Me and my friend, Dave Rifkin of DS Racing, recently acquired a couple of new Miller welding machines.

Since I plan to use the welder for fabrication or repair purposes, on projects like Boss 340, our enclosed trailer and things of that nature, I went with Miller's new Millermatic 211 w/Autostart. The Millermatic 211 is a bitchin', affordable ($970), mid-size 110V/220V MIG unit that's perfect for DIY types at home, as well as for heavy-duty use in fabrication shops.

Dave picked up Miller's all-new Diversion 165 TIG welder--the "big dog" TIG machine for home and DIY users.

More on the Diversion, and my "back-to-school" experience, after the jump...

Miller's Diversion 165 TIG welder ($1,617.00) is cool because it's lightweight and portable, and really easy to operate; using only three switches (Power, Material Selection, and Amperage Control/Material Selection) to get novice and advanced TIG welders laying beads without the hassles that are common to other TIG machines.

Weldcraft's LS17 TIG torch 150 A is one of the really cool accessories that I strongly suggest for the Diversion 165. The air-cooled torch features a hand-controlled amperage adjustment built into the handle of the torch, that eliminates the need to use a foot pedal.

We acquired our MIG and TIG welders right around the same time that Miller held a little instructional seminar at its Rancho Cucamonga, California, training facility. So, since timing is everything, Dave and I went out to Rancho and took in the 1-day course.

The instructors were very helpful and showed us the proper way to use the machines we have, and also demonstrated Miller's compact plasma cutter, the Spectrum 625 X-Treme--which is the next cool piece of equipment on my shopping list.

For more information on Miller welding equipment, check out their Web site: www.millerwelds.com