I am learning how to weld and I have an arc welder and an old wire feed welder to use, the arc welder is alot nicer/newer than the wire feed but is there a preference between the two on which one to use? What kind of welder do you use and why?
It depends on what the welders are, what you are welding, and your preference. I learned how to do both as well as oxy acetylene welding in high school. Wire feed is really good for awkward places and thin stuff like body work. Generally I use my 110V mig for general stuff like welding nuts and sheet metal repair. The big advantage to arc welders is they are powerful and simple. If your wire feed is 220V then having an arc welder is not completely necessary, its plenty strong for most tasks. Personally I would recommend learning on torches or the arc welder because frankly they take more skill and make you appreciate wire feed, and you have a better idea what is happening.
The first thing I will be welding is going to be on the axles. I am going back to SUA and the perches for the Ubolts are on the bottom of the axle and need to be put back on top, and also re-weld the shock mounts because the PO hacked them on there.
wire welding is the hardest for me, I rather arc weld. Bought me a tig welder this year and that is simple, within five minutes turning out rolls of dimes. I use the tig welder more than anything now
I started with an Arc welder then moved on to the MIG. I currently have a Lincoln Tombstone 220V Arc welder and a Miller 185 220v Mig. Gotta admit, I havent used the arc welder in a few years now as I much prefer working with the MIG. I find it easier and I get nicer welds out of it. Only use the arc if i run out of MIG gas and need something welded then and there
i have a TIG welder as well. i have been using a TIG machine for the past 4 years at work. thats why i bought one for home. i would rather TIG weld everything.
Go down to your local welding shop and ask them for their scrap and then just weld it all together for practice. I made a lot of what looked like modern art before I welded anything that I wanted to stay together.
I like the idea of this....It looks like most people are TIG welding....Thanks for all the input from everyone, thought theres no better group of people to ask!!
its not the mig vs tig deal. migs are cheaper to buy and most people think they are cool compared to other type of welding. so more people are buying the home depot migs with no welding experience at all. a low budget tig is still double in price of a mig
I learned on a 1930's stick welder and gradually moved up to my 220v lincoln wire feed welder, welding is a great way to learn how to fabricate...
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