Mig or stick? Advice for gym equipment project

[Jsimonf]

Hello,
I know this question probably gets asked multiple times every day but i haven't been able to find the advice i need to be confident enough to choose a welder. I'm completely new to welding and am wanting to start learning to weld to work on making some home gym equipment as a hobby (nothing majority complicated, mostly free weight stuff like a squat cage).
I've been searching around and from what I can see my choices are mig or stick. There won't be a massive amount of welding to do (I'm trying to keep it with a largely bolted construction) but I will be to weld some parts. I'll mostly be welding box/rectangular section to flat plate with fillet welds or flat plate to flat plate. The box section will be from around 2.5mm up to probably 3mm wall thickness and the plate will be around 4-6mm maybe 8mm max thickness.
From researching I've gathered that a mig in my budget (£180/200 Max) won't be good for anything above 4/5mm thick and a stick welder will be tricky on anything below 3mm.
Any advice for a first welder? I know mig is easier to learn but I don't mind putting the time and practice in to learn either. I'm guessing at some point further down the line I'll buy the other option that isn't chosen to give more versatility.
I'm running from a standard 1 phase 13amp socket in my garage.
Sorry is this is really long. Hopefully someone can help.
Thanks

 

[Kent]

Get a good little inverter DC mma plant a tig torch with an on off gas valve on it and a bottle of argon
It's possible then to do both thicker sections and thinner ones

The issue as always is budget total only allows just barely enough for the inverter plant itself

Were abouts are you in the country I might just be able to help out

 

[Tom Orrow L]

160A stick welder will do you fine for thick stuff & thin stuff if you use the right rods and put your practice in. £200 will get you a GYS 160P or Parweld XTI 160 with some change for a beer afterwards too.
Both lovely sets & they'll get praises from many of the lads on here

In the future MIG will be your best option and for 5MM thick you'll need maybe 180A's & a budget of maybe £600 for a decent set.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Welcome aboard.

Don't forget to budget for a welding helmet and all the other bits and pieces you'll inevitably need.

 

[Jsimonf]

Thanks for the replies. So it seems a DC inverter will do for now but best to look to upgrade to a decent mig in the future, depending on how good I get at this welding business. The reason my budget isn't so high is because I've got a few other parts and tools to buy (including welding protection).
I've read that I'll struggle to run anything above 150amps on a 13amp socket? Upgrading to 16amps isn't something I can really do at the moment. Maybe I should leave anything above 6mm for when my budget allows it. Will 125amps handle 6mm plate to box section with fillet weld? I can always chamber edges if I'm welding plate to plate. I've found an inverter welder for around £150 that can go up to 135amps (though it recommends 16amps for 125 upwards). R-tech brand. Has good reviews on the site.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

You'll get 160A max on a 13A plug so no need to upgrade to 16A.
You'll weld up to 10MM @ 160A easily.

R-tech are half decent machines, will do what they say on the tin & good after care from what I hear.

I just think you'd be best off going with something like a Parweld XTI 160 for the extra £30 or so. Gets outstanding reviews from plenty of the lads on the forum & elsewhere too.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

.....R-tech are half decent machines, will do what they say on the tin & good after care from what I hear....

I can attest to that. I called them to clarify if the settings marks round the dial were 'sufficiently' accurate to help with initial set-up and he [the Tech guy] explained in good detail how to get them working in tandem [remember, I'm a beginner at this 'gluing metal together' lark ]. Very helpful, and offered further advice if required. He must be used to dealing with Numpties ]

 

[Appyasme1]

This sounds like small bore pipe.Open to advice,what does the forum think about scratch start tig?

 

[Jim Davey]

It works just fine for most jobs. It's just difficult to finish a weld cleanly without a defect of some sort.

 

[Appyasme1]

Go along with that Jim.Just some of the MMA and MIG welds don`t seem to be as tidy as TIG

 

[Kent]

Go along with that Jim.Just some of the MMA and MIG welds don`t seem to be as tidy as TIG

Depends totally on the user.

 

[Appyasme1]

Depends totally on the user.

