Why there is no love for stick welders?

[umnik]

I just curious, why there is no love for stick welders?
I used once a stick welder to fabricate motor frame for my drill press. I do not have one, but borrowed from my friend tiny cheapest Harbor Freigh inverter welder and it worked fine for my purposes. I liked what it did except it does not have enough power. I thought to buy one for myself, but more powerful for some quick jobs. Interesting, when I read forums and watch YouTube I see that almost everybody uses MIG or TIG, why not stick?

 

[Twirpunky]

Lots of smoke and slag with stick. Slow compared to MIG. Tig is really clean but slow. Not much smoke with either TIG or MIG. Stick is fine for lots of work if you are good with it. MIG is easier to learn for the beginner.

D

 

[Winegrower]

Umm...it's too hard?

 

[Cobra]

MIG is certainly easier for the beginner. Still requires skill and practice to produce consistently good welds.
TIG is wonderfully clean but serious learning curve.

 

[Karl_T]

Nobody else must fabricate large equipment. You can't beat a stick working on large old farm machinery

TIG is way too slow. MIG just won't have deep enough weld penetration

Every weld process has its strengths

 

[Cadillac]

Easy of use/laziness. I myself bought a Lincoln mig when I first started welding 25 yrs ago. It was easy I learned and then evolved into stick welding. My work had stick welders for on-site welding and repairs. You don’t need gas, you don’t have to worry about wind factor. Other than post cleaning and looks it’s a great tool to have.
Then I got me a tig welder. I found tig to be much like stick. Minus having to be so clean.
Honestly I feel the best way to learn welding is to start with stick. Get the feel of it understand what’s going on. Then mig will be a breeze and tig won’t be such a learning curve.
Each process has its benefits. Stick for structural,heavy welding. Mig for better aesthetics and endless wire to burn in. Tig for high strength, finish work and precision welding.

 

[umnik]

Thanks guys, got the idea. I will stay with stick then for occasional usage. I do not like the idea buying gas tank and refilling it, sounds like a hassle to me. With stick just get a welder, a mask and buch of electrodes. Little bit post cleaning do not bother me.

 

[Aaron_W]

MIG and TIG are better suited to hobbyists and the small work they do, and hobbyists or material aimed at hobbyists is mostly what you see on forums and youtube. Stick is messier, and harder than MIG to get a good weld.

By messier, it is not just clean up, but spatter, hot slag and fumes. MIG can be done with a much smaller dedicated work area, and TIG smaller yet because they don't throw much hot stuff around, and have far less toxic fumes / smoke.

If stick works for you, great. Generally less prep and it is a lot cheaper to get started with. You can pick up a good AC/DC stick welder used for a few hundred dollars, an AC only sometimes for $50-100. A new name brand, good quality stick welder is well under $1000. Something like a Lincoln "tombstone" or Miller Thunderbolt retail around $600-700, where a similar quality 240 volt MIG welder from these brands is typically $1100+.

You do need to add the expense of a small rod oven or 3 depending on how serious you get and what materials you are working with. Many rods should not be left out at room temperature, in natural humidity, and not all are compatible to share an oven. Rod ovens are not all that expensive though, and not all rods require one.

 

[NortonDommi]

I have Oxy/Acet, MIG, TIG & 2 ARC. I end up grabbing the little site welder often as it is portable, does the job and with a stitch welder works great on panel steel, using a Carbon rod holder can Braze as well. Horses for courses. Sometimes hard to beat stick for certain jobs especially as you can cut steel and with the right rod weld about anything., heat

 

[umnik]

Yes, smoke and spatteris not good, but I usually open my garage door and do welding outside on my driveway. I am not going to it daily, but for occasional welding works for me.
I thought on spending $200-$300 for some inverter stick welder, do not know what more expensive one could give me. Planing to use it on steel and do not need heavy duty circle.