lincoln is a popular machine in schools. They probably give them really big discounts.

It's about like how Snap-on gives big student discounts. They hope that if they get you started with their stuff, you will stay with them. Unfortunately for Lincoln, their quality, dependability and service usually will turn people towards Miller eventually.

I agree with above comments about 220v machines, and the advantage of TIG for welding aluminum.

 

not to disagree with you engloid i know you have been in the industry alot longer than me but alot of lincolns new stuff is getting alot better reputation and the lincoln dealer here in town is allways happy to lend a hand if there is ever a problem. Alot of my friends are partial to miller though, i dont have a problem with eather machine as long as its working properly

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fuzzynutz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not to disagree with you engloid i know you have been in the industry alot longer than me but alot of lincolns new stuff is getting alot better reputation and the lincoln dealer here in town is allways happy to lend a hand if there is ever a problem. Alot of my friends are partial to miller though, i dont have a problem with eather machine as long as its working properly </TD></TR></TABLE>

Everybody's entitled to an opinion...

You said that the local Lincoln dealer is always willing to lend a hand. Have you had any problems that required service or repair?

 

sounds like the lincoln dealer that engloid deals with needs new managment.


miller,esab, and hobart make quality mig welders. i rarely use lincolns stuff so il let the guys who use it give their .02 on it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98_ek &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">sounds like the lincoln dealer that engloid deals with needs new managment.
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The times I have had any dealings with Lincoln service guys have not all been in the same area. In other words, there's probably 5 lincoln dealers in my city. I have also worked in a city an hour away, and they sent the same idiot out to check on a machine. What I'm saying is that I think the service guys are more like regional guys, not so much dealer specific.

 

yeah i read the thread you had explaning the situation. with competitions growing between companies youd think lincoln would get their act together

 

Yeah, I know what you mean.

My opinion is that Lincoln uses marketing techniques to get their business...such as trying to get into all the schools. This is like how Tylenol gets into all the hospitals. Sure, they're used most...cause they either give it to the hospitals dirt cheap, or free...maybe even pay them to use it.

I think that Miller concentrates more on the product quality and service, and Lincoln has more focus on service.. either that or Miller just has the better engineers and service people, and Lincoln gets the leftover guys.

 

Yes I had a problem somewhere in the electrical system on my tig machine. I called the dealer where I bought the machine and the y said that they would have someone out to the shop within the next few hours. Sure enough the tech was out here in about 2 hours, looked the machine over and went back to his shop to get the parts taht he needed. To make a long story short I was back up and running the same day. Now I dont know about the techs or dealers that you have delt with but every expierence that I have had with them has been good. But like you said everyone is entitled to there own opinion, I just dont want this turn into one of those argumentative threads you know what i mean?