Stick vs. MIG/TIG for hobby project

Hi!

I am in the need to do some welding for a hobby project. All i have to weld is "a couple" of 1.5"x1.5" A-500 steel tubes (i am building a space-frame for CNC router).

A "long" time ago, in college, i took a Stick welding course and i recall being quite good at it. Now that i need to weld again, i would like to get some advice on what technique to use.

Unfortunately i don't currently own a wleding device so i will need to either rent or purchase one. I am kind of biassed towards Stick since i have done that before but i don't have 220V in my shop (only 110).

so here are some questions:

do 110V Stick welders actually work reasonably well for a small,

1-time hobby project? if yes, any suggestions on make and model?

how hard is it to learn MIG/TIG if someone has done Stick before? any suggestions on devices there?

any help is welcome. thanks a lot in advance.

Rene

My first welding rig was a small, 110V stick welder. Its a Shumacker Mighty Mite and it works great for sheetmetal and thin stock. You didn't state how thick your 1.5 x 1.5 tubing is, so I don't know if this will work. However, I have welded up to 1/4" flat bar with the Mighty Mite using the smallest diameter rod at Home Depot and the highest current setting (70 Amps).

Stick is cheaper, by far, but a little more difficult to do well. MIG is cake, once the current, voltage, and wire feed settings are correct. For a beginner, these settings are the hardest to learn. Sometimes, it just takes trial and error to find the correct settings. TIG takes expensive equipment and a certain degree of skill, but I can't say for certain since I've only tried TIG once at a buddy's shop.

I recommend picking up a cheap 110V stick welder. I bought mine for $85 on Ebay and a pack of 20 rods is less than $10. Also, make sure you plug that little puppy into a receptacle running to a 20 Amp breaker at least. 30 would be better. Anything less, and you'd trip it everytime your welding rod stuck to the workpiece.