Choosing a welding machine is much like choosing a car; you might have preferences that are based on experience, preferences you’ve picked up from friends or family or you might have had a great experience with one brand – say a Leister – that you’ve sworn you’ll always be loyal to.
Price, performance and purpose are all key indicators when it comes to making a logical choice of the machine you’re going to purchase. But in the end, you might make a decision based on brand loyalty, or you’ll get a two-for-one deal with a fellow welder on a particular brand.
Price
The type of machine you’re buying likely won’t vary too much in price, but if you know how much you’re willing and able to spend it’ll help you narrow down the field. If this is a welder you’ll use daily, and makes you income then it’s worth investing a bit more. If you are a hobby welder, you might want to start small and upgrade later.
Consider also the price of materials and any upgrades, battery, or additional material you’ll need to buy to operate the machine.
Performance
You want a machine that performs perfectly, and the performance might be based on the price you can pay. Overall, you want a machine that:
- Provides uniform welding results
- Works at high speed
- Can be solo operated (so you don’t have to rely on always having someone else to help you)
Those are the main considerations, and there may be other things for you – it might depend on what you are using the welder for, and we talk about that below.
Purpose
Before you start to research the types of welders available, be clear on what you are going to use the welder for. That will help you understand whether you need it to be a certain size if it needs to be easily portable, and what sort of power levels you require.
Also, consider where you are going to store it.
Before you buy a welding machine – Leister or otherwise
Before you make your choice make sure you’ve done the following so you don’t end up with a welder buyer’s regret:
- Do your research: go into stores and talk to the sales people about what they like, spend time on internet forums to see what people are saying about the different options.
- Try it out: find someone who owns the brand you’re interested in and go and take it for a test run.
- Get a good deal: once you’ve decided on a brand, shop around to find the best price available.
Click here to talk to the experts about their range of welding machines – it’s a good place to start your research.
