I found my plasma cutter at a pawn shop. It was a great deal and the unit was brand new. I paid $350 for the box and it retailes for over $750.
This is a tough question to answer as well. Logic can only dictate what you need for your projects at home. There are several avenues to take in purchasing your needs. Combo units are good, but only if you purchase the correct unit. I have a friend who purchased a Lincoln combo unit a couple years age. It was over $3,500 when every thing was paid for. He justified this setup cause he had planed to use this set up at least 10 hours per week every month and was going to farm out his talents for the community as a lite fixit shop in his community.
He purchased a 3-phase welder and had to pay for the proper single phase converter to a 3-phase hook up in his home shop. This was an additional $1,800 spent in a custom electrical hook up for the welder. His total bill before he even was able to start welding was close to $7,000.
If you plan on doing a great deal of welding, then a heavy duty industrial is the way to go. Other wise it is only logical to purchase what you actually need for your neccessities in your home shop. Usually about this time of the year, Miller and Lincoln distributors are trying to move out the last couple year models on discount sales. Last year I came across a Miller 180c/220V hookup for less then $700.00. This included a nice heavy duty cart along with a couple 10lb spools of 0.035 wire. Couldn't pass up the deal.
TIG units are more money for the real good stuff. I have seen combo ARC/TIG units for around $500. You could get a less expensive one from H.F. to practice on and work your way up a top of the line unit.
The 220V/130TIG/90ARC combo is only
$300.00 and the TIG inverter system is only
$500.00.
It depends on what you really need. The combo TIG/ARC buzz box is a good starting point to learn and gain perfection on your talants. It only makes sense to invest into something as a training tool before you spend the big bucks on a more priceier unit. The HF combo might not be a Miller or Lincoln, but for the price compaired to the actual needs, it out wieghs either one of them in my book. For one thing I don't have the extra cash to lay out and justify such a purchase, and I don't have the time to farm out my services to let it help pay for the cost of such a unit. For those of you who have the funds to justufy such a thing, good for you.
Maximo
