Mini gloat

I've used that exact box and it was a joy to use. You'll love it!

Hey thanks Tom, that's good to hear! I'm looking forward to welding with it to see how it compares with my Miller.

Jon

You are a good man, and totally deserving. We're all happy for you. (Oh, and by the way, I've got a project for you..... cousin Jon...... )

Christopher A. Young Learn more about Jesus

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Jon

This is a very nice little stick welder.

For $25 you did good!

Just remember thats an AC buzzbox so your rod choices are (slightly) smaller..but still will do just about anything you want it to do..including welding aluminum.

Gunner

"The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination." --Voltaire

Stick is still my favorite, and I have both TIG and MIG welders in my warehouse.

As a non-welder who is thinking about learning, I am interested in why you say that.

So one assumes you dont weld a lot of truck hitches and dozer blade repairs then?

Gunner

Number one is, I like the smell, number two is, I feel connected to the process. Most things that I do, do not warrant TIG process.

Probably not eady to get a dozer blade into his basement shop.

i

I don't do a lot of welding, but having tried good and cheap stick, cheap and good MIG, and both cheap and good TIG, I much prefer TIG of the 6. For most things. I wish my little HFT TIG had a pedal-start HF section. Scratch-start sucks.

Hey, a D-9 goes where it wants, buddy. Basement? Not a prob.

Then he doesnt do a lot of big rusty metal welding then, one assumes?

Ive got Stick, tig and Mig. My stick machines will burn up to 3/8" diameter rod. And I use em several times a year.

My MIG machines wil run 300 amps and I use .045 wire with great regularity on 1/2"+ plate with Co2 as shield gas. I also weld Aluminum up to 1/2" at 300+ amps with Argon only. Both may require a couple passes when one gets up to 1/2" or bigger

My TIG will go up to 325 amps..and I seldom ever weld anything over

5/16" because there simply isnt enough machine for it..and rusty metal? Forget it. Aluminum? I CAN fillet weld 1/2" material using argon/helium and 1/8" filler. Ive welded steel using the same argon helium mix...but both aluminum and steel take so many passes and so much rod...it gets exceptionally expensive to do. Hence...stick for the big stuff, MIG for the middle sized stuff and tig for the delicate stuff.

I DO use TIG for cast iron a fair amount however, after preheating with a nice big rosebud. Something Id rather not do in an enclosed space, particularly here in the summer.

I did put a nice old Lincoln smog removal machine out in the alley a couple weeks ago. Worked fine, couldnt find anyone to pay me a few bucks for it. So the scrappers got it. Shrug. They work very nicely in basements when working with stick and flux core Mig

Gunner

As someone who has welds quite a bit myself and who has access to all the above the simple answer is that stick can do some things better and easier than the other two.

For a first time welder the best thing is to look at what you will be doing and where you will be doing it. Welding busted machinery out in a field? Stick Welding decorative metal jewelry? TIG. General shop use on thinner steel with the occasional 3/8" run? MIG.

MIG and TIG both use shielding gases, Take them out in the open with any sort of breeze and it gets interesting. No problem with stick (OR shield core wire in a converted MIG)

My personal preference is my small MIG. It is light enough that you can move it easily, can be run from a larger generator, I have both MIG and shield core for it and it will weld from 22 gauge up to 3/8" with a simple wire change. I have a spool gun for it to do aluminum and stainless.

I thought that the MIG was for spare tire mounts :-)

Only if done with a Harbor Freight 50 amp mig machine because its too hard to back the trailer into the back yard, within 50 feet of the real welding machines.

Blush!!

Gunner