Stick or mig

[tr250]

I’ve always had a stick welder and consider myself a decent farm welder but certainly no professional. I’ve been given a little mig welder and am struggling to get to grips with it it’s only 160 amp but I was hoping this was enough for Gate fabrication while I practice and the plan was maybe upgrade to a decent 3phase one one day as I don’t do massive amounts. Anyway I’ve been and got my gas and a couple of new tips for the torch but think I’ve knackered both from holding it too close I’m now starting to get fed up of trying so I just accept that I go back to stick? Are the benefits worth while like buying gas and new tips and wire seems like a lot more cost

 

[davidroberts30]

I’ve always had a stick welder and consider myself a decent farm welder but certainly no professional. I’ve been given a little mig welder and am struggling to get to grips with it it’s only 160 amp but I was hoping this was enough for Gate fabrication while I practice and the plan was maybe upgrade to a decent 3phase one one day as I don’t do massive amounts. Anyway I’ve been and got my gas and a couple of new tips for the torch but think I’ve knackered both from holding it too close I’m now starting to get fed up of trying so I just accept that I go back to stick? Are the benefits worth while like buying gas and new tips and wire seems like a lot more cost

What welder is it?

 

[tr250]

What welder is it?

Sealy I think more of a hobby machine but hoped it would do while I get the feel of it but I’m struggling

 

[ACEngineering]

Sealy I think more of a hobby machine but hoped it would do while I get the feel of it but I’m struggling

small cheapo mig welders are the work of the devil! 160amp mig is useless for farms, its for small stuff 4mm thick probably its limit.

general farm use you need 300amp mig at least.

small migs are harder to learn with too, easier when you go big and get in to spray transfer

 

[tr250]

small cheapo mig welders are the work of the devil! 160amp mig is useless for farms, its for small stuff 4mm thick probably its limit.

general farm use you need 300amp mig at least.

small migs are harder to learn with too, easier when you go big and get in to spray transfer

Yes beginning to realise that. I only wanted to make a few gates to get a feel for it an using 50mm box 2.5mm thick I was hoping it would manage that

 

[Abacus]

It shod be ok for that make shore you have gas at the torch end when you press the trigger and the contact tip is the right size for the wire

 

[ACEngineering]

Yes beginning to realise that. I only wanted to make a few gates to get a feel for it an using 50mm box 2.5mm thick I was hoping it would manage that

they require a lot more maintenance and consumable parts to keep the working compared to a stick.

i still use stick most of the time IMO unless its a bigger job thats worth setting the mig up for.

 

[Barleycorn]

Hate mig welders, bloody glue guns, OK for welding sills on your old Cortina, but nothing will beat my old Oxford for strength and penetration.

 

[Kidds]

Yes beginning to realise that. I only wanted to make a few gates to get a feel for it an using 50mm box 2.5mm thick I was hoping it would manage that

Should easy manage that with that welder. A bit more practice needed I would think.
I personally find stick welding more forgiving than MIG, you need to be a bit more precise with wire speed, welding speed and amps. You also need to be able to see what you are doing and what is happening in the weldpool for better control/results.

 

[towbar]

Needs to be clean as well no millscale even

 

[Dukes Fit]

I don’t know what mig welders everyone here is using but mig welding is the kind of thing a chimp could learn to do.

I’ve always preferred stick welding to mig but realised recently that every time I go to weld something I automatically go to the mig first.

It’s faster, easier, less hassle and more precise.

Anybody who thinks a mig weld isn’t as strong as a stick weld is deluded.

As with stick welders, the little hobby sets with low duty cycle can be frustrating and probably don’t put out what they advertise.

Check what kind of gas you have as that makes a big difference. My preferred is ferromax

 

[Flatlander]

Not sure if it’s a common thing there but small hobby type wire welders here you can use flux core wire. MAG.i think it’s called. Anyhow For this type of wire the welders are changed inside from Ac to Dc I think. Don’t hang me out to dry if this isn’t the case but I can remember seeing it somewhere.

 

[Pistonbroke]

Not sure if it’s a common thing there but small hobby type wire welders here you can use flux core wire. MAG.i think it’s called. Anyhow For this type of wire the welders are changed inside from Ac to Dc I think. Don’t hang me out to dry if this isn’t the case but I can remember seeing it somewhere.

