I just bought a Lincoln Sp175 Plus. Very nice machine. It was sort of
a toss up between the Lincoln and Miller, but what turned me off on
the Miller is the auto wire feed increaser that automatically
increases wire feed when you turn up the amperage. It can get
trooublesome at times as there is times you want more heat not
necessarily more wire. The gun and drive on the Lincolns are pretty
well bullet proof. Only thing I dislike is the MIG gun is very touchy
when it comes to feeding wire. You can feed wire and not even know it.
So to me its basically a bare handed operation on the gun so I can
feel the trigger.
The optional aluminum kit is nice, but will run approx 50.00 more, as
well as another cylinder. A cart can be easily made, and the $100 they
charge for a cart already made is pretty steep considering what you
get for the money, you already have a MIG so why not make your own.
Its a good first project to get used to your machine.
I tend to shy away from Flux cored wire, as the gas and bare wire does
such a nice , spatter free job. Unless your welding up at the max
thickness, gas and bare wire will suffice.
The smaller units 135's of MIller and lincoln work well also, and the
ability to operate on 115 VAC is nice, but IMHO I would save up a bit
more and go for the 220 models in 175 amp range
Don't be fooled into thinking infinite amp range is not for casusal
use. Its great and allows fine tune of machine, and is a very nice
feature, but the set range machines do a great job as well.
Odds are if you were given a Miller, Hobart or Lincoln machine to use
and they were covered so you could not see what brands they were you
would not be able to tell them apart when it comes to use. The Lincoln
does make a somewhat nicer looking weld on the same amps than the
Miller does but its not sufficeint to worry about. You won;t go wrong
with either.
Ever since the wife gave me the go ahead for a MIG and I got mine, its
been a MIG welding festival around here just on her projects, of
repairing broken and worn lawn and garden furniture and bakers rakcs
etc, and lord only knows what she wants made yet, such as garden
trellis, gates, and other do dads. Someday I may get to use it for my
own use!
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http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
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