New to welding - HELP!

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New to site and to welding. Pretty handy with tools, work and repair my own vehicles, owned boats for 30 years, and FISH as often as possible!!!Want to learn how to weld. Last welding I did was stick/arc welding in high school (38 years ago)!I plan on welding at home in my workshop. I have 220V run to my shop.  The main breaker for this sub panel is 100AMP but main house panel breaker that feds this sub panel is 60AMP.  I have no items in my workshop that currenty use 220V.  Just hand tools, batt charger for boat, drill press, saws, etc....all 10-20 amp stuff and rarely are more than two ever running at same time.I plan to weld mainly in steel but with some projects in aluminum, and stainless. Typically home-related stuff, 5th wheel/camping stuff, boat-related projects, etc.  My boat is aluminum (0.125") so there may be a need to do some nice clean welds on boat, either for repairs or mods, at some time in future.Based on  my electrical set up in garage and what I plan on doing, what machines and type of welding should I focus on.Budget:  $15001.  MIG, TIG, ???2.  Machine?3.  Brand recs4.  Do I need a spool gun?5.  Do I need gas?6.  what else do I need?Thanks!
Reply:You will need gas.(mix dependent on process/metal)If you go mig, you'll need a spool gun for aluminum.I'd be tempted to go with a multi-process machine that does mig, TIG, and stick.
Reply:Yeah what he saidBacked my CATMA over your CARMA oops clusmy me  What would SATAN do ?? Miller Trailblazer 302 AirPakMiller Digital Elite  Optrel Welding HatArcair K4000Suitcase 12RC / 12 VSHypertherm PM-45Rage 3 sawRusty old Truck
Reply:Lincoln  Powermig 210. It does mig, dc stick and dc tig. If you want to do aluminum you can get a spoolgun. You need argon/C02 for mig and pure argon for aluminum mig with the spoolgun. The basic machine is well within your budget.Eventual master of the obvious, practitioner of "stream of consciousness fabrication".  P.S. I edit almost every post because because I'm posting from my phone and my fingers sometimes move faster than my brain.
Reply:Well,I'll recommend that you get a good MIG unit that is also rated well with various Stick electrodes, and is a 200 amp unit (anything less I wouldn't consider).Save the idea of "aluminum" or "TIG" for a later dedicated AC/DC TIG unit. Or, if you think you may want to do aluminum, master the MIG and Stick first, then maybe at that time add a spool gun to do MIG aluminum, which may be enough. I mean, a MIG "3-in-1" unit could fit that same criteria. But it will probably not be as good in it's TIG features as dedicated DC TIG unit and also not be able to do aluminum TIG welding. But, again, that may be enough for you. Or, you may later realize that you also want a full-featured AC/DC TIG unit.So, in the meanwhile, consider the one below. It's one I've been considering, but I don't currently have a space for MIG welding right now. It's on sale, with free shipping, and no State-extortion paid outside of the Alta California area. You can get it with an optional TIG package at a higher cost, but I wouldn't recommend that for the reason already described. It's dual-voltage, with a Max Inrush: 120V: 32A 240V: 34A, Maximum Rated (I1EFF ) Input Amps: 220V: 22A, 230V: 21A, 240V: 20A.Last edited by C. Livingstone; 02-06-2016 at 02:57 PM.
Reply:what are the differences between MIG alum welding with Argon and TIG welding alum?Why/when would I need stick?  Won't MIG take care on my needs?
Reply:Mig is the best general purpose process for steel. 75% argon and 25% co2 blended gas is a common and great option for that. As long as you can get your mig gun to the work, you probably won't want to stick weld. Gas welding is no good in wind, but you can run flux core in the mig and it works much like stick welding, but with continuous wire instead of stick electrodes.Mig welding aluminum requires 100% argon, in most cases, and it is a fast process but you have less control over the weld compared to TIG. It is harder to learn than mig welding steel as the settings and technique are more critical to get a good weld. I have only played with my spool gun a little bit. Only the very expensive Mig machines will do a great job at feeding aluminum through the main mig gun, so the spool gun is used because the wire only has to move a few inches from the roll to the tip.Tig is a much slower process and is like welding with a gas torch. You can take your time with it and you will have much more control over the process. A foot pedal or finger control will control the amount of heat from the torch as you weld. The torch only makes the arc/heaat and you feed filler metal in with your other hand, as needed. Tig is very versatile and you just choose the tungsten electrode (tip of the torch) for what you want to weld, and use the right filler metal. Argon works for all common metals that you would want to weld. Tig requires both hands and a foot, in most cases, to work together where MIG can be done single handed, but I use two.A mig machine with 75/25 is a great place to start. The Miller 211 inverter machine is great for a beginner, but will work for professionals doing smaller jobs, just as well. It is rated at 230 amps and will do 3/8" steel or aluminum. The machine is about $1200 and the spoolgun, if you decide to get it, is about $400. It is a small machine that weighs 38 pounds and it will run from 120v receptacles when needed for small work and it has a plug to run on 240v in your shop when you