Welding Equip Recommendation

Tig is the best. Can do it all. Aluminum to titanium. A used one worth anything starts at 1k.
Arc's days are close to an end with cheap Migs available.
I am not a big Mig fan but bang for the buck is the way to go.
There are resellers of used equipment that can offer like new machines for half price. They can also direct you do which one works best for your needs.
Buy a GOOD one , use it forever, and get your money back when you sell.

110v is next to worthless.

 

I have a different viewpoint than this gent, FWIW.

Tig is great - FOR FINISH WORK or for aluminum, neither of which this guy says he wants to do. The cons of Tig are its expensive for equipment, gas, materials, its slow, its very difficult to get good results, and is all around a higher-end system than Mig or arc. And good luck welding upside down with Tig. Wear leather pants and don't weld above the family jewels

110V is not worthless at all, 220V is better because you draw less amps for the same wattage, but on a solid 20-amp circuit, a 110V Mig can perform admirably.


Philip, when I read what you wrote, one word popped into my head immediately "MIG". For what you want to do, Mig is cheaper, faster, will produce better results, and is much easier for a new welder to learn. Mig is the workhorse of welding. I would look at Lincoln and Miller, they both make good machines. For under $500 you can get a pretty sweet Mig setup. Also the gas is less hard to deal with (in terms of finding suppliers willing to refill your bottles without a service contract) as compared to Tig.

The only time I would ever suggest Tig over Mig is if you are doing finish work where looks are extremely important and the weld cannot be finished (ground and painted over later), or if you are working on very thin materials, or exotic materials like magnesium, titanium or even aluminum. Tig is great for all that, but far inferior to Mig as a general workhorse for around-the-shop-around-the-farm welding tasks.

 

For general purpose welding you can't beat a MIG. I bought mine and within minutes I was welding. Miller and Lincon have website that tell you everything. TIG you'll need to take a class IMHO.

 

I have two questions. Background is that I now live rural, and could use the ability to weld from time to time. I have almost zero skills (I've brazed, I'm skilled at silver soldering jewelry, and I have used a Mig welder twice). The clear answer is to get someone who knows welding well to do the work, but that isn't easy to source.

1) There are now combination machines that do stick, unshielded MIG (flux core wire), MIG, and in some cases add TIG. The machines aren't all the cost--there is the PPE (helmets, respirator, jacket, gloves). As said above TIG is a harder to learn skill, so I think I'd be fine with a machine that didn't do that. Is anyone currently using a combo machine that they like?

2) Cheaper laser welders are becoming a thing. They have material thickness limitations, and have their own safety considerations (as well as some in common with MIG), but they are apparently easier for a beginner to use. Anyone using one?

 

What is it you're trying to do or think you will need to do? If it's just random steel I would vote for mig but if you're so rural that shielding gas is a pain to get then just get a basic/old stick welder.

 

Simple stuff. Tack welding nuts to bolts, fabricating brackets that will not carry a significant load, welding reinforcing plates to square tube steel, etc.