Air Gun Home :: View topic - A little help with finding a welding unit?

airmen · New Member

I am in the market for a new welding unit hopefully with a plasma cutter all in one unit, I have been speaking with some of the bigger companies but they are a little to expensive for me at the time so if you know of any other good welding companies please be sure to let me know

WhitleyStu · Veteran Member

In the industrial setting where I worked Lincoln was about the only brand used, be it stick to wire feeder. Most of the farmer's work shops I am in Miller MIG or TIG is the brand I see now. Lincoln is still the main stick welder, but in MIG and TIG Miller makes a lot of smaller lower cost units.

AirGunEric · Site Admin

Lincoln is good for MIG/TIG as well and they have a smaller 120v unit.

Trying to get a combo welder/plasma cutter in one, without paying big dollars for a full-on industrial unit, is a waste of time- you are not likely to find anything that will do both (or maybe even either) well. You can get a Lincoln 140 for around $500, and an offshore plasma cutter for I believe as cheaply as a couple hundred bucks these days. Realistically, you likely to be doing alot more welding than cutting (at least most people would be unless their primary function is tear-down)- so spend the bigger money on the welder.

kanyon · Silver Status Member

Welder & plasma in one..
Tig welder & Plasma in one are around theres a few Chinese one..
Mig & Plasma are usaly not cheap as they are basicly 2 seprate units in
one case.. ie.. Plasma works on amps / Mig works on volts so theres very few common componets...

What type of stuff are you going to use the for ?

We have a couple of Chinaese AC/DC Tig units at work.. not had
a prob with them so far "9 or 10 months"... But the way we look at them is
they are so cheap if we get 2 years out of them great..when
they do die well they are cheap enough to toss away and buy
a replacement...

I have a thermal dynamics plasma "pac-master 38"
its a US made unit... good unit..
3 welders 200 amp AC/DC tig , 260amp Mig & 150 amp DC inverter
All are Cebora made in Italy..not given a prob in 10 years..

all welders / Plasmas these day are Ok..Unless yer buy real cheap crap..
PS..Stay away from anything with Telwin on it.. welders are like Air guns theres a lot of Chinaese rebranding going on...

pipewelder_1999 · Member

I have had a "Longevity" DC Tig/Stick with built in Plasma (40 Amp) for a few years now. Its been sitting idle in a damp shed now for a bit and may not even work.

But when I was using it, it was fine. I was actually quite impressed with it when compared to the cost for buying 2 name brand units to do the same thing, it was a great deal.

I have a page on my website that lists what I thought about the machines and links to the websites that have them.

http://weldingdata.com/WelderReviews/Welding%20Machine%20Reviews.htm

The multiprocess units can be seen at http://www.longevity-inc.com/productcategory_29/Multi-Purpose-Units.php. The prices have gone up some since I bought mine but still pretty good.

Check some of the welding forums, there will usually be a good bit of opinions on them. I have worked as a welder all of my life or in some related capacity. The machine I have does exactly what it should and I recomend it to anyone wanting to get into welding around the house.

Have a good day.
Gerald

airmen · New Member

thank you everyone for your suggestions but I have already purchased with another company named longevity, after doing some research I seen that they have the best warranty out there so far and great customer service, I will post some pics of my welds so be sure to let me know what you think

pipewelder_1999 · Member

Was there something airgun related you were gonna weld on? Other than targets, I havent had any other ideas where to put my welding skills to use with airgun.