Made a living [many years ago] as a 'welder'. Mostly mild and stainless using a 'short arc'. Also a lot of aluminum welding using Heli-Arc and MIG [commonly termed SIGMA when set up for wire welding aluminum]. ALL of the machines you will even think about buying are not a MIG. [The short arc is able to 'pulse' rather a constant 'spray' of molten metal off the wire. There is no way, for instance, 18 ga. or even 14 ga. metal could be welded by the 'spray arc' MIG. That is why the your wire feed welder 'buzzes' when welding. Ya...I know...Harbor Freight and all others call them a 'MIG' but they technically are not. As an aside to all that I'd buy a welder with drive rolls and tip and etc. that are for what's commonly known as twenty thousands diameter wire. The next common size is thirty thousands and, while doable, it's a struggle to weld thinner sheet metal. But thirty thousands is a lot better for stuff near 1/4". Sooooooo, what I'd do if I were starting out I'd buy a cheap machine [120 V.] that will run the thinner weld wire. THEN [if I did not have a little bigger budget] I'd pick up a regular old AC [alternating current] 'cracker box' arc welder [220 V.] and some 3/32 and 1/16th and 1/8th arc rod. Foolishly, lots of folks think arc is obsolete and the wire feed will do everything "better" and sell them cheap. At that point you can easily weld up thinner stuff and [with only a little practice] can handle a arc rod on really heavy stuff. The best of both worlds. I own a higher end short arc TIG welder. HOWEVER, also owning a D.C. arc welder allows me use brass rod and "Nirod" on cast iron, aluminum arc rod on aluminum, and stainless rod on stainless steel.. Only DC can do that. The problem is that it's hard to find a cheap used 220 V. single phase DC arc welder. I finally found one for $50 at a yard sale!
Which welder to buy, for a beginner ?
- Thread starter RobertC
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Look up DCEN and DCEP. When using a spool gun on your MIG welder for example, you are welding with DC. (DCEP) Edit: I only know about this because I googled it, then discovered I'd actually done it with a spool gun with my Lincoln 140. 
My results were dismal. I am getting my new Primeweld TIG machine tomorrow. No expert here!
My results were dismal. I am getting my new Primeweld TIG machine tomorrow. No expert here!
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Look up DCEN and DCEP. When using a spool gun on your MIG welder for example, you are welding with DC. (DCEP) Edit: I only know about this because I googled it, then discovered I'd actually done it with a spool gun with my Lincoln 140. My results were dismal. I am getting my new Primeweld TIG machine tomorrow. No expert here!
My results were dismal. I am getting my new Primeweld TIG machine tomorrow. No expert here!
My TIG machine welds aluminum on A/C, steel on D/C.
Yeah, I used the spool gun and I think I had to swap polarity as well. Can't remember. Only remember how much it sucked. I get my TIG tomorrow. I am excited to learn how to use it. I've needed it for a long time, and hopefully I can move on to the next level of my garage puttering. My TIG also does AC, DC, Pulse. What machine do you have?
That's great! TIG welding is an exciting and valuable skill to learn.
I have a water- cooled HTP Invertig 225DV running on 220v.
It has a lot of features for the price. I have the older version but it is a solid machine.
it has a lot of features for welding aluminum, which i was doing a lot of when i bought it.
https://usaweld.com/collections/htp...ig-221-ac-dc-single-voltage-220v-water-cooled
Also ditched the foot pedal for a TIG Button because i was having to weld on a ladder.
Ladders + foot pedal = pain in the butt.
Primeweld inverters seem like a great machine and for short money too.
Not sure if you have a tungsten sharpener or not, but any beginner TIG welder will end up needing to grind the tungsten until they get used to how close the electrode should be from the puddle. All part of the learning curve.
I have a water- cooled HTP Invertig 225DV running on 220v.
It has a lot of features for the price. I have the older version but it is a solid machine.
it has a lot of features for welding aluminum, which i was doing a lot of when i bought it.
https://usaweld.com/collections/htp...ig-221-ac-dc-single-voltage-220v-water-cooled
Also ditched the foot pedal for a TIG Button because i was having to weld on a ladder.
Ladders + foot pedal = pain in the butt.
Primeweld inverters seem like a great machine and for short money too.
