I have a bit of a dilemma. I have a very basic but good stick welder (Lincoln tombstone), and looking to increase my capabilities.  I'm in the market for a Mig welder, something that will run on standard 110v (115, 120, whatever), or if the price is close enough, maybe considering a dual voltage one.  Choices I'm considering are like the Hobart 140 and/or 210, Vulcan 140 and 205, Lincoln 140 and 180 Dual, etc. Ordinarily I'd just make the decision, shop now based on prices I can find new, used, and refurbished, and make a simple comparison and be up and running with it. However, just a little over a month away is Black Friday. How much can I expect for welder prices to be discounted for those in the consumer range?  The Hobart and Lincoln are offered by big box stores--I know that they do doorbusters and big one week deals on other stuff, do they do it with this too usually or no? Will it be worth my while to search for sales that week or the next, or buy afterwards in January? Just asking now because before I haven't noticed.  Basically the point of me asking is trying to avoid buying now and then finding out it could have been a lot less.

also interested

IN! been interested in learning to weld/getting started so I can make some things.

I'd try googling last year's black friday sales flyers and see if any of the models you are looking at were marked down.

Also, check out weldingweb.com if you haven't been there.  They tell you about current deals/rebates as well.

Quite right.  I just checked out last year's Tractor Supply ad and it shows the Hobart 140 at $449 vs. their usual of $519.  OK, not too bad, but pretty close to what I can get with a coupon right now and actually a little more than what I can get one of the factory refurbs for.  I suppose the markup on stuff like this isn't too terribly high with them so there might not be enough room to cut, or at least not on this specific choice.

HTP usually runs some "Black Friday" deals for a few weeks in November. That's where I picked up my Invertig a few years ago. $200 off and $100 in free goodies (of my choosing)

I bought a 115v welder on Black Friday last year.  It's the Eastwood 135 Mig welder, came with the hookups for shielding gas and everything.  Not a high end machine, but does everything I need it to do and I'm happy with it.

It's normally $300, I think it was on sale for $249.  I had signed up for deal alerts on Eastwood's website ahead of time and they sent me a coupon code for either 15 or 20% off, so I got it in the neighborhood of $200.  I'm happy.

I've looked at the Harbor Freight Mig welders, and the Eastwood is definitely a nicer machine, but I haven't seen the Vulcan line yet.

Hobart 140 is a nice machine. I have one i recently picked up from northern tool on sale. Shipped it was $489. I don't suspect it would be much lower than that elsewhere, maybe slightly but not a ton.

I have the Hobart 140. Finally got the gas hooked up and it works good the little I have used it. I got it a few years ago for maybe $450 but it was years ago.

I scored a HH140 a couple months ago at TSC for I think $40X.

It was on sale for $469, and then they had one of those one day only 15% off coupons.

 


Bought the Eastwood a couple years back for my sons.

$199. Its that price a few times a year.

The outcome: got a coupon to Tractor Supply, figured it'd be about even with what I'd see later, so went ahead and got the Hobart.  

So far I'm finding that mig welding is nowhere near the no-brainer people make it out to be.  I'm going to have to practice running a lot more beads and vertical up pieces to get the hang of working with it versus stick.  It took a couple of hours worth of pulling out backlashes in the wire to figure out I needed to get the seat the gun further back in to get the liner to where I could get the wire in directly to feed 100%.  Setting proper tension on the spool is decidedly un-obvious, remembering to have the shielding gas turned out, holding the nozzle the correct distance away, etc. is a heck of a lot more going on than just point and shoot like some folks say it is. Saves time?  Ha, yeah if you spend most of your time actually working instead of pulling kinked/backlashed wire out.  First day was just a lot of frustration for the first couple hours.  Yeah sure I could take classes on this but I'm already doing online classes to finish one degree as it is plus have a wife our first son now just a few months old, so no, gotta figure this out in my spare time.

I'm sure I'll be glad I got this one sometime down the line, but quite honestly right now about all I like about mig welding vs. stick is that it runs on 115v so I don't have to plug it in to my house's one and only 230v outlet in the basement.  So the wife is happier I'm not running an extension cord through the living room and out the door to the garage.  That's about it.

Bulletproof panels in your car kinda things?

Being an old stick guy I also had issues, mostly set up issues. Lot of birdnests from the start.

My sons took right to it!

LOL, I run an extension cord from dryer out the basement window.

Welding equipment is one of those things where the dealer markup is not that great so deals are few and far between. You would have been much better served saving up and buying a used Millermatic or similar model.

The quality of the welder makes learning a lot easier. And the difference between a new $500 and a used $1000 welder is night and day.

When you want to lay down and spray weld it is nice to have the power there to do so.

120v welders just cannot handle anything over 1/4"-3/8" very well. The consistency of wire speed and voltage just is not there. I do not care what color the brand is. 120v stuff is junk, and I only used mine for doing stuff out in the field powered off a generator. I have been welding for 25 years, and have more money tied up in welding equipment than I do just about anything else.

I went with the Miller 110 unit.  It’s great but it’s limits are hit too easy.  Fine for thin sheet metal but to get a good weld on 1/8 or 3/16 I have to preheat the metal.

Go dual voltage if you can.

I certainly agree 100% with buying used to get better quality equipment for the same money, and that's something I usually abide by in everything, particularly camera gear and guns.  I guess I got impatient with this but it'll be adequate for smaller stuff beyond which I'll just go with stick.  Next gear to get is either a Tig or a moderate engine drive (225/250 size, either a Bobcat, Ranger, or Hobart Champion), most likely the engine drive b/c I want a generator for the house and looks like they're the best option for the task.