Welder.

[DRanger024]

I vote oxy / acetelyne solely because it got me a job without a degree lol. The high school i went to is one of the last in my area that still teaches it and man am I glad they do. Not only that but if you can learn how to oxy/ace weld, TIG comes super easy. Most of the stuff I do at work is 100% TIG welding stainless and for the bigger stuff like 2" plate we use some old Linde's with a wire box on top.

 

[mkpecor]

i vote stick and mig im the same at both, use each one for different things, if it wasent for my buz box i woundent have my lincon 750 mig welder, traded a car trailer i bilt for the wire feed.

 

[Shran]

I voted stick because I believe if you can learn to lay a nice bead with it you can pick up just about anything else very easily. IMO it should be everyone's starting point.

Oxy/ace is fun too. Or oxy/propane. Who needs a trailer with a bigass welder and a generator to weld stuff out in the hay field when you can steal half your setup off your BBQ grill?

 

[Hahnsb2]

TIG...

MIG is a close second, I've never been very good with a stick but I don't really care.

 

[milje]

We have a Rofin Laser Welder at work, that thing is pretty badass.

Probably a bit much for common household applications though, I think we have one of two lasers in the U.P. of Michigan

 

[fordwheelinman]

Silly silly people, you cant call stick arc. Stick, MIG, and TIG all use an electrical arc, so calling one by a feature that they all share, is like saying a holstein is the same as an angus.

 

[blkmazda90]

wow, havent u noticed a lot of guys saying they can weld ,mig but cant weld with a stick worth shit? exactly what i said

almostclueless: there may be some aspects of mig that are challenging but i said stick and mig in general.

Maverick: im no genius but im guessing there may be a few vertical welds with a cage so if u had a stick welder and had to do vertical. I think it would mean shit.

 

[Maverick]

Maverick: im no genius but im guessing there may be a few vertical welds with a cage so if u had a stick welder and had to do vertical. I think it would mean shit.

There's also overhead, done much of that with a stick? Around tubes at different angles? .120 wall tubing? I could vertical stick weld very well, and I'm saying that it wouldn't mean shit. Yes it CAN be done, but it would suck balls. It would take forever and wouldn't be as strong/look like hell. The thought of welding up a cage with a stick welder makes my brain hurt. If you dig stick welding more power to you. It does take skill, it has it's place. Just not in my garage. Nothing I've welded in the last 7 years would have turned out any better with a stick welder. Much of it I wouldn't have been able to weld, or it would have turned out worst.

 

[Dishtowel]

The thought of welding up a cage with a stick welder makes my brain hurt.

I like stick, but...
+1

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Silly silly people, you cant call stick arc. Stick, MIG, and TIG all use an electrical arc, so calling one by a feature that they all share, is like saying a holstein is the same as an angus.

Actually other breeds (like Semintals) can be sold and marketed as Angus

Arc/stick is fun to do and stronger, but most times wire is more practical for me. A gun is much easier to get into places than a stick, everything on my Ranger is wire welded... exhaust, grille guard, bumper bracket... everything. When I did my exhaust I clamped it where I wanted it and dropped it down and turned it to weld it, I couldn't have welded around the top if I didn't.

The fact that the wire welder at my dad's shop is used much more often and must be dragged out of the way to use the stick welder has a lot to do with my choice of welder too.

 

[BlackBII]

I like stick welding better, but I do a lot of structural welding, wire is nice for doing things on the BII, although my dad's wire welder SUCKS! But I have done a lot with it...

 

[holyford86]

Edit:
Also, for those who don't know, don't weld galvanized steel.

I've cut and welded galvanized steel, when I was in high school welding class I wanted to make a bumper out of a piece of 6x6 galvanized tube, I used a tracktorch and cut 3 inches out of the center of it then me and a buddy welded it back together. We worked under a vent hood the entire time though and no one in the class even got close to sick. I know it wasn't the best idea but I wasn't about to go buying a new ungalvanized piece of 3x6 when this was free. In open air without good ventilation that crap will kick your ass though.

 

[almostclueless]

It amazes me how much easier it is to weld exhaust pipe then the somewhat thinner metal on car bodies.....if the fit up is good and I don't have to weave the torch at all I can do pretty well on exhaust pipe (though I guess I could turn up the wire speed).

 

[OilPatch197]

What kind of poll is this? For the average guy, a MiG is the best tool.

welds good with little skill, both steel and aluminum with the proper setup.

We had a welding class in high school, I used a plasma cutter, torch, mig, tig, and the 'sticks'.

I use welders on thin materials, because that is what everything is made out of thin materials.... which a mig can take gladly. I've welded up mower decks and things with stick welders, it sucks! Stick and to a extent acy/ox tourch requires some skills, and for that they are "special use" items.

A Mig and a TiG are fun to use because you got much control over the processes, wire speed and voltage and heat. With the tourch...I watched my uncle weld up a exhaust on a car using a tourch and coat hangers!!!(what a PAIN that was)

The 'sticks' are okay on thick metals, but lord have mercy on thin metals!! I can't tell how many times I've burned thru a part, and then close the hole. That takes skill, somthing that is hard to keep unless your welding all the time, too much frustration with stick. Especially when your all sweaty and get jiggled by the electrons.

[edit] what about spot and heliarc welders?

 

[koda6966]

What kind of poll is this?
[edit] what about spot and heliarc welders?

As I said before I only chose to include those three because those are the ones that I am currently learning to use in school