Buying Your First Welder:

DIY: The practical guide

Millermatic 180

You might be the creative type. Or, possibly, you have the handy knack and just looking to tinker around … building and fixing stuff. Opening a small repair shop, is what you are looking for. You could be a farmer or rancher, classic car enthusiast, fabricator or woodworker … or you may just want to be able to repair or salvage something that is broken versus opting to toss it away.

This article is about the Millermatic 180.

Irrespective from your interests, needs, or effort, you’re a do-it-yourselfer interested in buying your 1st welder.

Whether you already have previous welding experience, or, you’re a welding initiate, you are likely here because you demand some help getting started.

Getting Started

Unluckily, there is no single welding procedure worthy for all applications, so let’s begin with an overview of the important processes and highlight the capabilities and advantages of each. This will help us better tally a process to your specific needs.

If you have previous welding experience, feel free to skip ahead. If you are somewhat of a novice, this section will provide you with a better understanding of the types of welders available, how each performs and degree of welding skill needed to operate each.

MIG Welding

MIG welders apply a wire welding electrode on a spool that is fed mechanically at a same pre-selected velocity. The arc, created by an electrical current between the base alloy and the wire, melts the wire and joins it together with the base, producing a high-strength weld with heavy appearance and little need for cleanup. MIG welding is hygienic, easy and can be used on either thin or thicker plate metals.

MIG are very easy to learn and can create highly clean welds on steel, aluminum and untainted. Both types hold the power to weld materials as thin as 26-gauge.

• Easiest process to learn

• Fast welding speeds potential

• Best control on thinner metals

• Cleaner welds possible with no slag to clean

Millermatic 180

MIG welding process is ideal for general maintenance and restore, farm and ranch applications, home repair, and auto body. Key features sole to the Millermatic 180 include:

•Auto-Set - A breakthrough control that automatically sets your welder to the accurate parameters. Auto-Set offers all-in-one MIG minus the guessing. Only set the wire diameter and material thickness and you’re prepared to begin welding.

•Standard Built-In Solid-State Contactor Circuit — Makes wire electrically "cold" until trigger is pulled. This makes the unit safer and torch easier to position earlier starting to weld.

•Thermal Surcharge Protection — Shuts down the unit and activates over-temperature lightly if airflow is blocked or duty cycle is exceeded. Automatically resets when fault is corrected and unit cools.