There are two basic kinds of wire. One that needs gas and the self fluxed wire that does not.
Gas does poorly in the wind.

 

Gas does poorly in the wind.

Stick also does poorly in the wind . I've seen many welders start at daybreak to get ahead of the wind for 2 or 3 hours then spool up to go to the shop the remainder of the day because of wind increase .

 

Here in east tenn no license is needed to buy oxygen or acetylene, I assume the same is true for argon.
I have an arc welder but I've never used a mig, I've been told by several that mig welding is a lot easier to do.

 

MIG would use CO2, Argon, or similar. No license needed in Ontario.

 

I am by no means an expert, but I learned to make serviceable welds by taking a welding class at a local technical college. It was a worthwhile investment of time and money.

Stick is good for thicker materials. Flux wire MIG is a bit more versatile. Neither are great for sheet metal work. You’ll need MIG w/ gas or a whole lot of patience for thin stuff. If you’re thinking materials other than mild steel, you’ll want to look into TIG.

As for the gases, MIG and TIG use inert gas…non combustible. Stick doesn’t use gas…it burns flux in the rod to shield the weld (as does flux wire MIG). I wouldn’t think a license is needed for inert gases. Oxygen or acetylene might be a different story and might depend on the size of the bottle. Regardless of flammability, be sure you know how to handle compressed gas safely.

 

We use a mixture of argon and CO2 for our Hobart 210mvp. Cheaper to fill and works just as good for our work. Watch out on tanks there are owner and leased tanks. We just had one of the big boys try to stamp our tank with their symbol, effectively meaning it was their tank, which it is not. Where I live there is no license for any of the compressed gasses.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I probably would take a college course for it - seems like the safe thing to do. I'm assuming that I can MIG weld high carbon steel (unhardened)?

 

Thanks for the input everyone. I think I probably would take a college course for it - seems like the safe thing to do.

Good idea.

I'm assuming that I can MIG weld high carbon steel (unhardened)?

It will weld, but the welding temperatures are going to heat treat and harden the weld area and make it brittle.

 

I use wire feed or mig for thin (1/8” or less) material and arc weld thicker metal, because that suits the abilities of my welders. Years ago a retired Kodak factory welder and welding teacher sold me his welder and torches and gave me a couple of hours of instruction doing each. He also gave me copies of instructional video tapes he developed for Kodak.Basic welding is not hard, you just need to have someone show you the right way to do it.

 

In my opinion, you should start with a small DC inverter type flux wire feed welder.
Wire welding is much easier to get the hang of than stick (arc).
And you can easily get started with little investment.
For home projects, I would suggest a 120 v (or dual voltage) machine.
It is rare that you need a 240V welder for any "amateur home welding" projects.

https://www.princessauto.com/en/125a-inverter-flux-cored-welder/product/PA0008785099

 

As SPS mentioned, the welded area can be weak. Often the weld does not break but the metal by the weld breaks. The heat of welding can stress the metal and leave it weaker than it was before welding. To be a proficient welder you need to know something about the properties of materials, not the easiest course in engineering school. You don’t need to be a materials engineer, but some basic knowledge will be beneficial. Practice helps. For example, over the years I have learned that 7014 welding rods work best for me for almost all welds.

 

I am actually an engineer - but only an Industrial Engineer. So I learned nothing about materials - but I have a bunch of friends that know this stuff

I was primarily asking because I have dreams of upgrading my super-mini forge to something big enough to handle some simple forge welding. And stacking up billets often works best if you weld them together and weld a handle on them first.

 

I have a cousin that is a great welder, He was telling me he has an old refrigerator in his shop. it doesn't work but he has a 100 watt bulb on all the time to keep the rods warm. He swears it is easier to weld with warm rods.

 

That keeps rods dry also , which may be just as important as warm or the dry only compared to atmospheric moisture depending on local conditions .

 

Most of the welders I've talked with have told me to not take a class until I get the equipment and play around with it on my own. That way, when I get into a shop with proper instruction, it will mean more and I'll learn faster. I still have not done it yet, but am reserving that for my retirement year - maybe.

 

MIG is affected the most by wind. The shielding gas is blown away and affects the weld.
Many welders will use flux core when it is windy or arc.
MIG is excellent for shop work, while TIG is the absolute best for smooth welding.
But a good weld is a good weld.

 

First time I used a small mig welder I tried welding a crack in a water tank. Took a couple tries to get started but once I got the hang of it I was doing great. the weld was nice and straight and even, looked like full penetration. then when I flipped up the lense, I noticed the weld went off at about a 5 degree angle from the crack. The helmet had such a dark lens all I could see was this little tiny light moving along. Getting a number or two lighter lense made a big difference.

 

I'm in Ontario and looking to do some amateur home welding (various projects).

Would I need a license of some sort to buy the gas? I am under the impression that you need a license to buy certain types of gases (for an oxy acetylene torch for example).

I've heard that MIG is the easiest to learn, but it seems like Stick may be easier to manage for a newbie who isn't using it very often.

Only the lethal ones. Sorry couldn't resist that one.