Beginner welder?

[penguinz]

Wanting to pick up a starter welder in order to learn welding.

Any recommendations for a good welder to start with?

[DJ's left nut]

A light duty flux welder should be sufficient for beginning purposes.

I mean ultimately a Cadillac makes learning easier - I've mostly messed around with a pretty nice MIG welder my buddy's dad bought to build a bridge. The ones that use shielding gas make things pretty simple for you but they're expensive as hell.

And there - now you know literally everything I know about welding. I've used a cheap little $150 flux welder and got some workable booger welds and a much nicer MIG welder that I could make beads that look nice with just a little grinder work. If you're good at it, you can make art with a stick welder if you want to, but ultimately it kinda comes down to what you wanna do and how much you wanna spend.

[lewdog]

A career change or looking to make metal lawn ornaments for fun?

[ptlyon]

I'd just have DJ do it for ya

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by lewdog

A career change or looking to make metal lawn ornaments for fun?

Just to do some work on the Jeep and future vehicles.

[ptlyon]

Was wondering if you wrecked something

[penguinz]

Originally Posted by ptlyon

Was wondering if you wrecked something

I need to do some body repair and also some modifications that I would prefer to weld in vs bolt in.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by ptlyon

I'd just have DJ do it for ya

"Make stacks of dimes. Push the puddle."

Thus endeth my lesson as it's really all I know. Little circles in a fairly steady pattern, as soon as you get a puddle start moving it along or you'll blow out the metal.

Welding isn't about knowing how to do it - it's about being able to do it. It's such a feel thing. Someone can explain it to you all day and it sounds like the easiest thing in the world.

It...uh...ain't.

I truly suck at it. There's sticking piece of metal A to piece of metal B, and then there's welding. The former gets you those sorts of booger welds I've done that are sometimes no more than flux acting as superglue. Those are bad. Don't do those on a car because you'll die. The latter is when you use the flux to act as a binder between the puddles of melted metal and now two pieces aren't stuck together - they've simply become a single piece.

Remember that flux isn't glue - it's a binding compound of sort. The idea is to get the two pieces of metal to almost literally join into a single piece.

[EPodolak]

I took a welding class many years ago...got pretty good toward the end. Never did master not catching my sleeve on fire though.

[Sassy Squatch]

Depends what you want to spend and how much versatility you want the welder to have. Pretty sure we ended up going with a Miller 141 because of the ease of use and had no problems.

[Sassy Squatch]

If you're needing to weld over 3/16ths inch thickness go up to the Miller 211.

[Lprechaun]

I have a little Hobart I use when I need to weld up something. On the 2nd setting I'm burning thru 3/16", I will have to look at the model. I got it in clearance from Grainger awhile back for under 250.
Welding is one of those things someone can teach you basics but you have to learn you and the machine.

[Boise_Chief]

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Lincoln-Ele...Welder/1072945

For auto and autobody this is the best cheap option. You can go up from here but this is 120v and you can go Flux core or use gas

[ModSocks]

Lincoln Electric is a great brand, as is Miller. Can't go wrong with either as both brands are pretty much industry standards.

We have a Lincoln Electric Plasma Cutter and Plasma Cutting Table in the shop. All of our MIG welders are Miller.

[LiveSteam]

I've been welding since before high-school.
Some things to know.
AC welders are alternating current and if its a stick welder?
Its much harder to get the welding rod to start welding. The rods will want to grab the metal and stick.
DC welders are direct current and much easier for a beginner to run beads.
MIG stands for Micro Inert Gas. The gas is the flux or shielding agent. And this would be a good style to learn on. Very easy to run dime beads with.
Flux core wire feed welders can have the same problem as AC stick welders. They can be hard to start and if you don't have the proper feed rate set. Plan on doing a lot of grinding.
Flux core is more a cattle fence fixing type of welder. And a very weak weld.
TIG is for aluminium. Tungsten Inert Gas welder.
And can be very tricky to. As it way easier to blow a hole in aluminium VS steel..

Last but definitely not least. Penitration is the name of the game when welding steel. Practice practice practice.

Edit. Gas welding can be very easy once you understand the flame and tip vs the project you're welding.
Silver soldier is a very strong gas weld. Just dont get things so hot you end up boil off the solder.
Brazing with brass rod is also very easy to pick up but no where near as strong as silver solder.
Brazing is good fix for a kids Huffy bike ect. But not for his 1st YZ80.