Tom I bought a Lincoln Weldpak 175 from H.D. It was a store return and I paid $80. I then found an 80 cu ft. bottle on c.l., brought it to the welding supply place and they swapped it out. The only way to go if you have been stick welding. I think the 140 supports 115 vac for portability.

I've been welding for over 30 years. I still use my original purchase. Don't shop anywhere but a designated welding supply outlet for a quality welder. I love MIG welding over stick welding. I use .023 wire, but .30 is a good choice too. Max. thickness of steel is 3/32 or 1/4" if you can get on two sides. Avoid fluxed wire. Go for the tank of argon/co2 and use plain wire.

Shop for the longest 100% duty cycle you can afford. I don't TIG weld, but there may be add ons available on a MIG, I don't know. Aluminum is difficult to weld on a good day. It must be perfectly clean and it take alot of practice and skill. Uses Argon gas.

Expect to pay over a grand for a good unit. Buy a cheap one and you'll live to regret it.

Budget like for anything else is always getting the tool that you can count on to do a good job for as long as you need it. That being said, it would be tough to leave an $80 Lincoln MIG in the store- even if it wasn't the perfect one. I'm on my second stick welder. First was my little Thunderbolt that died. I've done a little online research. I've seen a few for around $500 that look appealing. One was the Hobart 140 along with the Lincoln. I reading up on a Miller Passport that seems to be a neat deal for a portable, with a real neat $ tag along with. I don't know if a purchase of one would ever pay for itself in my world. Any features that make MIG welding easier/ better between the welders in that $500 area?

Duty cycle is everything. The welder must have a good fan and transformer. As I mentioned, avoid fluxed wire; it will bind up in the cable as it becomes dirty quickly.

Trim the end of the welding tip shield to get the wire closer to the surface. 1/8" works well. If the wire is too far away, you won't get the penetration. If you plan to weld mostly thin gauge steel, use .023 wire to avoid burning through. Works OK on heavier metal too. I suppose all units have adjustable feed and an adjustable ball bearing to stop feeding wire if the tip welds shut and wire stops coming out.

Other than that, MIG is all about getting proper penetration.

I've seem some used Millermatic 135 welders -used by gramma at the church bazaar on saturday welders on Craigslist. Anything to look for?

You might find a good one on Craigslist, but I would go to an authorized dealer for Miller and see what model is good and what isn't.

I'm not a proponent of picking a dealer's brain and then buying somewhere else, but he is in the best position to tell you the ins and outs.

My welder is a Hansen, the company that developed MIG welders. I don't know if they're still in business, but I've run countless large spools of wire through it and not had any breakdowns in 30 years ?? Not sure.

The cheap models have undersized transformers and mass and when they overheat, they just stop welding, so duty cycle is short.

I know you're trying to save money, but you don't want to cut too many corners on a welding unit.

Tom, tig welding really widens the range of materials you can weld but it is supposedly the most difficult welding process to master. Also, outdoor tig welding uses a lot of argon, an expensive gas.

I learned tig after stick and oxy-acetylene and it took endless practice before my welds looked like the "stack of dimes" that makes tig welds so pretty. My home shop machine is a Miller Synchrowave 200. I took a welding class recently to get my tig skills back after not using tig for 40 years. The class had hi tech "inverter" machines but even on aluminum and stainless I couldn't find anything the inverter machines could do that my simple "squarewave" machine couldn't do just as well.

Inverter machines are smaller and more portable but much more expensive.

I hope this helps.

Ray

Looks like you have a nice machine. Thanks for input. My problem is trying to get a capable 120v model.