Lincoln '' The Real Deal'' Welder

[ol smuggler]

In My Opinion The Lincoln Ac/dc 225/125 Is The Best Welder For General Purpose Use,the 125 Amps Is More Than Enough For Most Projects,never Had A Problem With Mine,never Heard Of These Machines Giving Any Problems, Any Beginners Looking For A Stick Welder This Is The One To Get.

[Sberry]

And what would make this machine superior to a Stickmate?

[ol smuggler]

And what would make this machine superior to a Stickmate?

IT IS A MORE DURABLE UNIT ,SAME DESIGN FOR MANY YEARS,EASIER CONTROLS,THE STICKMATE CONTROLS ARE CHEAP AND FLIMSY AND LOOK HARD TO GET AN ACCURATE READING,WHO WANTS TO SPIN THAT KNOB FOR TEN MINUTES TO CHANGE SETTINGS,
BUT I HEAR IT ALL THE TIME THAT LINCOLNS TAPPED SETTINGS SUCK,WELL I DISAGREE,THEY ARE CLOSE ENOUGH ON DC.
FINALLY I HAVE USED A STICKMATE AND CANT FIND THEM EXTRA AMPS THEY CLAIM ON DC.

[crawler]

Don't want to start a Red vs. Blue war, but this is web site owned by ITW (Illinois Tool Works) who happen to be the manufacturer of Hobart and Miller. Not sure what the purpose of your post is.

I'm happy with my Miller welders.

[Sundown]

IT IS A MORE DURABLE UNIT ,SAME DESIGN FOR MANY YEARS,EASIER CONTROLS,THE STICKMATE CONTROLS ARE CHEAP AND FLIMSY AND LOOK HARD TO GET AN ACCURATE READING,WHO WANTS TO SPIN THAT KNOB FOR TEN MINUTES TO CHANGE SETTINGS,
BUT I HEAR IT ALL THE TIME THAT LINCOLNS TAPPED SETTINGS SUCK,WELL I DISAGREE,THEY ARE CLOSE ENOUGH ON DC.
FINALLY I HAVE USED A STICKMATE AND CANT FIND THEM EXTRA AMPS THEY CLAIM ON DC.

Why are you shouting ?

[Mike W]

I wonder that myself.

[dda52]

Your opinion.....definitely not mine. I have used a Thunderbolt for many, many years at home. As a sheetmetal welder, it is very often necessary to vary the output by 1-2 amps to keep from burning through...try that with a tombstone.

As for more durable......well, I have seen some Tbolts that have been used in field work for a very long time and looked like it. They worked perfectly. I say they both will hold up to whatever you throw at them.

And no....125 amps DC is not enough. Disagree all you want. The tapped settings are great on MIG, but they really do suck on SMAW.

[Sully2]

Well.. I certainly dont have enough experience at stick welding to be able to quote chapter and verse as to which brand is better.....but I have been on the planet Earth long enough to know that you DONT come to someone else's BB and PROCLAIM at the TOP OF YOUR VOICE that another companys product is superior!

Not only crass to begin at the minimum...but downright STUPID!

DEFINATION:. Crass.." So crude and unrefined as to be lacking in discrimination and sensibility. "

[Sberry]

I wasn't disagreeing as to the quality of the machine, I was more interested in his reasoning. I own a few red ones, one the model Old mentions. It was my primary shop machine for a long time and the highest setting I used on it was 115. I have hundreds of hrs and boxes of rods on it, still works as good as ever, still my primary shop stick machine although its rare as we run wire. As for the settings, well, I tend to agree they are fine for most things a highly skilled operator can tell within a couple amps and on an old power supply that change a bit with load at times I was always between settings, would have liked a tap in the middle, 87 1/2. On my good power not a thing, its perfect or close enough. I agree with Don that a steady diet of sheet work would have me looking for finer adjustments but as for getting the job done, it works.
As for the stickmate, I really haven't ran them but I figure Hobart isn't going to shoot themselves in the foot on this one especially since this class of machine is their bread and butter. I moved one on the store shelf the other day, sure felt solid,, ha, but its also substantially cheaper than the red one. A lot of tool, lot of value for the 400$. It wouldn't make a lick of difference which color it was and once the hood is down I figure it would be about impossible to tell which was which. There was a blind taste test with beer, with their favorites, 75% of them got it wrong, considering there were only 3 or 4 brands that means some got it right by accident as well as wrong. I ran a lot of different machines, most of them I couldn't tell apart.

