wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you guys!!!

... for all of your advice you gave me on getting
started in the world of welding.

My question now is, where does one get more for ones money,
when buying a welder?

Ebay?
Harbor Freight?
Others?

What are your recommendations from personal experience?


My recommendations from personal experience (first welding course in 1974)
is this:

Buy a machine from a local dealer, a manufacturer or a distributor. This
includes many local shops and Internet businesses. If you buy one on ebay,
it may not have the documentation to qualify for warranty.

There is much much much much much more to buying a welding machine than just
the price or name of the business. If you buy from a local dealer, you have
someone you can go ask questions of. You have somewhere to take it when it
doesn't work right. You have a source of consumables, plus a tekkie to
steer you to the right stuff. You have someone to help you when you get
your Johnson stuck in a crack.

Yes, you can get things cheaper on ebay. But what good is a cheap welder?
X-Mongo brand welder may be cheap, but where do you get consumables, and
where do you take it if you have a problem? And yes, a Miller or Lincoln
bought on ebay may be cheap, but again, where do you take it if you have a
problem. And then, you spend to have it repaired, and you are right up
there in the cost range of a new one.

Spend the money and get a good one from an established business. You will
sleep better, and spend less time involved in hassles, non-shipping sellers,
used and abused equipment, and other varieties of headaches.

Just MHO, and you asked for it.

Steve