I think the change is the polarity so the earth lead is positive for gasless wire

 

[shumungus]

MIG is classed as semi skilled and MMA (stick) is classed as skilled. Keep at practicing with the MIG there are some good tutorials on YouTube. MIG/MAG is a king compared to stick in production welding like making gates, hurdles, general fabrication. 160 Amp will get you away on box section but duty cycle will be low as has been said 250-300 amp single or three phase will be able to tackle the majority of farm fabrication and guys welding structural day in day out will be using a 450-500 amp water cooled set up. A MIG is very very useful to have around and would be my go to machine most days unless welding on site, problem metals or specialist rods. MIG is more forgiving for multi positional welding too. Stick welding will always have its place but is becoming even less common now with more people using fluxcore instead of stick for site work. And for those of you that think MIG isn't as strong as stick have a wee look at these guys on youtube.
20 rolls of welding wire, 48 litres of water ,9bottles of gas step by step welding marathon - YouTube
Making a BIG Hydraulic Cylinder Rod & Eye | Part 2 - YouTube
Welding Volvo excavator big crack - YouTube
Both these men playing with big toys every day.

 

[Pennine Ploughing]

That welder should do what your wanting to do no bother,
It NEEDS to be clean, No rust, frag or anything, run the grinder over it with a flap wheel before you start, needs a good earth to the work your welding,
Needs the correct tip for the wire size your using, and a clean shroud for smooth gas flow, a damaged liner in the torch will hamper the smooth feed of the wire,
Wire feed speed and gas flow settings on the most important thing I find, but once you get the hang of it, its a doddle, and a good mask is best, an auto darkening with an adjustable light intensity, if you cannot see what your doing you will never weld correctly,
With a stick you drag the rod along the work, but a mig your better by pushing it wire into the work, keeping the weld pool in the middle but working on the sides,
4 main problems with mig welding is, dirty unprepared work, wire speed, not being able to see what your doing, and wind or breeze blowing the gas away and breaking the gas curtain around the welding,
As for penatration on the work, nothing wrong with a mig, and once you get the hang of it, you will use it more than a stick welder in workshop, for light work with a stick an inverter welder will weld better than your old Oxford oil cooled, due to it being a direct current, and smooths the amps at a lower settings and more control than an AC welder, plus the fact that they work off a 13 amp plug, light and easy for onsite work even up a ladder,
I know it could be embarrassing for anyone to post pictures of there welding on here, but pictures speak a thousand words, and good welders could advise you on were you have gone wrong,
Or go on YouTube for help

 

[GAM]

As an Engineer, I remember in the 70's when many steel building were deemed dangerous because of the poor Mig Welding! Unlike a stick weld, where you weld towards you, many unskilled welders let loose on a Mig were welding the same way, hence this reduced the amount of inert gas around the molten weld, you weld towards the gas flow and not away from it as still many do, all looks good until stressed! In the day we had to to do an annual Lloyds test to ensure Quality!

 

[cowmop]

The work needs to be spotless.
My wife uses .8mm wire in her 240 volt 200 amp machine.
You will need to be towards if not on the top settings.
Make sure you have enough but not too much gas flow (just wastes it)

 

[cowmop]

As a blacksmith welding every day she actually never uses the stick welder anymore.

 

[Classichay]

I’ve a 350 amp cemont 3 phase. Don’t let the detractors tell you otherwise, they’re good hence why they don’t stick weld in factories..... regularly weld on brackets on loaders and loading shovels in work via mig.

only downside is you can’t weld outside if there’s a breeze. But you can soon get a 60.00 Igbt inverter arc welder to do what you need. We’ve a 300amp murex too and that will even get into spray transfer on 1.2mm hard facing wire.

 

[Dukes Fit]

As an Engineer, I remember in the 70's when many steel building were deemed dangerous because of the poor Mig Welding! Unlike a stick weld, where you weld towards you, many unskilled welders let loose on a Mig were welding the same way, hence this reduced the amount of inert gas around the molten weld, you weld towards the gas flow and not away from it as still many do, all looks good until stressed! In the day we had to to do an annual Lloyds test to ensure Quality!

Not strictly true. You can weld in either direction with a mig. Although normal practice is to push forward you actually get deeper/better penetration pulling away from the weld the same as you would with a stick.