Good point.Let`s hope it goes ok for him.

 

[Kent]

You won't get full 160 amp at the hot end on all / many plants off 13 amp
You will however be easily able to weld most things
2.5 mm rods won't pop many fuses 3.2 mm will take a few depending on supply and plant but you ain't going to need more than 140 at the most even with 3.2 mostly you will be 120 give or take
You can weld even heavy stuff with 2.5 mm rods it just takes stringers ( multi straight runs)
True 160 amps means 4 mm rods and your going to then take out 13 amp fuses like nobody's buisness

It's not mega bucks to sort a 16 amp normally

BTW I do a lot of 240 v stick at various locations with various results
If I think I am going to have issues I just stick to 2.5 mm rods 6013 or 7018

 

[Jsimonf]

Thanks. I think I'll definitely start with a dc inverter arc. The parweld does offer tig functionality which could potentially be useful in the future. I'm guessing i should stay away from the cheaper stick welders (AC I think) since I from what I can tell AC arc welding is harder. I almost went for one of the cheap welders in aldi but I don't want to be put off welding if I'm constantly struggling with a cheap welder.

 

[PTvor]

The big problem with the cheap AC welders is that they overheat very easily, so you can weld four rods from cold and then the thermal cut out operates and you wait a quarter of an hour for it to cool and reset. Then you can weld a couple of rods and it goes again. You are going to need practice, which means burning a lot of rods, so with a buzz box, a lot of waiting and frustration.

There are other problems such as them not being able to use certain sorts of rods. Inverters have a much better duty cycle and unless you get an 80A one (not advised) you are unlikely to overheat it without trying. Then they have features such as hot start and anti-stick which make life easier. The arc they produce is very smooth.

However, there are AC welders such as the big old oil-cooled Oxfords which are AC, but are generally considered pretty damned good.

The Aldi welders used to be better specified. I think at one time they were 160A sets. The latest ones are 80A and that makes them more limited.

 

[Kent]

Thanks. I think I'll definitely start with a dc inverter arc. The parweld does offer tig functionality which could potentially be useful in the future. I'm guessing i should stay away from the cheaper stick welders (AC I think) since I from what I can tell AC arc welding is harder. I almost went for one of the cheap welders in aldi but I don't want to be put off welding if I'm constantly struggling with a cheap welder.

Any DC plant can do scratch tig so long as you can switch polarity

 

[Jim Davey]

Any DC plant can do scratch tig so long as you can switch polarity

It makes life a little easier if the set supports lift arc TIG though, as it reduces the potential at the tungsten until you lift it off the plate, making starts easier to achieve without damaging the job or the tungsten.

 

[Appyasme1]

Never been a fan of lift tig.Not far of scratch start.Always a problem with tungsten inclusion.Any thoughts

 

[Appyasme1]

Hello,
I know this question probably gets asked multiple times every day but i haven't been able to find the advice i need to be confident enough to choose a welder. I'm completely new to welding and am wanting to start learning to weld to work on making some home gym equipment as a hobby (nothing majority complicated, mostly free weight stuff like a squat cage).
I've been searching around and from what I can see my choices are mig or stick. There won't be a massive amount of welding to do (I'm trying to keep it with a largely bolted construction) but I will be to weld some parts. I'll mostly be welding box/rectangular section to flat plate with fillet welds or flat plate to flat plate. The box section will be from around 2.5mm up to probably 3mm wall thickness and the plate will be around 4-6mm maybe 8mm max thickness.
From researching I've gathered that a mig in my budget (£180/200 Max) won't be good for anything above 4/5mm thick and a stick welder will be tricky on anything below 3mm.
Any advice for a first welder? I know mig is easier to learn but I don't mind putting the time and practice in to learn either. I'm guessing at some point further down the line I'll buy the other option that isn't chosen to give more versatility.
I'm running from a standard 1 phase 13amp socket in my garage.
Sorry is this is really long. Hopefully someone can help.
Thanks

Nice Thermalarc for sale on the forum.Good buy with all the bits and pieces you will need.I have always been a fan of the TA product

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Bit over his £200 budget I think appy