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I have a dc welder and I use that a lot and I like using gas most, a small tip and I can do thin stuff with quite a bit of control. it will burn nearby paint and if the weld is on the side of a car the heat will travel upwards and cause buckling but I like that type of welding best. I do more repairs of broken things than autobody type stuff. i do some braising or silver soldering like that too.
Mig and Tig are more common now. I've heard said mig looks better but the welds tend to be hard and can stress crack, Tig is usually done in spots stitched together. the tungsten electrodes are sensitive to contamination and so if they touch they stop and clean them on a dedicated grindstone.
some go buy really cheap welders and are disappointed, the wire feed welders can be decent, like Miller or Lincoln or garbage like you may find online from a discount tools place. I think it's easier to be successful with a good one.
at work I have a little miller stick welder. It is easy to control and at home I have an old AC welder and I won't use that on anything less than about 1/16" or it will burn holes pretty easy..
my favorite is a torch and a small tip ..then I can control the puddle. Its not fast but I like doing it that way. I can usually build or grind any shape I want.
I'm not an experienced welder. I had some training and then was self taught mostly. I work with some that are experts so if it's something critical I involve a journeyman class welder that has more experience, I dont even try aluminum myself.
the point about practicing on a similar metal scraps each time, before trying to weld something is an important tip.
I like playing pool too and I never do as well on the first game as I will after maybe 3 games.. It's something about muscle memory or confidence maybe..
Practice gives you more confidence and you can get your heat ranges , distance, speed etc fine tuned.
I think no matter how good you are, you will do better after a few minutes of practice. do it every day for a year , now you have developed a wealth of experience to reflect upon. find an expert to guide you occasionally and practice between then you will avoid making the same mistake for a year due to being poorly informed. Its a combination of practice as well as the understanding of some technical aspects. a certain amount is like riding a bicycle , you just remember how once you learn but to get so you can do much of anything takes a bit of practice and a few falls are par for the course. How do you know at what point you will blow through if you dont practice. It took breaking a few bolts to know when to say , tight enough with experience you will naturally look at things like the quality of the fastener and not even really think about it in a technical way but you will know where to stop. a person who has never stripped a bolt just wont have that sense yet. stripping a bolt can actually be a good learning experience but it isn't normally recognized during the event as much more than a rather embarrassing screw up. same with blowing a hole through a piece.
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