What welder should I get?

[jasonmcc]

Hi

I am pretty new to welding, just done a bit of stick welding in the past, but i am a beginner.

I am looking at buying a welder, but I dont know what to get. I dont think I will ever need to weld anything really thick ( no more than 6-8mm).

I was thinking of getting a 170-210 Amp MIG because I would like to do a little sheet metal work on a car. Most of the work would probably just hobby stuff eg making benches. But I maybe would use it to do some Chassis modifications on a car and maybe some construction welding on a house/shed in the future.

What are my choices ?

If I didnt go the MIG, would one of those small portable inverter welders be ok for all the normal steel welding and get a TIG torch for it, for sheet metal.

I am not a good stick welder, I only used a MIG once and never touched a TIG.


Thanks JAson

[jasonmcc]

Anyone please?

Anyone please?

[Roger]

The 170 to 210 amp MIG welder will handle your welding needs. You might be able to buy used stick welder much cheaper but it will not get used much once you have a MIG welder.

IF you want to TIG weld much easier to learn with welder having remote foot operated amp control. DC inverter TIG and stick welders are nice and getting more reliable. Still can be expensive to fix.

[Dan]

Jason

For the beginner a wire feed welder is going to be much easier to use on automotive sheetmetal. For your first machine I would suggest going with the 210 amp mig. This will give you plenty of power for thick material yet go low enough to weld light gauge sheet metal. Now, of course i don t believe in just having one process available so later you have to add a stick/TIG combo.

[jasonmcc]

Thanks

Thanks Dan and Roger. I like your last comment Dan that I cant only have one machine and I will have to get a stick/tig machine in the future.


Thanks Jason

[Dan]

Jason

Here is one example (see attachment) of why i like to have a TIG machine in my arsenal too. the tube in the picture is 1/2" 304 SS with an .050 wall thickness. This just a well could be a piece of 1/2" solid stock. Either way you would never get this quality of weld on a small diameter piece like this with MIG or Stick.

[rusted]

Originally posted by Dan
Jason

Here is one example (see attachment) of why i like to have a TIG machine in my arsenal too. the tube in the picture is 1/2" 304 SS with an .050 wall thickness. This just a well could be a piece of 1/2" solid stock. Either way you would never get this quality of weld on a small diameter piece like this with MIG or Stick.

Do the red dots indicate where you started and stopped?

I am an utter newbie having only fired a MIG gun a few times. I relate welding to my extensive soldering (don't laugh, it was serious Navy training under a microscope on multi-layered circuit boards! :lol: ) But puddle and pretty fillets are the key soldering, and that right there is just beautiful, even among the welds I've been observing recently.

[freeman2u]

Being very new to welding too, i understand your situation. The two things i thought to consider before the purchase was what medias i would be using most and my power supply. it sounds like you've got the first part figured out. i would think next, do you want your welder to stay in one place or do you want to move it to different locations. hence the decision to get a 110v or 230v. with what you've described either will work fine. you may find yourself limited later with a 110v. that's where practice with a stick would be helpful. i needed to be able to move my mig from place to place without having to look for 230v so i opted for a HH135. if i need to do anything it won't do it'll just have to be taken back to the shop. from a rookie, i hope this helps.

[big tuck]

i dont know

all i can tell you is make sure you buy a miller/ hobart i also have a thermal arc and there is no comparison in customer service miller is second to none