Any thoughts on these 2 welders for a newbie

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liner is the tube that the wire threads through to the gun.

The miller is a nice unit but honestly, I think both of those are overpriced...
You really want a 110V machine?
 
The only advantage on a 110v welder is you can plug it in anywhere. I wish I would have saved a little more and went with a 240 unit. I do most of my work with my neighbors rig.
 
My brother has the same (I think) Miller. It welds really nice. I hate to admit it but I like it a little better than my Hobart 140. I have welded 1/4" plate with the Miller but it is a stretch.
 
It really boils down to what you do with the welder. 110 is good for most things we do on our cruiser. The problem that most poeple run into after getting a 110 volt unit is they start working on other bigger projects that the 110voult a/c can not do. I always say go with the 220 volt one if you don a lot of different projects.
 
don't do it. save for 220. you may think you can plug that 110 in anywhere, but you'll find a lot of outlets just don't work right for the welder. i ran into that in my garage with my 110...had to be at the outlet right by the breaker box to work worth a crap. didnt' feed nicely and diddn't seem to get hot enough at any other outlet. i got a 220 and it's painless. i made an extension cord from some big a.. wire and two boxes. no problems anywhere i weld.

best advice i ever got, from christo slee...dont' ever buy a cheap welder. if your welder doesnt' work well, you won't want to use it, and you'll never really get to learn.
 
Depends on how good you are.
 
It should be good enough. I welded up a scraper blade frame for my a farm tractor with a 110V mig and it's held up fine for several years. Like Mace eluded to: you would need to take extra care during fit-up and prep and have plenty of practice under your belt. With a 110v mig it's really easy to run nice looking beads that won't hold worth a :censor:.
 
Use your friend's Miller 35 to learn to weld. It's forgiving and bullet proof. And not that hard to repair yourself if something does go south. I should have kept mine for a backup but it was taking up space. If I had it to do over again I'd have put it in my walk-in closet and stored it there.
 
Along with what Ige said, my Lincoln 135 would weld 1/4" ok but I was popping circuit breakers left and right if I was getting into it for any length of time.

If your budget only allows one then you'll get by for a couple years on a 110 unit and it might last if you only intend to do odds and ends, but if you intend to get into serious fabrication of big parts you'll eventually need a 220.

Oh and remember that you should reverse your polarity (as in your users manual) and use flux core wire to get the most heat out of a 110.
 
I use my weld pak alot on thinnner material but it is hard to beat the Miller 251 on 1/8in and thicker.
 
ah! it's not 110V, it's 120V in most civilized parts of the US...! :D
 
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