New To Welding

M

mzvarner

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As the title says, i am new to welding. It is a skill i want to become profficient at as one day i want to own property and i also like to be some what self sufficient. My first welder was a lincoln buzz box. It works, but i am learning that stick welding is not necissarily the greates "do it all" process. It puts a lot of heat into the work and can easily blow through small gage material (however, it works very well for building a pistol dueling tree!)

I am thinking I would like to buy a multi-process machine, because my wife and i just moved and I want to do some DIY furniture builds as i work towards profficient status. I am leaning towards a lincoln powermig 210. This machine seems to be well liked by those that use it. I am aware that most feel that the multi process units dont do anything great, but does them all good enough. But am i overlooking other machines?

I want to stay with a big name brand that has a support base and easily aquired replacement and add on parts. I do not see a need to weld aluminum (yet) as long as I can learn to tig thin gauge steel (to keep furniture weight down).

Thanks.
 
Stick was my first welding
You find MIG is best one to use for most work including AL

Happy Welding
Dave
 
Note A simple Mig welder is best for your first welder.
My first was not

Dave
 
1. Think about Duty Cycle! Waiting for a machine to cool is annoying.
2. Check the gauge of copper from your panel to the machine. Make sure she will power what you are purchasing or plan to upgrade the run.
3. I won't go on about safety precautions in this thread.
4. Finding a reliable machine which can be locally serviced and supported by your LWS is huge!

Daryl
MN
 
I had a Stick welder for over 20 years before I got a MIG. I found, the MIG, was much easier learn how to produce good welds. Stick is good if you are welding outdoors on heavier steel. If you go for MIG get a good one as quality matters with these machines.
 
Both Uglydor and Eddyde have good points
The other way is to size the welder for power this saves money upgrading power supply
Most welders take 110v 20A, 220/240V 20A, 220/240V 30A and 220/240V 50A
If dryer's plug all most all are 220/240V 30A This will work great for most welding

The MIG, was much easier learn how to produce good welds. Note most simple welders have plaque in side that give all setting need

Dave

Uglydog said:
1. Think about Duty Cycle! Waiting for a machine to cool is annoying.
2. Check the gauge of copper from your panel to the machine. Make sure she will power what you are purchasing or plan to upgrade the run.
3. I won't go on about safety precautions in this thread.
4. Finding a reliable machine which can be locally serviced and supported by your LWS is huge!

Daryl
MN
Click to expand...

Eddyde said:
I had a Stick welder for over 20 years before I got a MIG. I found, the MIG, was much easier learn how to produce good welds. Stick is good if you are welding outdoors on heavier steel. If you go for MIG get a good one as quality matters with these machines.
Click to expand...
 
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Mzvarner, I have had the Power mig 210 for about 6 months, and am very happy with it. A novice can simply tell it what you are doing (metal thickness, electrode size, select mig, tig, or stick), and the welder will determine the settings. However,A more experienced welder, can change the computer settings to whatever he wants. For mig or stick, you get everything you need, except the gas bottle (for mig), but be warned, if you want to do tig, it will cost 350-500 more fore needed tig accesories, and even then, you can’t weld aluminum as it has no AC setting. On the plus side, if you've never stick welded with a DC stick welder, you will be surprized how much easier it is to weld thin stuff on low amps, and still strike and hold a steady arc. In summary, IMHO, this is a great machine for mig, and stick. When I decide to get into tig, I will look at tig only machines,as I will be wanting it mostly for aluminum. Hope this helps, JR49
 
For MIG I have a Millermatic 211 , they are a good all around machine for up to about 1/4" material. It can do thin gauge stuff but I use the TIG for anything very thin or requiring fine control . MIG is not too bad learning but TIG is kind of like learning a musical instrument, there is a learning curve for the hand coordination...Takes about a year to get get going with that . Go on youtube and check out weldingtipsandtricks , Jody Collier is a very good teacher and lays things out in plain English. Good luck man !
 
I bought a Hobart (Miller) 140 MIG for minor repairs and hobby stuff because it was 110V. In retrospect, I wish I would have bought the 180/220v (same size) because the little 140 can only weld 1/8" - 3/16" steel efficiently. I also bought a small Hypertherm 380 (110v) plasma and it will cut 1/4" easily.

My plan was to practice on these and buy a larger/real machine when I retire and have a larger shop. I've decided that I need a welder that will handle 1/4" efficiently, like the Miller 211.
 
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