want the full power it can put out. This is the machine I bought for hobby and professional use.A good tig machine will have AC power for aluminum. You can weld aluminum with DC power, but it isn't real common. All of the multi purpose machines I have seen, only have DC tig. Tig machines are expensive. A Miller dynasty costs a few thousand dollars and up. The miller syncrowave is an older and much bigger machine that would be better priced, as used, and would work for a hobby person. The Miller 330 that I have is older, and even bigger, and has more limitations, but they can be had for even less money. To get a tig machine in AC for aluminum, new and around $1000 or so, you will have to buy an import. Some people hate them and others like them.60 amps will be good for most machines. I think the Miller 211 takes less than 30 amps on 240v power. 50 amp receptacles and breakers are common for welders. My 330 tig takes 104 amps but it is rated to 425 amps output on ac welding and 460 on dc welding. If I keep it under half of the output, a 50 amp breaker (that is all I have in my small garage) will work. The newer machines should use a bit less power to weld the same material and many machines are only 150-300 amps output anyways. The inverter machines like the new 211 and the dynasty tig, use less power than the old transformer machines. Of course you pay more money for the new technology.It looks like we live in the same general area, what city are you in? I am in Fontana. Welcome to the forum.Last edited by CGT80; 02-06-2016 at 03:27 PM.Miller 330abpMiller 211 inverter, M150 spool gunMiller 135Miller 375 Extreme plasmaCNC plasma table (build in progress)Femi 120abs portable band sawMany other toolsToo little garage spaceNot enough money
Reply:Thanks for all the replies.  I'm in the Hemet area.  The Millermatic 211 is one I keep hearing about as a good beginner machine.  I was tempted to look at the Harbor Freight 170 and 180 amp welders and add gas.  Not sure about the quality.  Again, this is not a welder that will see regular use.  Only as I mentioned...more of a hobby.  Looks like I just missed out on a Miller rebate on this welder where it would have paid for Spool gun!  Perhaps another rebate will be out soon.  I'm in no hurry; just doing my research now.Anyone know if Miller will be providing another rebate on the 211?
Reply:I just picked up the last of the stuff  ( i hope ) to be able to run the 251-D box off my TB so i can do aluminum Tigand also be able to hook up the gas mixer for my suitcase feedersYou can always PM me here since we live in the same areaBacked my CATMA over your CARMA oops clusmy me  What would SATAN do ?? Miller Trailblazer 302 AirPakMiller Digital Elite  Optrel Welding HatArcair K4000Suitcase 12RC / 12 VSHypertherm PM-45Rage 3 sawRusty old Truck
Reply:Search for reviews on the HF mig welders. You might look on the garage journal forum as well, since a number of people over there are into welding, but there are likely to be more hobby guys on GJ and more pros on this site.As a beginner, you may not notice if the HF machine doesn't do a great job at welding, unless you compare both it and the big brands. It would suck to be held back by a crappy machine, and I have been there, when I first borrowed a couple machines. The older miller 211 is a transformer machine but is also well liked. There might be some left on the new market, but it seems the 211 inverter is pushing those out. They should have given the new one a different name or added an "I" to the model for inverter. A used big name machine could be a good option, or if you find reviews that are favorable on the HF, you might do fine with it. I avoid most things at horrible freight as most of it isn't worth the hassle vs. buying good tools, in my opinion.The miller rebate ran for quite a while, so my guess is that it will be a while until they do a promotion like that again. The $400 rebate covered my spool gun and part of the 15' gun that I got to go with my machine. The free helmet is very nice for free and is a good backup to my miller elite.The miller 140 is good for 1/8" steel and might do ok on 3/16", based on how my miller 135 ran. Neither of those small machines will be good for aluminum or any quantity of work on 3/16" and over. You can learn to do great beads with them, but they are really limited in output. It is well worth the money to to to at least a 190 unit, but 230 amps (the new 211) will do a nice job on 2/8" steel and even laid a nice looking bead on 1/2" scrap. I don't even miss my 135 now, but I did sell it to a buddy for a reasonable price so he can do small repairs.There are some die hard smaw/stick fans, but many go to the mig first since it has some nice advantages. Mig has been my go to, but I find myself using tig more and more and it is likely because I am getting better at it and I can do little stuff without having splatter burn up my decent clothes. When I mig, I have to put on work clothes as it is easy to get burn spots on them. Other guys prefer to stick weld if they can. If you can find a person with all of those processes to give you a hands on demonstration, it might be worthwhile, or find some youtube videos. Welding tips and tricks is a great web site and youtube channel and the guy's name is Jody (not sure if that is the right spelling).Have fun!Miller 330abpMiller 211 inverter, M150 spool gunMiller 135Miller 375 Extreme plasmaCNC plasma table (build in progress)Femi 120abs portable band sawMany other toolsToo little garage spaceNot enough money