MIG welding

amakarevic

i saw a dude at HD the other day buying a stick welder and asked him about my project. he told me that a MIG welder is too small for building a deck and a stairwell. what gives ?

McGaw

I don't see anything wrong with buying/ using a mig, make sure all the settings are fairly low, and go slow.

Ron6519

These projects you're planning require more then a novices' experience in welding. These are structural elements, that if they fail, will get people seriously injured.
I would suggest taking some welding classes and/or find someone who can oversee the quality of the work you're doing.
Ron

McGaw

That's why we have inspectors.

Ron6519

Probably the biggest laugh of the day, thanks.(insert one of those happy faces, here)
Ron

comp

nap

that guy had no idea as to what he was talking about. You can get a very small MIG welder just the same as you can get a very small stick welder. Conversely, you can buy either one that will weld as thick of steel as you want. I have welded 1 inch thick steel with a MIG welder. When that welder was set on the upper end of its power level, it was difficult to weld anything as thin as 1/4 steel as it simply melted away as I was welding it.

Typically, a stick welder is going to be less expensive for a given power range ( determines the thickness of metal you can weld).

The thing is everybody believes a MIG is so great as a welder. The do have a purpose but truthfully, they are not as versatile as a stick for a typical user. They were designed for production welding, hence the spool of wire. They are very susceptible to air currents that blow away the shielding gas. You have to buy spools of wire and if purchasing specialty wire for a specific use, you may simply have to buy more than you need. It has to be stored to prevent rusting or it becomes a decent door stop. If it gets crap on it, it does not work in the welder very well as it jams up in the feed liner. If you do not use the welder for a while, you need to remove the wire and prep it and store it. Then, there are consumables like tips and nozzles that need to be replaced as they become worn out, which is pretty regular with the tips. Then there is the liner that the wire runs through as it is fed to the welding tip. It does wear out and needs to be replaced occasionally.

they are easier to learn to use though.

What welder you buy is highly dependent on what you are going to weld. At the moment, I have no welders but if I set up a shop, I would purchase a good stick welder and a TIG welder. With those two welders, I can weld just about anything. If I were to purchase only one welder and wanted a general use welder, I would go with a stick welder.

Kingfisher

I think one of the things that also matters is that an arc/stick welder will weld thicker steel in a single pass than a mig, so what make more passes. I use both when I work with any thing over 1/4", tack with the mig and finish with the arc. I could do it all with the mig though and make 4 passes to fill the joint right just more time

comp

whats the cost difference,,,sticks vs. spools ???

amakarevic

in terms of V and AMPS that i should be looking for ?

e.g. would this be adequate for me:

http://cgi.ebay.com/115V-135AMP-FLUX...QQcmdZViewItem

amakarevic

also, how bout this one ?

http://cgi.ebay.com/HOBART-HANDLER-1...QQcmdZViewItem

i noticed three main brands:

1. lincoln (cheap)
2. hobart (expensive)
3. millermatic (most expensive)

in this case, is it worth spending more $ (like i usually think it is with tools) ?

amakarevic

also, is there such a thing as a difference between AUTO and CONSTRUCTION welding machines, i.e. are some more suitable for one purpose than the other ?

Kingfisher

never realy priced sticks and rolls that way, use them for defferent things it is hard to weld thin stuff with a stick welder so all and all the mig is a better only have one tool. Sticks can weld then stuff but if you are never welding over 1/4" a mig is your best bet. Auto and construction may refer to the thickness you plan to weld, auto is much thinner material than any construction material.

scrapiron

Any of the brand name migs will serve you well. While I am a stick welder at heart I believe one of the greatest advances in welding in the past thirty years has been the introduction of these little 110 volt migs. I don't weld full time anymore but my truck still carries a little lincoln 110, a shield, and a 4 1/2 inch grinder for those little emergencies.