December is the best time of year to be looking at a new machine as you’ll often find some incredible deals. Also, if a welding machine manufacturer is going to increase their prices, it usually happens at the beginning of the year. Throw in that extra bit of Christmas money and you can see why December is one of the best times to buy. But which machines in 2018 are worth your hard earned cash?
Miller Millermatic 252 MIG Welder
While the Millermatic 211 is still one of the best-selling MIG machines of the year, a lot of welders are looking for something with a little more oomph. If you’re searching for a machine that can raise the bar, the Millermatic 252 is the perfect choice. You get all the same user-friendly, reliable features of the Millermatic 211 with a lot more power. For this very reason, you’ll often find the 252 in a lot of professional workshops and car garages. In fact, the 252 is a favorite for Jamie Hyneman from the hit show ‘Myth Busters’ as it’s the best choice for turning a car into a rocket ship.
Hypertherm Powermax65 Sync Plasma Cutter
There are some types of equipment where you can get away with a cheaper machine. That’s not the case with plasma cutters. When you’re manipulating the fourth state of matter to create incredibly precise cuts, you need a reliable machine. That’s why the Hypertherm Powermax65 Sync is one of the best-selling, most trusted plasma cutters of all time. The Powermax65 Sync cuts and gouges faster, easier and better than any other product in its class. It’s also one of the most-user friendly machines on the market, with a feature that can automatically set the air pressure for you (one of the most common problems welders face when using plasma machines).
If you’re looking for one of the most solid TIG machines on the market, you can’t go wrong with the Square Wave TIG 200. For more information, check out our in-depth review here.
We’ve covered the Millermatic 211 so much, we should write a book of love poems for it. Luckily for everyone, we won’t. But you can check out our in-depth review here.
Miller Multimatic 215 and Multimatic 220
Multiprocess machines have seen a huge surge in performance and popularity over the past couple of years. It’s easy to understand for anyone who does more than one process but doesn’t like lugging around several machines. The Multimatic 215 has always been a solid, reliable choice with the only issue being that it can’t AC TIG weld, meaning TIG welding aluminum is out of the question. Recently, Miller rolled out the Multimatic 220, which is one of the few multiprocess machines that can AC TIG weld. If you’re a TIG welder looking for a multiprocess machine, this is the game changer you’ve been waiting for. To learn more, check out our in-depth review on the Multimatic 220 here
ESAB Rebel EM 215ic and ESAB Rebel EMP 215ic
In the past few years, ESAB has made some serious waves in the welding world with their Rebel series. We were personally blown away by the performance and user-friendliness of the ESAB EM 215ic when it first came out. Since then, ESAB has only continued to improve on their products. If you’re looking for a MIG only machine, the ESAB Rebel EM 215ic is a great choice. You also have the ESAB Rebel EMP 215ic, which offers the same reliability but as a multiprocess machine capable of doing stick, MIG and TIG.
Finally, we’re also huge fans of the Lincoln Power MIG 210 MP. Click the button below to check out our in-depth review. Which machines are you interested in as we close up 2018? Let us know in the comments section.
