MIG o TIG for first welder?
 

I think its time I buy a welder. Doing a custom engine swap and other stuff around the garage and I think I should learn to weld so I can do it myself. Budget is probably around $300-1200 for the welder. I realize supplies will cost more. Thoughts?

Sub'd. It has been a life long goal of mine, to learn. I had some arc and oxy/acetylene in high school shop. But I want to learn how to TIG; those beautiful TIG welds you see on a custom bike frame or on headers. I know it takes years of practice, but...

TIG...all the way! Once you learn TIG, everything is gravey...it's all about torch angle and rhythm. Nothing will teach you that like TIG.

For easy welding MIG is the way to go. Lincoln or Miller.
It's good for just sticking things together.
AFAIK, it doesn't do stainless or the delicate/precise stuff but you can get the addon aluminum trigger assemblies for pulling wire.

I have a 110V Lincoln 135 and have welded cabinet hinges, brackets, shovels, exhaust pipe, patched body panels, etc, etc.
It's been a worthy investment which pays for itself.

Mig will be easier to learn and will do all you need to do unless you plan on welding stainless.
Get a 220v welder, all the 110s I've ever used didn't get good enough penetration for any structural work.

220 mig. Dont buy new. Find one on CL.

Mig to learn on. When you have mastered it buy a tig.

This.

MIG with gas shield, no flux core. 220V unless all you plan to do is sheet metal.

Have a 110 mig and enjoy fiddling with it. Great for unibody work on p-cars like front pan, etc.

If I had the time and $$ I'd buy a nice tig setup so I could do aluminum.

Agree go 220 if you go Mig....just can do so much more.

I have a 110v mig from eastwood does everything I need for resto work on cars. I just rent a big arc if I need to do anything heavyduty

I've got a Lincoln Pro Mig 175 220v w/ cart they I've been thinking of selling. Never used, brand new condition.
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take a class if you have time, my community college offered a welding class on weekends for hobbyist, very informative good practice and a good source for answers, plus you get to learn on someone else's equip (ours were all miller 252's good machines)

Get a Miller 140 and you are done.

220v Mig with gas. Should handle what you want to do.

Mine welds Stainless fine with different gas/wire. It's not as pretty as Tig, but it holds fine.

You can get a spool gun for welding aluminum, altho it's damn near impossible to get strong/good looking beads.

I bought second-hand MIG and TIG three years ago. I got Migatronic 3-phase 380V 100A MIG and Lincoln 3-phase 380V 180A DC TIG for 400$. They are rather overkill power-wise and weight a lot (transformer-models both).

So far, I have only used TIG "for real". Some day, maybe I will need to weld sheet metal, and MIG will come handy, but this far everything has been stainless or small details and TIG has been "the precision tool" that could melt stuff together rather well with good penetration.

That being said, I'm considering selling both MIG and TIG and getting myself a Chinese AC/DC inverter TIG. They are cheap, light, compact and as far as I heard, actually work fine. I just don't have space for 200kg welding equipment.

If I was to do it again, I would get inverter AC/DC TIG and call it a day. It does all and doesn't take the space old stuff does.

Another vote for 220v MIG w/ gas. I picked up a barely used Hobart 175 w/ tank, cart, helmet, and extras for under $500 on CL a couple of years back. Been a great little unit.

MIG w/argon gas for sure to start with. You should get an entry level 220V like Miller's 180 series that has auto-adjust for heat and speed; very helpful when starting out. It's heavy-duty enough to do most fab work and enough quality that it will last. They are under $1200 w/o accessories. Later you can ad the TIG.

Of course there are cheaper 'boxes' from big box stores but you really do get what you pay for. BTW - I much prefer the "blue" boxes over the "red" (Miller vs Lincoln)

Lastly, invest in a large window / auto darkening helmet. Good ones start @$160 and up. They pay for themselves quickly.

I'm in the same situation. I looked at night classes but they seemed to have all stopped doing welding except a tech school where I would have to pay $785 for 12 evenings. I thought "yes" then found out they won't be running one until next year grrr. A friend said buy a cheap MIG, use gasless wire, and just look at uTubes on how to do it. So, LOL, I'll wait and see what you do.

Start with Mig and see how it goes. If you need to do Alum & Stainless then you can commit your self to TIG. The small 220 Volt machines are the best starting point.


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