Garth Seabrook, run a machining & Fabrication business using chinese welders.

by Garth Seabrook
(Owen Sound, ON.)

I bought a Riland AC/DC Tig 200A tig unit four years ago.

I've run countless bottles through it, I use it on average 2 - 3hrs a week minimum in my shop.

It welds as good as the welder using it. I do alot of aluminum and stainless welding at its been a godsend.

I paid approx $1000 for it when a comparable american made unit would cost me four times that.

I cannot say enough about this welder. Parts on ebay where it was purchased initially are real easy to find and cheap.

I also own a chinese 315A MIG and 60A plasma.
The 315A unit is really a bit big for most jobs I do, I have to run a thicker wire and wire speed right up to weld anything less than 1/4" thick. (Hindsight, should've bought their 250A unit...) So the tig sees alot of use around my shop.
MIG cost me $650 Try to get a Miller or Lincoln for that price that wasnt made in 1983.

The main board on the plasma fried due to a puddle of solder being a little too close to another but with a little emailing and pictures the company sent me another board asap and I replaced it myself in 30minutes.
Seems to be working fantastic for the past four months.

I paid $750 for the plasma, a comparable domestic unit again would be four times that. It slices through 1" mild steel just fine thank you. The consumables are DIRT CHEAP and readily available online. I've used domestic plasma's in other shops I've worked in and mine uses SIGNIFICANTLY less consumables and the pricing on them is 10 chinese to every 1 american.


You can moan till the cows come home about how american is the way to go, bottom line is.
The nippers are willing to work non union for less money and therefore their product is cheaper in the end. personally; I dont think line workers in a factory installing seats should be making $27/hr, but thats just me. Its an unfortunate fact that its how the north american economy works. And you can say I'm pushing manufacturing out of north america and yeah. I guess I am. Survival of the fittest, we need to come to blows with this.