Good talk guys. Some nuggets of info even for a small time "Home Shop Harry" like myself. Especially appreciated Aren's comments on shipping costs. A never ending battle for Alaskans. USPS Flat Rate is a life saver, when you can find vendors willing to use them.( or convince others to do so. ) If not on a time crunch one of the various freight forwarders are a great option. You can normally take advantage of "free shipping" offers to get your stuff as far as Seattle/Tacoma, and then pay the forwarder from there. Have saved thousands that way over the years.

Thanks! Lucked into a factory dual bottle kit at 1/2 retail price( and free shipping to Alaska, big score! ) on eBay to bolt on when the spool gun addition happens. 

JODY COLLIERHelps a lot Jody, thanks for that! I bought a can to have on hand in case I encountered a situation I couldn't use gas purge. But so far, all my SS welding has been on motorcycle exhaust, and have always been able to use a proper argon purge. After hearing of your experience with it, the can will likely continue collecting dust!

Aren JenkinsYep! I'm in Wasilla. Spent several years working in southeast, and a good bit of time staging out of your town. Then we'd have Temsco drop us off at the various mountaintop repeater sites in the area and on POW. Love the panhandle! Will go with a 30A for sure. Totally agree a 15' would be way too short. Thanks again for the info.👍

Aren JenkinsGreat info Aren, thanks. This years PFD check, would knock a big hole in the cost of a Spoolmatic 30 ! :)

Perfect timing. Just got a Millermatic 255 and would eventually like to add the capability of welding aluminum with it. Nice to see the pros and cons of push/pull vs spool gun, and look forward to you expanding on using both. Leaning towards a spool gun, as the machine will likely be used 80%+ of the time on steel. So the spool gun will allow me to leave the steel stinger in place instead of swapping it out for the push pull.

Matt, that 25V/250IPM setting is friggin' magic, thank you! 

Sam👍

Nice repurpose of that bucket Sam. That prefab weld on mounting plate sure looked like a huge time saver. Do I detect a Pittsburgh area accent? I grew up to the southwest near Washington. Left right after high school 40 years ago.