The Lincoln is the machine to beat. It finished first in every category except
penetration, where it lost by three thousandths of an inch, making the most
current of any welder at 281 amps, the strongest weld at 6,349 lb, and holding
around 145 amps after five straight minutes of welding. Its lowest setting
runs 21 to 49 amps, the lowest floor in the group, which is what allows it to
be dialled back far enough to work 20-gauge sheet without punching straight
through. At $2,300 that performance is what you would expect, and it delivers
it.
The Vulcan and the Yeswelder are far closer to each other than their prices
suggest, with the Vulcan barely finishing ahead. The Vulcan took the
penetration test outright at 0.188 in, held its weld to almost 6,000 lb, and
was still delivering 144 amps at five minutes. The Yeswelder trailed it at
0.183 in, 5,143 lb and 133 amps, ran the smoothest wire feed of any machine
in the test, and costs $360 — which makes it the pick on a tight budget. If
value is the whole question, the Azzuno at $252 is very hard to beat: four
processes in one box, the second-strongest weld of the test at 6,133 lb, 123
amps held through the full five minutes, and a 22-amp low setting that puts it
alongside the Lincoln as one of only two machines here suited to thin sheet
metal.
Three cautions before spending. The Chicago Electric is the only machine in
the group that cannot also stick weld, it came in below average on weld
strength at 4,759 lb, and it overheated and shut itself down at 3 minutes 43
seconds. The Warcking looks strong on paper at 211 amps but surges so much
while welding that its joint broke at 3,743 lb, well below everything else,
and it quit eight seconds short of the five-minute mark. The Flameweld welds
cleanly on thin-to-medium work but cannot make enough current for good
penetration in quarter-inch plate. More broadly, if sheet metal is part of the
job, the number that matters is the bottom of the current range rather than
the top — the Lincoln's 21 amps and the Azzuno's 22 are what make them usable
on 20 gauge, while the Vulcan bottoms out at 72 and the Chicago Electric at
67.