Originally Posted by
Peterpan1
That is the sound of 2K burning. The Dynasty does go on sale. Depends whether you are selling frames or not as to whether it is worth it. If you are selling then you recoup the extra money spent relatively quickly, and you also need the capabilities of the Dynasty to get the quality of work that is expected in the marketplace today. Maybe not so much the customer marketplace, but hanging out on boards discussing your work when you don't have Dynasty, is a little bit like hanging out at the MTB forum with a 1984 canondale 18 speed.
Be sure to give me a call the next time you see a Dynasty 200DX on sale!
I'm wondering what capabilities you think a Dynasty welder has that you can't also get on a Maxstar, aside from AC welding?!? As far as I can tell, the Maxstar 200DX has every feature you'd care to use...
On the forums I visit, nobody particularly cares what machine you've got as long as you can produce decent welds. The guy that taught me to build frames produces some of the finest weld beads I've ever seen using a second-hand Miller Syncrowave 250! The think looks like it's probably from the 1980's; the only "advanced" feature it has is high-frequency start!
I have a maxstar, I bought it as a challenge to see if I could get by with it. It was a bad decision since it is harder to learn to use, and then doesn't return the extra skill you may achieve when you get up to speed, your work will still look less than some others.
Buying a Maxstar wasn't a bad decision; it sounds like you just chose the wrong model. A 150, I presume?
Also, once you get good enough to weld bike frames there are lots of other things you may be able to weld around the house or for bucks, without becoming a pro welder. A friend of mine suplements his bike fund doing small amounts of Al welding. It's short sighted to say you only need it for this one thing when you can't really tell how your interest will develop when you progress.
So you think it's reasonable to suggest that a newbie dump $3000-4000 into a Dynasty 200DX before they've built even a single frame?!?
Also, the type of accessories you need to buy for the Dynasty, as pointed out, are the kinds of accessories you can't even get for the Maxstar 150, or wouldn't be worth sinking the money into when they won't be useable in better machines if you upgrade.
Look: I'm not suggesting you shouldn't buy a decent welder. But if you're buying on a budget, I'll suggest that it wouldn't be a bad compromise to save yourself $800 and buy a Maxstar 200DX rather than a Dynasty 200DX. If you want to save another $1000 and buy a Maxstar 150 STH, that's up to you... In my experience, all you really need is something that will accept a foot pedal and strike a decent arc, preferably with HF start. FWIW, my $1500 second-hand Thermal Arc Pro-Wave 185TSW welds every bit as good as any of the Dynasty models I've tried... And the damn thing was cheaper than a MaxStar 150!