Not sure if you have a tungsten sharpener or not, but any beginner TIG welder will end up needing to grind the tungsten until they get used to how close the electrode should be from the puddle. All part of the learning curve.
I just purchased a Yeswelder 205DS pro and it is an excellent welder. I only used it as a fluxcore welder so far but it has full MIG gas capabilities as well as Aluminum welding capabilities with the Aluminum spoolgun attachment and drop TIG as well. I bought it on Black Friday on Amazon.com
Wow, that is quite a machine! I hope I don't need a cooler. I'll know if it gets too hot I guess. I already bought some extra tungten and a pricey wheel for my 6" grinder- as I anticipated needing to do a lot of grinding at first. Also bought some filler to practice with, and the 300 LB HF cart- which I was impressed with.
My first TIG machine was not water cooled. On small jobs with short runs it did just fine. On longer runs on big jobs, the torch would get hot enough to almost burn my hand with gloves on. I eventually burned up that torch but it took about a year.
Think of it kind of like a duty cycle- when the torch gets hot, you'll need to stop and let it cool off.
Water cooler means you don't have to stop and let the torch cool because it never gets hot. Great for big jobs.
You seem smarter than me, i bet you'll stop when the torch gets too hot, and your torch will last a long time.
Think of it kind of like a duty cycle- when the torch gets hot, you'll need to stop and let it cool off.
Water cooler means you don't have to stop and let the torch cool because it never gets hot. Great for big jobs.
You seem smarter than me, i bet you'll stop when the torch gets too hot, and your torch will last a long time.
Think Meineke, Midas muffler shops, driveshaft humps and custom dual exhaust systems. those huge pipes had to be welded together and we had to get our heads up into those areas without helmets and we also had to learn to start the engine, raise the car, reach around the recently welded pipes to check for leaks, weld and touch again for exhaust leaks... yeah, we had asbestos fingers.
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Here's a pic of the last two NIRODS I have left [so called because it has a lot of nickel in it for cast iron welding] and a package of aluminum rods for arc welding aluminum. Both should be used an a DC set-up. Heavy aluminum castings can be rapidly repaired with a alum rod. Heli-arc often takes so much time to get the welding done that the whole transmisson case or engine block is very hot and can cause problems...best to use the rod on heavy stuff like an 'ear broke off an aluminum trans case. By the way. As a wire feed welder as used on steel makes a very bright light [when arc welding with a rod the weld is basically smothered in liquid 'flux' and is not so bright]. Your weld puddle with a wire feed is very bright in comparison. Position yourself when using a wire feed so that the weld 'cup' is positioned so that it is covering most or all of your view of that very bright weld puddle. A slight tipping of the cup or moving your head will allow you to see 'where you are going' when necessary. Watching the direct arc off the tip will make it more difficult to see what is happening especially when two pieces are tightly but together for 'butt' welding. Ya. I talk up arc welding because I feel it has some superior characteristics and is really not that hard to learn to use. The problem is that when using an arc rod the weld is totally covered with solidifying hard flux. You really don't know what it really looks like until the flux is chopped off! You have to learn what the actual weld probably look like under the covering. But it is a LOT cheaper to use that buying gas and wire. If I were to make a bike trailer, for instance, I'd tack it together with the wire feed [quicker and easier] and then use an arc rod to do the really large amount of final welding. I'm always on the look out for FREE arc rod...people give it away nowadays.
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I gotta agree with you! Flux core has the same problem [that requires more practice to master] as with an arc rod! The molten weld material is, in large measure, 'hid' by the melted flux on top of it. The form of the weld is harder [a lot harder] to judge than when using gas. With the gas set-up "What you see is what you get". At least the arc rod has the flux on the OUTSIDE of the rod. Thereby not really interfering with the electric arc between the tip of the steel rod and the 'parent metal' Not so with the flux inside the wire. I believe that is ONE of the reasons that flux core welding causes so much 'spatter' [and misshapen weld beads]. The gas 'bottle' and regulator and etc. runs up the cost....but I"m with "Z".......live off "Top Raman" for an extra month or so & save up the additional loot to get a gas set-up. I'd also see to it that I had 'feed rolls' and tips to use both .030 and .020 wire! Then you'll be happy. Really thin sheet 'likes' the thin wire. And bigger wire for, say, 10 gauge and heavier stuff. You'll never need anything more, but maybe, when you run across one for short money, an Arc Welder.