If I Buy A Tig Welder Can I Pitch My Mig Welder?

Something is very wrong with manufacturing in the USA if we can't manufacture a welder here that costs $7,000. That or Miller is just ripping people off charging a made in USA price for a welder made in China. Okay so they say its "assembled in USA" but I saw the guts of one of these welders, its a bunch of circuit boards and those clearly are "assembled" in China. Throwing some circuit boards into a chassis and testing doesn't justify a 100% mark up.

This isn't the only example of this. We all know the vaunted Powermatic brand that was purchased and moved to China. They still try to charge a huge mark up on Powermatic table saws for example but they are made in China and the quality is pathetic. I have one sitting in my garage, it cost over $3,000 and its a joke. Grizzly makes a 12" 5hp table saw that puts an epic beating on the Powermatic 10" 3hp in EVERY category and cost $1,000 less. It stinks of milking a brand name with high prices but the customer not receiving the quality they thought they were paying extra for. I'm not saying that's true with the Miller Dynasty 280 DX, it certainly seems to be a quality unit but wow double the cost of similar welders something is fishy there.
 
It's not as though the Chinese can't build quality. They put satellites in space, after all. The reason they have such a reputation for poor quality is that that is what we order from them. US, European, Japanese and Korean firms will not build to this quality level because they have a reputation to worry about, and it would get back to them. It would be difficult to track down the manufacturer of most shoddy goods from China. That being said, quality costs money in China the same as it does everywhere else, and if you have quality items manufactured in China, they will likely be in the same cost range as in the more developed economies. I have a Tormach milling machine that was built in China, and is, relatively speaking, a high quality product. It also costs quite a bit more than if it were being built to the same quality as harbor freights machine tools, one of which I also own. So if a company is willing to stand behind a product with made in China parts in it, it is likely because they have high quality standards, including their own QC at the Chinese factory.
 
JimDawson said:
Also consider the Syncrowave 250 DX. Nice machines. And it will weld over 1 inch steel (300 amp stick capability) My older ('87) Syncrowave 250 has all of the features of the DX, except pulse. But it's not portable, 355 lbs, but that's why we have forklifts. It does roll around my shop just fine.
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I did the same thing for my home garage. I wanted the least gear that would deliver the greatest capabilities, at low volume. I also didn't want a finicky inverter to fuss with in 10-20 years. After watching cl for a few months, watching some beat up old units go by, I settled on a bare syncrowave 250. I added all brand new accessories and built it out water cooled, for about 2,300. Only downside is weight and power, neither of which bother me.
I would only go mig if I had to hit commercial volume.
 
I've read all the responses and there are a lot of good points made in favour of both types of welders. The only point I'm going to make is that I've witnessed first hand an extremely high end MIG machine and the same quality of TIG machine produce absolutely HORRIBLE results. The reason being is that the MACHINE does not determine the end result, the human on the TIG torch or MIG gun is what makes the machine produce beautiful, strong welds. When I bought my Miller MIG there was a guy in the store at the same time looking at the same machine. He said he heard it was an excellent machine and could do most of what he wanted to do and was simple to use so he could do stuff for his friends too. I asked him what he was currently using and he said he didn't have a machine and had never welded before but that a MIG welder made welding simple. Glad I'm not his friend and having him do work for me!!

So really just about any machine in the hands of a SKILLED welder will do what it intended for but any machine in the hands of a hack will produce results accordingly.

Mike from Canada
 
gramps1951 said:
I've read all the responses and there are a lot of good points made in favour of both types of welders. The only point I'm going to make is that I've witnessed first hand an extremely high end MIG machine and the same quality of TIG machine produce absolutely HORRIBLE results. The reason being is that the MACHINE does not determine the end result, the human on the TIG torch or MIG gun is what makes the machine produce beautiful, strong welds. When I bought my Miller MIG there was a guy in the store at the same time looking at the same machine. He said he heard it was an excellent machine and could do most of what he wanted to do and was simple to use so he could do stuff for his friends too. I asked him what he was currently using and he said he didn't have a machine and had never welded before but that a MIG welder made welding simple. Glad I'm not his friend and having him do work for me!!

So really just about any machine in the hands of a SKILLED welder will do what it intended for but any machine in the hands of a hack will produce results accordingly.

Mike from Canada
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Great point, and the same advice I give to folks who want to buy a gun... If you won't train with it, don't pull it out in times of need!
 
I have an old Lincoln Arc I have had for 30 years and it works fine, but when I got my MIG it was never used again.

A year ago I purchased an Everlast Powertig 210, which was a brand new design; so new that they didn't even have a manual. Since then the MIG has not been used. Like most home hobbyists I am now trying to weld heavy steel or go into fabrication of large assemblies. I always wanted a welder that would do fine work on thin metals, but still had the ability to weld thicker stuff. For me this welder is perfect. It's small, light enough to be portable, has plenty of power for me, runs on either 220V or 115V and will weld any metal that is weldable. I have made a number of projects welding metals from 18 gauge stainless, 1/8 inch aluminium to 3/8 inch plate steel and angle iron. The machine works great and produces a beautiful weld. The Everlast salesman told me this was going to be the only welder I would need and he was right. I paid about $1800 for the package complete ready to weld except the package did not include tungsten rods or gas tanks. I will warn you that the two torches included work, but do yourself a favor and buy a CK 17 torch with the flex hose and you will start out having a much easier time learning to use the TIG. I haven't been back to the Everlast site to see about a manual because I downloaded the Manual for the Power TIG 255 EXT which appears to be the same unit with just more power. So far I haven't needed anything over 150 amps, so the 255 would be nice, but not needed for me.
 
What is wrong with the Lincoln? Hack job? Does this welder have lift start? If it does, you can start off really quick and easy with a self-assembled kit. I think that there is a pointer to weldingtipsandtricks or something like that. Also, there is this fun guy named chucke2009 on youtube who goes through a budget self assembled system. All you need is a torch, hose, connector and tank. If you have a lathe, you can make the connector, but I bought mine. It kept me going until I got a real TIG welder. I welded a copper bracelet and ribs on an umbrella without burning the nylon. I have seen some good MIG guys, but none who can weld that fiddly stuff with a big MIG gun.
 
It seems like every post has a lot of subject creep, and there is a ton of good information in all of the responses, but I am going to go back and give you my tiny bit of experience on the subject you asked: if you get a TIG, should you get rid of MIG: when I was young ( 40 years ago) I welded every day, and we did not have access to all of the kool technology available today and sure as heck not for the price. Today I have my MIG and TIG welderS (I capitalized the 's' because I have both. Why? I use MIG for general purpose welding on trailers and more of the structural stuff where I have to supply a fair amount of fill metal, but there are just some things that you can do better and with more finish and finesse with TIG than MIG: aluminum, fine and thin metals, dress work, etc. Both have their place - and I suspect there is always a point of argument that you can refine the technique of MIG to look like TIG and vice versa - but my habits, technique (sometimes not master level [to say the least]) and time on the welding table have forced me to try to use the tool that suits me best for what I am trying to do. Thus, I have kept both MIG and TIG - Hobart, by the way - and it works for me, and my Hobarts serve me very, VERY well. I won't give you the sales pitch, but I think any welding machine that fits your technique and style is as subjective as anything else you do that you love (what kind of motorcycle do you prefer, or car, or anything else "personal". Hope this does not bore you to death, but guys on this forum helped me a lot over these past couple of years, and I would not be doing what I am doing without their help ... and these tools. Good luck/take care.
 
OBTW - I see the forum thing put a Turkish flag under my name - I am from USA (CA) but just happen to be working in Turkiye this week, so don't be confused :)
 
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