Im currently taking Steel Fabrication at the local technical school and Im looking at getting my own welder, just curious to see what you guys are running? Im tempted to say F&$% it and buy a nice miller inverter (about 3000) and buy some torches and have a good stick, wirefeed, and tig all in one machine, think its worth the investment? Ill be a fully qualified welder/steel fitter at the end of my course so i wouldnt consider myself a "hobbyist"

 

I have Hobart Welders, I'm just a hobbyist though so I don't get to technical and spend a lot of money on the welders I use and they do anything I need them to do.

My Wire Feed is a lil ol' Hobart Handler 140.

My Stick Welder is a lil ol' Hobart Champion 4500 Generator / Welder.

 

I have a Miller 211MVP I LOVE it. It is a great machine even on 120vac. If you can swing a a good quality all in one TIG unit I would buy it. But that is only if you will be using it on a lot of your projects...

 

I run a Lincoln 180 220v MIG, does everything i need it too for thin sheet metal up to 3/16...

 

Everything I have is Miller except my Plasma, and it's a Thermal Dynamics.

 

I have a Lincoln 255 mig welder, Lincoln square wave tig 275 and a 110 amp Thermal Dynamics Plasma cutter...I had a Lincoln 185 tig welder but the air cooled torch sucked for welding aluminum...Torch got way too HOT!!!

 

But I wish I would have bought an Inverter type welder though...Mig & Tig from same machine & alot smaller package....

 

i have a lincoln mig welder and a hypertherm plasma cutter. ive been wanting a tig welder for some time but i cant afford it... when i do ... it will probably be a syncrowave or a diversion 180

 

Judging from the advertised weight (177 lb.) of Miller's all-in-one in that price range, it must be a transformer instead of inverter. Maybe they offer something else, but if you are thinking of buying a 350 Dynasty and trying to run a wire feed with it, I am pretty sure it can't be done. If it is the 300 DX MIG package that you are looking at, a transformer is not a bad thing. They just are bigger and use more electricity. My opinion is that would be a very good setup for your shop, but you should think about more power. 300A is good for most aluminum jobs, but engine blocks or bigger pieces might need preheat or more amperage. You probably will need to go portable at times, so a Maxstar 150 will look pretty tempting, or a Dynasty 200.
To recap, I think an all-in-one would be great and serve you well for a long time, but you still might buy more welders in the future.

 

Sorry I was thinking around 3000 because thats the price our school was getting there inverters for. I was looking to spend around the 5000 range, I know its alot but its more of a good investment in my eyes. Its more for my own screwing around at home but I will probably have it forever. But no its an inverter its the XMT 304 CC/CV. As far as the mig goes the inverter would be used as the power source, I would still need the 22a wire feeder