The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Eastwood welders?

Anyone have one or know where they are made? There are a lot of posts on other boards about them and a guy from Eastwood named Matt who has responded to them (probably his job), but I've never found out where exactly they are made and with whose parts. Eastwood seems to be very secretive about this. The price and warrantee are tempting on them but it would be nice to know that there are parts readily available if something breaks after the warrantee expires. Also I would prefer not to support the Chinese economy by buying one of these. I figure we need all the help with jobs we can get right now in the US. China seems to be doing fine.

Do these welders have plastic drive mechanisms. Eastwood always wants to compare these to Lincolns and Lincoln recently switched their drive mechanisms to metal (looks like diecast aluminum to me - slightly better than plastic).

I've bought a lot of stuff from Eastwood before with mixed results: most of it is acceptable for the restorations I do and some of it isn't worth the packaging it comes in. I tried returning one of these things and they wouldn't take it back. That would be another one of my concerns: very poor customer service on problems with these welders or if they didn't perform up to all the hype they give them (as they give all their products).

I was just wanting some real world input on these things just in the remote chance they are worth looking into. Thanks.

I have a Clarke and love it. I figure if it isn't US made, the UK isn't too bad. There are several very good brands of welders, many of which you should be able to buy at the local large home or farm store.

That's where I got my first welder - at a farm store. It was a 115V Lincoln Migpak. It didn't seem to have a very stable arc if I remember right. I didn't like it so I sold it for about what I paid for it. I noticed a big difference in weld quality when I switched to my current welder which is a small 230V Chicago Electric mig welder. It produces good quality welds but it is very cheaply made with a lot of plastic parts. It seems to be losing some welding ability in the lower heat settings now. That's why I'm starting to look for another welder.

Didn't Eastwood use to sell Clarke welders? The problem with Clarke welders is the company went bankrupt and now where do you get parts for them. Maybe that's what Eastwood welders are really - old stock and parts they bought from Clarke's bankruptcy auction.

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=817739#Post817739

According to The thread above. China

For what it's worth, I'm really happy with my Miller.

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/product.php?model=M00234

I have an Eastwood Mig135. It is made in China. I have an argon/co2 mix and it seems to weld nicely. I can`t say how it will hold up long term as it is new. I got the welder and 60cf tank for $450. I couldn`t pass on it for the price. The drive mechanism is plastic. It seems to weld as well as a Lincoln I borrowed.

That's what I needed to know. Eastwood welders are probably made by young workers making a few dollars a day in horrible conditions like most Chinese factories have: not something I want to support no matter how good they weld. Eastwood must be making a killing off of them. If Eastwood really wanted to establish themselves as a legitimate source for good welders they should sell welders made in America, or at least a country that isn't notorious for exploiting their workers and for producing low end products. Of course then they couldn't make huge profits.

I guess I'll go back to looking at Miller, Lincoln and Hobart mig welders. Thanks for the insight.

Clarke may have gone bankrupt, but they're still in business. http://www.clarkeinternational.com/

I'm sure the UK head office can tell you where to get parts in the US.

These guys seem to carry Clarke parts: http://www.usaweld.com/

X3 on the Miller. I have the older 135 Miller and it has done a good job and I really like it.

I really like the Miller welders, too. They seem to be the electric welders to get. Is anyone familiar with the Miller Challenger 172 model mig? The main difference I can see with this model is it appears to have tapped heat settings instead of the infinite heat settings that most other Miller models have.

X4 on Miller stuff....

I bought the 180 (for 240V) and couldn't be happier with it. Bullet proof and easy to get parts and supplies for it.
Although I only do light fab and body work, I fixed a guy's old 6 foot snow plow with it recently.

It was 1/4" steel plate and had no trouble at all with penetration for a nice weld.

I just got a Miller 180 also and it's great,gave my Son back his 135 Miller.I looked at the Lincoln and thats about the same as the Miller,the shop I go to for my gas and wire sell both the Miller was on sale.

Pete

I looked at the Millermatic 180 the other day at the welding supply store. With tax they wanted about $1000 for it. It's quite a bit cheaper if you buy it online. I'd say this would be my ideal welder. I just wish they weren't so expensive. Seems like there ought to be something similar for less money.

Go with the Miller 140 it's about 200.00 cheaper ,it just will not weld as thick of metal as the 180.I was happy with my Sons 135 but then I had to give it back at some time.The Millers were on sale so I got the 180.

Pete

I bought my Millermatic 140 in Mar 2010. The current list is $879 for the basic package (it was similar $ 2 years ago). I bought from a local welding supply and here's the deal they gave me:
$715 for basic package plus a cart
Free first fill on dealer-lease 39CF Argon CO2 cylinder

Lease required no monthly/yearly fees, just a $130 fully refundable deposit. A recent tank exchange cost $35. It lasted about 6 months with very regular use.

Another time when I went to buy some other stuff at the dealer and brought my tank in for exchange, they gave me a free exchange.

Dave Evans
52_3100

I don't know whether it is inflation or the price of fuel - probably both - but things seem to have really gone up a lot in the past couple of years. I would really need the Millermatic 180 so I could do frame work and such. I've also been looking at the Hobart Handler 180 and the Lincoln Power mig 180. They all seem about the same except the Miller is the only one with infinite heat settings. The Hobart and Lincoln are about $150 less.

I have a C25 bottle deal with an Airgas bottle. I can only go back to an Airgas dealer for "refills". It's a big bottle which is nice because it lasts a long time even though I weld a lot.