Miller Maxstar 150 S

[Spooky]

I'm looking for a portable lightweight welder that will work with 110 and 220 to do light fabrication work mostly 3/16th stuff and smaller. Do any of you have any opinion on the new Miller Maxstar 150 DC inverter(SMAW only). Do any of you know of a simular welder from another manufacturer of simular quality but a bit cheaper? $580 shiped is the best price I have found so far.

 

[Heep]

Just kind of wondering why you want a smaw? You can get a better welder for the same price or less if you want a MIG. A stick is nice if you are doing heavier stuff but anything less then 3/16 is a little tough unless you are a really good welder. I went to school for welding and have been doing it for a long time now. For my garage I bought a Hobart 135 and its a great little welder, can use it for sheet metal (body work) and for making bumpers ect. I would use a SMAW on an axle but that is all. Miller makes good stuff, but Hobart is the exact same thing, but cheaper, they have all the exact same internal parts.

 

[Spooky]

A few reasons. I dont have a workshop or garage so all the welding I'll be doing will be outside so portability is important to me. I have a source for a wide variety of free welding rods and I like the flexibilty of being able to use different types of filler metal without changing wire rolls. I learned to weld stick and I'm comfortable with it. It only weighs 13.5 lbs so it wont be a pain to lug around if I want to build stuff in my dads garage, on the trail with an inverter in a pinch, or wherever. I specified the stick only unit cause its $400 less than the stick/tig 150. I might get a wire feeder if I ever build a shop or garage.