Stick Welding (SMAW) Advice Needed

[triggerhappy243]

WOW.............. 100 posts in just a few days. And lots of good recommendations too. I can attest, that any mig welding, the steel needs to be rust and dust free. Welding rusty steel? 6011 a/c rod. I have a lincoln A/C 225 crackerbox, and recently purchased HF titanium 140 mig welder. Still learning with the mig. It has it's bennies as well as limitations. In my opinion, If you are a new welder with little to no personal welding experience, learn how to stick weld first. Welding rod is cheaper than welding wire. I have 2 trailer builds I need to do starting after the spring thaw. And I will be using my stick welder for all the structural welds.

[Winger Ed.]

died a terrible death of lung cancer supposedly caused by his daily use of a plasma cutter cutting up aluminum sheets with no breathing protection.

I never tested the system, but I've heard welding and torching on Galvanized ain't much better for ya.

[john.k]

Where I was they used to arc spray zinc with 400A torches......the air was always blue with fumes ........boss says no need to wear a mask,just drink lots of milk.......But that had nothing on the dust from the collectors.....it was so fine ,it would simply run through four thicknesses of overalls like some kind of solvent ,and stain your skin black...(probably shouldnt say that.)

[oger]

The Zinc in Galvanize will flat make you sick like a real bad flu. We had to be real careful working with it. Plasma cutters can get in trouble real fast I was required to wear breathing equipment with a lot alloys using a plasma cutter.

[john.k]

I used to cut up steel stands with zinc paint 1/2 " thick on them......the zinc balls up and small flaming comets of zinc fly off and burn you......then I had to burn back the zinc enough to weld the stands into new configurations for the latest job at the refinery......like blasting and painting the huge shields that hold 747 tires to keep ships clear of the wharves.

[dverna]

Just a few thoughts about what welder you may actually "need".

I'm a home hobby shop "handy-man" who repairs and fabricates a lot of things in wood and metal. I'm not a professional repair shop or welder; don't want to be and never will be.

About 15 years ago I finally decided to get a modest welder and, for several reasons, including ease of use, I knew it should be MIG. I knew I'd rarely need to weld anything thicker than 1/4". I also wanted to be able to easily use my smallish welder on aluminum (with gas) and do it all in places where 220 VAC would not always be available. With all that in mind I chose the biggest 110 VAC Lincoln carried by H'Depot and have never looked back.

For the two occasions I have actually needed heavier welds than my machine could handle I first wire brushed rust off the surrounding steel joints. Then I tacked the parts together the way I wanted them and took the prepared assembly to a pro welding shop where, for a very modest price, they stick welded my thick parts perfectly.

This has been a great thread with a lot of good input.

The reason I quoted this one post is the word "need". It is good advice. Do you buy a machine that will cover 100% of what may come up, 98%, or 95%? As in most cases, it gets a lot more expensive to cover more and more bases.

If "one size fits all" we would not have dozens of reloading presses to choose from. Welders are much the same with the added complexity that you are not doing one task. Different metals, clean or painted or rusted, thick or thin etc etc.

I am looking at getting a welder so this thread has helped me a lot. At 72, I am not looking at making this a career or a part time job. I need to be able to build some simple stuff and do repairs. Also not interested in spending a year to learn to weld. Looks like MIG is the way to go for me.

Looking at this little "toy"

https://www.amazon.com/MIG-130A-Volt...s%2C135&sr=1-4

Reviews say they have done up to 1/4" thick and that should meet 98% of my needs.

[country gent]

A lot of getting good welds is in the metal prep and fitting, When to clean how deep and wide a vee to grind ( some welders prefer a u shaped groove also) how many passes, Clamping and holding is another thing that takes some planning

[Armorer77]

I have a small 220V MIG , rated for 1/4" , you can exceed that limit a lot by pre heating your metal . Ed

[Winger Ed.]

Reviews say they have done up to 1/4" thick and that should meet 98% of my needs.

It's a toy about as much as a gun is.

It'll do 1/4 inch, or maybe thicker, however; when it's turned up high enough to do it, it'll probably have a 10% duty cycle.
That means you can run it 1 minute, then let it cool down for nine.

Another thing with the 'Brand X' stuff is parts and consumables can be hard to find. (tips, nozzles, gun triggers, cable liners, etc.)
Something else to check on is how, or where you can get it worked on.

[Three44s]

It’s gotta be the “cool” factor with these little MIG welders that sells them.

I have two baby MiGs, two big ones, several stick welders including the portables. 90%of the time I chose stick!

Three44s

[justindad]

For all the folks leaning toward MIG, my dad was a top Tinsmith at GM, and he was surprisingly impressed with this unit my brother purchased:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CP9CDVQ...p_mob_ap_share

[justindad]

I am indebted to all the excellent advice on here. My days of OA welding are grabbing my emotional processing center and I am learning towards stick welding. I’m sure a set of torches are in my future, as soon as my little ones can behave around the tanks.

[farmbif]

that 130 amp welder on amazon has 60% duty cycle at 130 amps(full power) must be the new technology that allows that. it will get you started and on your way joining metals.. I didn't learn mig in school only stick and tig and when I bought my first mig machine it took only minutes to get great welds and I was hooked.
one thing about stick and flux core is you can get into tighter spaces than a mig gun with copper gas shield covering the contact tip.
ac buzz boxes are inexpensive and 6011 or 6013 rods are probably a lot less expensive per pound than spools of flux cored wire. and you dont have to buy contact tips and keep them on hand.

[john.k]

The inverter welders are magic,and cheap too.......best thing about them is they dont mind extension cords........some 25 years ago ,the crowd I was working for bought an early inverter ,an Esseti.....cost over $2000,and would need a $400 repair every six months.....but still magic......you could weld building frames while on a ladder,holding the welder in one hand and welding with the other..............back in the day,inverters wouldnt work off small generators,and wouldnt work where there was big phase shift in the power........in this instance Tyco ,where they spiral welded 3/4 steel pipe in one pass with over 3000amps.