Swapped out my old Miller for a Lincoln last month... night and day difference on vertical welds

I'd been running the same Miller 250 for about 6 years straight, thing was beat to hell but I figured it was fine. Then I got a job on a new boiler down in Baton Rouge and the crew lead had a Lincoln LN-25 he let me borrow for a day. First pass on a 3/8 vertical plate and I couldn't believe how smooth it laid in. Burns were cleaner, less spatter, and I wasn't fighting the arc as much. Ended up buying my own Lincoln the next week. Has anyone else switched brands and seen a big jump in quality or was I just stuck in a rut?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonp7623d ago

Have you noticed how often we just get used to something being "fine" until we see what better actually looks like? I think that happens with a lot of tools and even everyday stuff like kitchen knives or an old pair of boots. Sometimes we don't know what we're missing until we try something else that works just a little smarter, and then we can't go back.

karen36123d ago

Amen to that, I did the same thing with a Hobart and it was like night and day.

parker_palmer4423d ago

Hold on a sec, is it really that big of a difference? I mean, yeah, new tools are always gonna feel better at first. That fresh metal and tight tolerances can trick your hands into thinking you leveled up. Maybe your old Miller was just overdue for a tune-up, you know? I bet if you threw a new liner and some fresh contact tips in it, it would run just as smooth as that Lincoln. A lot of the time it's just us getting in our own heads about the equipment instead of the basics.