Anything welding

PrimeWeld 225X.

I've run one (and used to own one) side by side with Eastwood's TIG welder and Miller's costing much more.

325X is their newest release.

 

I was semi-familar with this one I'll watch some reviews/teardowns

 

I'll let my friend chime in; I turned him to it and he's used it a ton for his stainless steel exhaust he's welded up.

@Yota X

 

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If at all possible weld with each machine your thinking about .

Unless your used to many different machines

I learned one thing when buying a Welding machine make sure Service and parts can be had local .

Nothing like dealing with shipping machines back and forth.

So much has changed since pre covid .

One of the hardest things is learning how to quote or bid jobs . You will at time lose money or break even at best.

I always bought consumables when I got a good price . About all I need to buy now is shielding Gas .

I bought steel when I had extra money.

Extra cylinders are always Good. Grinders and clamps you can never have enough .

Something to cut your metal my Band saw has been great since 1989!

Having accounts with all the welding distributors is a very good idea.

No overtime at work ? Working 12 hour days the last thing I wanted was to put a hood on at home.

I was setup to be self employed but the out of state Mill Wright jobs outages, new construction power plants just paid to well.

This can be a slippery slope some employers can be or might be upset your gearing up to compete with them . It sounds strange but you never know I have seen this go sideways a few times.

Unless your doing work your employer will no longer touch.

 

I dunno?

The union welders that worked for me had it pretty good.

They had several apprentices doing all the prep/post work. The welders welded maybe an hour a day.

If that is the type of work you do, then I could see welding as a side gig.

I ran boilers as my day job and weld as the side gig. I didn't get tired of welding.

For that matter, I think a person should call themselves a fabricator 1st and a welder second. You only weld a small amount of time vs how much time you prepare to weld.

I think I would have had a hard time welding for a career then doing after hours.

 

What Kwikvette said.

Get the primewelder. I so surprised with their performance and quality (and especially customer service) that i bought a few for the school ... and that is saying something because I firmly believe all cheap china welders are absolute bottom of the barrel trash that are good for nothing more than acting as a dumpster anchor so you dont loose a good dumpster in a stiff wind.

Buy something good (main brand) or buy the PrimerWelder.

The only thing I dont like about the primewelder is the delay and squish in footpedal. Everything else is very nice.

 

Coming from you that is High praise !! Thank you Sir

Maybe I can rob Peter and Paul and buy one.

Though I have all but AC Tig covered and as of yet not gotten in Aluminum work that wire could not be used.

Since I was injured .

 

Dustin and Gene are absolutely wonderful, and a big reason why I even bought into the brand itself.

You're right though, they need to be looked at as a 'disposable' machine. But with proper care, it's safe to say that even these Chinese welders can outlast the given warranty. If not, the no questions asked 3 year warranty is a big plus.

Harbor Freight only provides 90 days on their machines.

And it's awesome to hear you guys run them at school. That's how I was introduced to mine. One of the instructors bought the Eastwood TIG welder as well as the PrimeWeld TIG welder (his own personal machines), and brought them in just for us to use.

We had the larger Miller 255 Multimatics, 215's, as well as other Lincoln multi processors.

 

@Wsidr1

Had to cut one for myself



I hate the cleanup on the file; ended up drawing one of the T's myself.

That and my steel "flexed" upward, causing me to recut the "O" hence the ugly round cut inside.

 

My next personal home machine will be a primewelder ... and then ill swap the footpedal for a better one.

Out of the cheapies I have run (everlast, YW, eastwood, etc) the primewelder was the best for the cost.

 

Finished up the coastal offroad rear bumper and swingout, welded on some trail gear sliders, and welded on some trail gear frame plates for the customer’s truck I have at the house

 

Havent you heard?

If you downhill MIG anything, at all, ever, a bus full of nuns and innocent baby orphans will careen off a cliff into a puppy play area and burst into flames killing everyone and all the cute little puppies.

[/sarcasm]

Or am I the only one that constantly hears how "terrible" downhill MIG is?

 

Is that per pass? Or per day that you weld down hill? Cuz if it’s per pass, there was like 8 per slider, times 2 sliders. So about 16 bus loads of nuns and innocent baby orphans careened off a cliff into 16 puppy play areas and caused 16 explosions with lots and lots of flames. All because of me. Oops

 

They way I hear it, it's per inch.

Shame on you.

 

Oof, I've sent many a puppy to hell

 

That’s a lot of inches

 

I have heard that quite often from the arm chair welders.

Asking me to fix problems they made . I am getting mean in my old age.

" If your so good why is this a mess"

 

Don`t feel bad your not alone!!

 

In my case, I'm surprised there are any puppies or nuns left.

 

The bigger the glob, the better the job.