We have all Miller at the shop, but if I bring one of my old jalopies to the shop, it disrupts everything. I have a 50A plug at the box at home, but it is sure a lot of work packing a Millermatic 200 or larger with a large bottle home. I bought a Hobart 140 that I keep at the house. Most of what I do at the house is patch panels, the thickest being floor panels which are 18 gauge. I run .023 wire and I just don't worry about burning holes. I use the small CO2 bottles for convenience. I am told that the mix which we use on our larger machines is better, but I just can't imagine it getting better. I got my best deal on the Hobart 140 on Amazon.com. If I need to weld anything bigger, we have a miller Trailblazer 440 on a trailer. My advice is don't expect one machine to do it all. Buy a machine suited to what you are going to do. And then practice by welding junk similar to what you are going to weld to get the heat and wire speed right.
Last edited by crenwelge; 10/26/2008 8:24 PM.
