Complete beginner...what to buy?

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Hi, I know absolutely nothing about welding except that I want to do it to make and repair all kinds of things for my house, cars, motorcycles, etc.I know there are electric and gas (torch?) welding. What should I get as a basic welder that will handle typical jobs with all kinds of steel to galvanized to aluminum?  If I've missed a general FAQ or answer to my question please forgive my ignorance.Cheap and reliable are both good.Thanks,Jim
Reply:Hello.Do some reading first. Home Depot has a book in their welder section. Go grab it.I suggest either a Oxygen /Acetalene welder torch, OR a 220v MIG.The book I mentioned will give pros/cons of each.Happy Holidaze.Lincoln PowerMig 180cVictor O/ABandaids and aspirinI don't know what I don't know!?
Reply:If there's a community college or trade school nearby that offers welding, it might be worth it to take a look at some classes.  The one I went to has an "Intro to Welding" that covers all the basics in gas, stick, and MIG in one semester.  You won't become an expert in anything, but you'll get a taste of everything.
Reply:Find a community school like zer0vector said, or if you know any weldors see if they're willing to give you lessons. If you try to be self taught i recomend staying away from mig welding. You can lay down some nice looking welds with mig that are worthless structurally. Would hate for you to make a boat trailer or something only to have the hitch snap off while you're going down the interstate. Stick is very versatile, like you seem to be looking for. Gas welding can be dangerous in the hands of some one who isn't safety conscious, but it is very versatile too.
Reply:post your location so we can come up with a list of experienced weldors who are willing to give you a couple of hours of lesson for beer!  or find community college welding courses for you.
Reply:You want to take a class.  It's not like learning to caulk.If you have 220v service in your garage and don't need to work on a lot of  stuff outside of the garage, a MIG probably makes sense.  Stick is a little more flexible.  Oxy-Acetylene is completely portable (and also lets you cut), but it's more difficult to learn than stick, which is itself a little more difficult to learn than MIG.Jack OlsenMy garage website
Reply:Thanks a lot, everyone. I'm in Las Cruces, New Mexico. May be able to take a class at the community college but not til next fall. Would it be a bad idea to get a MIG and mess around on my own?I'm building a workshop with 220 to work on my bikes and other stuff. That's why I'm finally thinking about the welding. One project I want to do right away is a very simple luggage bracket for my dirt bike, and a trailer hitch for my truck and for my Corolla. Maybe a trailer to haul my bikes. The trailer and motorcycle parts need to be light and strong so was thinking aluminum.My original question was, is there one welding rig I can buy that can do steel and aluminum? Can a MIG do that? I expect it would be some time before I should try aluminum.Thanks much.
Reply:You can MIG / GMAW steel and aluminum yes. Heck if you're quick and don't mind not seeing your bead lay down you can even SMAW with a stick and aluminum. You'll have way too much smoke to see, and have to move quick but it can be done with an aluminum rod. .Also if you're working with Galvanized or Aluminum DO wear a proper ventilator / respirator to keep the harmful fumes from turning your organs to mush Last edited by WelderBC; 12-17-2009 at 12:06 AM.
Reply:Cheap and reliable are both good.
Reply:Originally Posted by WelderBCYou can MIG / GMAW steel and aluminum yes. Heck if you're quick and don't mind not seeing your bead lay down you can even SMAW with a stick and aluminum. You'll have way too much smoke to see, and have to move quick but it can be done with an aluminum rod. .Also if you're working with Galvanized or Aluminum DO wear a proper ventilator / respirator to keep the harmful fumes from turning your organs to mush
Reply:Originally Posted by river251Thanks a lot, everyone. I'm in Las Cruces, New Mexico. May be able to take a class at the community college but not til next fall. Would it be a bad idea to get a MIG and mess around on my own?I'm building a workshop with 220 to work on my bikes and other stuff. That's why I'm finally thinking about the welding. One project I want to do right away is a very simple luggage bracket for my dirt bike, and a trailer hitch for my truck and for my Corolla. Maybe a trailer to haul my bikes. The trailer and motorcycle parts need to be light and strong so was thinking aluminum.My original question was, is there one welding rig I can buy that can do steel and aluminum? Can a MIG do that? I expect it would be some time before I should try aluminum.Thanks much.
