Guys,

Let me start off by saying I CANNOT WELD. I have never welded a single piece of material together in my life. I do however have a mechanical engineering degree, and have been around the fabrication world most of my life I.E I know what a good weld looks like and understand the basics of weld settings etc.... I CAN run a bridgeport, create CNC files, solid model, all that jazz that comes with being a engineer. So I do have a very good sense for fabrication from the very simple to the most complex of parts. What all that amounts to, I don't think I'm an idiot.

I've always been interested in learning to weld, mostly because I'm tired of paying other people to do it for me, and its at this point really the last step I need to take to be able to fabricate just about anything on my own. I also plan on taking a TIG welding class at the local college.

With all that said...... What do you guys think of the Miller Multimatic 200? Seems like it does pretty much everything I'd ever need it to do Mig/Tig/Arc though I probably won't arc weld much or at all, and the price is rather attractive, around $2500 for the welder itself and the TIG accessory pack/foot control. Which when compared to other machines that do only one or the other it seems like a steal, and I know Miller makes a quality product.

I'm curious if anyone has used one and what your thoughts of it are, and would it be a good machine to have as something to learn on, then use for whatever I please once I'm capable? My use would primarily be automotive, manifolds, brackets and other general fabrication.... stainless, aluminum, mild steel etc.... basic stuff.

Any input is appreciated.

 

Hi if you want to do mainly automotive stuff this machine doesn't look like it can do AC tig which you need for aluminum. It seems it can do aluminum with the optional mig gun. But so can a $600 Home depot Lincoln with the same gun. It is nice that the machine dpoes many funtions but it may be better to buy a cheaper mig and spend the majority of your money on a dedicated tig. with AC and HF(high frequency)

 

Thanks for the input.... Again, I know nothing so any advice is good. I figured since I've never seen a shop with one of these there was probably a reason lol.

 

www.eastwood.com is making some great reliable welders and plasma's at DIY prices. i have their tig, and a Lincoln 140 MIG, but would totally get their MIG if i ever needed another one for any reason. awesome customer service and great deals all the time