[SundownIII]

Ol Smuggler,

See my reply to you in the "Lincoln 140C or MM140AS" thread.

Any time you want to put your Tombstone up against my old Dialarc, you're on. Better heat control, higher amps, better duty cycle, etc, etc, etc.

At the end of the day, the Tombstone will have melted down, while the Dialarc is still humming along.

[weld_13]

Why did we start this storm again ?

[dda52]

We didn't start it...smuggler did. We are just replying.

My Thunderbolt is around 20 years old and has Lord knows how many hours on it. It is basically the same design as the current Miller and Hobart offerings. I have never had an issue with the current adjustment. Some people just can't be happy with some things and I suppose that is all right. But to say that one is better that the other, esp in that class of machine, due to manufacturer alone is extremely narrow minded and a tad ridiculous. Miller has been making those T'bolt and now Stickmate type machines for a very long time now. They have proven many times over they are good products and have stood the test of time, as have the Lincolns. Both are LOW end machines, so there will be some cost saving differences. Some will like them, some will not. Just get the one you like and be happy with it. Spewing garbage about one being better than the other due to color is not conducive to intelligent conversation. Put both behind a curtain, set them at the exact same settings, whether DC or AC, mix up the leads and weld. I would bet less than one percent would be able to correctly guess which is which after 5 or 10 different beads and settings.

All that really matters is that both will produce good welds. Both will last a good long time. Both are affordable and can be obtained easily. Both are extremely low maintinence. Both work as advertised. Both.....you get the idea. Just pick the one YOU want and be done with it. I'll put my T'bolt up against your Tombstone any day.....no one will win. They just are too close in matchup....IF you actually know what you are doing.

[scapegoat]

Another Ford vs. Chevy! I prefer Chevy myself but anywho...Everyone cant get enough of the pissing contests with the brand favoratism and all. **** ive ran 4500 or more rods through my Century AC and it has never skipped a beat. I bought it for $100 not knowing how to weld and taught myself with it. Then I went to welding school and used all that three phase stuff (XMT 304 CC/CV) and the Dynasty . As smooth as those machines were, I still came home most days and burnt rods through the Century "till I got dizzy. I have used it more than my HH140 and Century's not even a top end brand. In my opinion there are three brands you could never really go wrong with..Red,White,or Blue...pick the color you like and weld 'till your teeth hurt.

[Sully2]

Ive got a Weller 200/260 watt soldering gun here if that means anything????

[Sberry]

I've welded with both and can't really tell a difference using the same rods. But I'm just an amateur. One thing I like about the Miller Thunderbolt VS. the Tombstone is that when you decrease the amperage on the Miller, the duty cycle goes up. On the Tombstone it doesn't.

Yes, it would go up with less current, its just not listed that way. My shop would be considered cool, I have sat down with the Tombstone, maybe 105 or 115 and burn a 10# box about as fast as you could chuck them in the stinger building up a rock crusher part. I have never paid any attn to duty cycle but then again I am not on the tarmac in TX either. I am with Old in the general opinion that I dont have much use for more than 125A, dont even stock an electrode bigger than 1//8 anymore and the biggest use for a stick we got is teaching someone to run one, use it outside on occasion to burn one but we try to get stuff inside near the feeders. I have a 300 synch that sits around, its never had a stinger connected, still use the tombstone.