Be careful here, once you are exposed to MIG welding, you will want to dump that antique and buy a MIG welder. MIG welding is sooo much easier and much more versatile than stick welding!
BTW, MIG was easier for me to learn than stick.
MIG is easier for everyone. If the machine is set right, it's like a hot glue gun for steel, it's that easy.
Well, NOT everyone (see post directly above yours)!! I agree with you, welding with a properly set-up MIG is extremely easy to do and will weld from sheetmetal to thicker stock (depending on the size of the machine) plus weld aluminum either with a spoolgun or special feed tube liner and feed rolls. Last I checked, you cannot do that with a SMAW (stick) welder.
Cheers
Steve
Welding aluminum can most certainly be done with a stick welder. About 15 years ago my Freightliner cracked an air-spring seat in the rear suspension. I took it to a local welder, he fired up his Lincoln and welded up the ALUMINUM seat no problem. Used aluminum rod, and used it quickly. I drove that truck another several years with no further troubles.
Well, NOT everyone (see post directly above yours)!! I agree with you, welding with a properly set-up MIG is extremely easy to do
Welding aluminum can most certainly be done with a stick welder. About 15 years ago my Freightliner cracked an air-spring seat in the rear suspension. I took it to a local welder, he fired up his Lincoln and welded up the ALUMINUM seat no problem. Used aluminum rod, and used it quickly. I drove that truck another several years with no further troubles.
I can only think of two cases in which MIG is harder, outside fighting the wind, or welding very dirty material (which at this point, you've abandoned hope of doing it right anyway). Outside of those two cases, when can MIG be harder?
If it's the right kind of wire and gas for the application, the gas flow, wire feed, and heat is set right (easy as reading the chart), it's as easy as a hot glue gun.
Id disagree. MIG is simple from the standpoint of "point and shoot," but its extremely difficult to get a high quality weld simply bc you have a serious lack of control. In most setups, the heat and filler feed cant be adjusted while welding, whereas with stick you can manipulate the rod to give yourself a bit more flexibility and control. I too made the mistake of thinking MIG was simple, then I took a formal program like many others, it was gas, stick, tig, and mig last, and in which I spent a few hundred hours welding, cutting, dye-penetrating, x-raying, and deforming welds....MIG was by far the hardest to get real quality with. The joke about the "blue glue gun" pretty much reflects that - its mocking MIG as Ive always heard it.
Don't know if anyone mentioned it, but if you haven't bought a helmet yet, spring the bucks for one with an auto-darkening lens. I'm sure this will bring howls of discontent from the helmet Nazis, but I have a couple that I bought very cheap from HF, and like them fine. I use them with a 40 year old Lincoln AC-225, and a Miller Mig as well...
TAKE A CLASS. There's things you need to know even if you are only going to be a hobby welder.