Reply:In a nutshell, the one type of welding machine that can do just about everything on every type of metal is an ac/dc tig machine. However, tig is by far the most difficult process to learn, especially on aluminum and the machines are also the most expensive of all the types of welding machines.  One extra benefit of a tig machine is they also do stick, so you get 2 machines in one. If could only have one welding machine in my life, it would be a high output ac/dc tig/stick machine (such as a Syncrowave, Dynasty, or Thermal Arc).  The trade-off to this choice is no mig.   Next very close choice would be a high output dc multi-process machine (tig/stick/mig, such as an XMT cc/cv).  The trade-off to this choice is no ac tig.  There is only one machine I know of, which isn't made anymore, that can do ac/dc tig/stick, as well as mig. That machine is the old Shopmaster 300 ACDC, or whatever it's exact name was.  Miller still makes the Shopmaster, but not with ac output anymore.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:when i got started i did some mig at work and my work but i went to the local college and they had a night course in introduction to stick and intro to tig. one was on tues and the other was on thursday. 4 months long 4 hours a night. gives you a great start on the basics and machine setup and i didnt have to take time off work. if the teacher knew you had an interest in a certain area than he would give you more projects in that direction. there was no tickets involved so it was relaxed and go at your own pace.
Reply:I have taken some night classes in welding at the local Community College and will agree with those posters that recommended that you enroll in clases. Of course I wanted to learn how to be a decent weldor, and the instructors have told me that I have shown good progress.... I have found that price-wise, it is a great deal as you can burn up a whole bunch of rod in a real hurry and if you are buying rod from the LWS, you will see what a deal the courses can be! But one other thing I REALLY wanted to learn was all about the machines, gasses, equipment, etc. before I went out and bought anything so when I did go looking, I would have some idea what I wanted, what I was looking at and what kind of price I should be paying. I think buying equipment before you know anything about the suff is just looking to get burned (price), buy the wrong thing, etc. and doing that is like geting the cart before the horse, as they say. An example is that I bought an older Miller AC/DC 250 stick welder for a REALLY good price  because the guy that had it thought it was messed up or not working right. I knew what I was looking at and (from learning about it at school) could see the problem right away. He sold it to me CHEAP, I took it home and moved the input jumper to the correct input voltage, removed the work and electrode holder leads and reinstalled them in the CORRECT polarity (for 6010, which was what he was also trying to use) and...SHAZZZAAM!....I had a great welder that worked right. Granted, this is kind of an old welder and it does weigh about as much as my garage, but it has plenty of power for most anything I will ever weld and welds very nicely. Maybe if I learn TIG, I will buy a macine that does both TIG and stick, as is common and sell the Miller stick unit. I don't kow if I can afford that, but who knows what I might find on the used market once I learn more about doing TIG and about the machines? There are a lot of good deals out there right now on equipment, ESPECIALLY if you kow what you are looking for/at and the prices. A lot of guys have this stuff around and don't kow anything about how to use it or even exactly what they have in some cases. As one of my instructors at school told me, "Just becasue you can buy the tools a brain surgeon uses, DOESN'T make you a brain surgeon! The same thing holds true for a lot of people that have welding tools/equipment/machines and THINK they are weldors."
Reply:Originally Posted by DesertRider33In a nutshell, the one type of welding machine that can do just about everything on every type of metal is an ac/dc tig machine. However, tig is by far the most difficult process to learn, especially on aluminum and the machines are also the most expensive of all the types of welding machines.  One extra benefit of a tig machine is they also do stick, so you get 2 machines in one. If could only have one welding machine in my life, it would be a high output ac/dc tig/stick machine (such as a Syncrowave, Dynasty, or Thermal Arc).  The trade-off to this choice is no mig.   Next very close choice would be a high output dc multi-process machine (tig/stick/mig, such as an XMT cc/cv).  The trade-off to this choice is no ac tig.  There is only one machine I know of, which isn't made anymore, that can do ac/dc tig/stick, as well as mig. That machine is the old Shopmaster 300 ACDC, or whatever it's exact name was.  Miller still makes the Shopmaster, but not with ac output anymore.
Reply:I should really bone up on Lincoln's product line, as I've never heard of a Lincoln 500 multi-process machine, unless you're talking about the Vantage 500 or new Big Red 500 engine drives?MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:oxyacet torch does it all. also get a stick machine. . poof, you're in business.