Re: Newbie here...

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (Line 6 Amp Man) wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mb-m06.aol.com:

I'm a newbie at welding...attending a 16 month course to get > experience and earn my AWS and ASME certification. > > I would like to buy a welder to use at home so I can practice on the > weekends...does anyone have any ideas? I'm not so sure in which way > to lean. > > I'll be learning how to use tig, mig, stick and a couple others (can't > remember them right now). > > Thanks and I'll be hanging around looking at the posts you guys make > :) > > -Ryan > >

Hello Ryan, For the machine your going to purchase for home use, are you looking for a machine that you can stick(SMAW), Tig, and Mig weld? Or are you asking about an economical good stick machine?

If SMAW, get yourself a Miller Thunderbolt 225. The AC only machine is about $300,(new) and if you can afford it, get the AC/DC Model which runs about $500.(new) You can find these in good used condition for much less. If you live near major cities, you can find them in your local paper and equipment trader papers in your area.(used machines)

Watch the wrap on the Urls

formatting link

Kruppt

Well, unless you have a rich uncle, it is unlikely you'll be able to buy a machine for each of those welding processes. So lets concentrate on the ones which require the greatest manual skills, and hence require the most practice. Those would be TIG and stick welding. Fortunately, one machine can accommodate both processes.

Since its main purpose will be to allow you to practice the manual skills needed to master the processes, it needn't be a big or powerful machine. Something like a Miller Maxstar 140, or even one of the cheap knockoffs sold by the likes of Harbor Freight, would be a good choice. They're small and fairly inexpensive. They'll also work off 110 volts, so you won't need special electrical supply arrangements to use them.

(Note the little Maxstar is a quite competent little machine, I'm not meaning to disparage it as merely a toy, just saying you don't need a monster machine to learn the manual skills required for the TIG and stick processes.)

Gary