Affordable stick welder recommendation for basic welding for hobby

[tweake]

I agree that stick is better for learning. But his learning curve is going to be fairly long and steep when it comes to welding on 1 inch to 2 inch square tubing. Around here 1 inch square tubing means a wall thickness of .065 to .120 inches. 2 inch ranges from .065 to .250 inch wall thickness. Below 3/16ths of an inch I have found it difficult to not blow through with stick rod. Yes it can be done, but for furniture, I think he would be better off with a MIG. Just my opinion FWIW

the learning curve is steep for a bit, but the basics are not difficult. in the first week i was welding scrap 1" tube together. i would rather blow the odd hole than have cold mig welds.

I started with 3/32" rod but as a beginning stick welder found it to be much harder to run than 1/8". Advice to me on here was to start with big rods, even 5/32" then work my way down. Starting with 3/32" was pretty frustrating.

i find 3/32 whips a fair bit. end up having to pool cue it to steady it until the rod is short enough.

[BD1]

The Miller Thunderbolt and Lincoln tombstone will work. AC/DC would be best.
IF you want it to be easier and clean, vet a mig machine with gas, 75/25 .
I use my migs for arts and crafts too. It's a pleasure to use and next to nothing for clean up. It's hard to beat a Hobart. Money well spent.


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[jeffrey.penfield]

I went down his road with a stick welder. I bought the cheapest inverter I could find and struggled and struggled with it. Sometimes there were decent welds, but usually not. The output is so variable. I decided to upgrade and all of a sudden stick welding was easy. I won’t say I did not learn anything with the cheap inverter. But it would never have been used to build something I would sell. You can learn with that cheap inverter and if you decide to stick with it, you can fork over the money for an upgrade later. Or you can get the MIG welder and you probably won’t need to upgrade. Another poster is concerned about weak welds with a MIG. If your practice pieces are not breaking easily with some sort of destruction testing like a vise and engineer’s hammer, you should be good to go.


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[Oscar]

I make wooded tables and usually end up buying metal legs for them but I'm sick of waiting (2-4 weeks) and paying for someone else to do it so I'm thinking of just getting a stick welding and doing it myself. Some questions though, as I'm completely new to welding.

Looking at something like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/AMICO-PO...-165/304254631

Attachment 1701720

1.) Most legs are 1-2" square tubing with some kind of panel on top to screw it into the table. I'm assuming that the stick welding can handle this without any issues? Is this metal easy to find and affordable?

2.) My shop only has 50 amps coming into it, I can barely run a table saw and dust collector so I'm worried about running a welder in there. I can run another 240v outlet but I would probably have to keep it to 30 amps to leave room for lights etc. Is this fine, does this change what type of welding I can get?

3.) To get started, I have this shopping list. What else should I get? Welder, sticks, mask, gloves, grinder.

4.) Since I would be doing this in my wood shop where there are often shavings etc should I be concerned about sparks causing a fire? I can always do it outside I guess.

5.) I want it mostly for table legs but I'm assuming once I see it in action I'll find other uses for it. Some other projects I can think of are various tables for my tools, wood racks, shelfs, etc. I'm assuming a basic stick welding would work for this basic stuff too, right?

6.) Is there anything I'm not asking that I should be asking? What am I missing about this hobby that I should know?

Thanks!

detz,

1) Your assumption is correct once operator skill level is up to par (just as with any other welding process). Generally yes, but you need to search where YOU live. Only you can answer your own question there.
2)240V AC on a 30A breaker is more than enough for a small inverter-type stick welder.
3) Yes to:

• welder
• welding rods
• 3M respirator with 2097 or 2297 pancake filters
• welding gloves
• grinder
• stainless steel brush
• chipping hammer
• long sleeve welding jacket, or at least arm sleeves
• work boots (DON't weld in sandals or sneakers like a dumba**!)
• a decent WELDING HELMET and always wear your respirator even when just grinding (look at the link I posted above---most of that crap that came out was not even from welding!)
• a new eye prescription if you have neglected taking care of your eyes,
• 4.5", 1/4" thick hard grinding disc (usually comes with most decent grinders)
• 4.5" cut off wheel (1/16" thickness). If you don't want the hassle of switching out between the grinding disc and the cut off wheel, then you need multiple grinders. I have a few of the Home Depot Ryobi $40 grinders with the rotating rat-tail handle and they work just fine for hobby-level work. Just let the tool do the work, and don't apply so much pressure that the wheel speed drops too much (that facilitates burning up the motors in short time)
• thin wire wheel to facilliate slag removal
• magnetic holders. They are usually shaped like arrows, red in color. They are basically two pieces of steel that sandwich a magnet, and they help you hold parts 90° and/or other angles to each other so you can tack weld them in position
• Clamps are also useful in holding some parts.

4) Yes, you should be concerned. Don't do it anywhere you have wood dust/shavings. You'll have a smoldering fire next to you in no time. Do it outside.
5) basic stick welding is VERY useful. Assuming that stick welder you linked can actually output 160A (on 240V of course) without self-destructing, you can weld some very thick metals with E6011 rods (which produced an ugly but deep penetrating weld), and the more typical E7018/E7014/E6013 rods which don't produce as much penetration but also leave a better looking finished weld bead, E7018 producing the strongest, most ductile weld from the bunch. Youtube is your friend.
6) You likely won't be producing the welds you want to produce anytime soon if you are learning solo with zero outside help.

[Yofish]

Just buy about ANYTHING that whatever 'affordable' means to you. Then, suffer. You state that you know nothing about welding. This is not the best place to come to for knowing nothing about welding because you will receive lots of conflicting but interesting and often amusing ways to scramble your brains. Take a class, if you can. Then suffer. If you think you're just gonna whip stuff out by going online, ha ha. Take a class; that will make the suffering have a basic form, if you're lucky. Practice, practice and then more and more practice. Go to the junkyard and buy lots of junk to practice on. For now, forget your idea of making something, that's a waste of your time until you actually know how to go about it.

[Ypop]

I started welding with a Lincoln 225 amp AC at 10-11 years old yes was hard at first. But once you have it down pat all others are Easy to handle. I agree lesson are good to help local schools have night classes.

[ColtonWelds]

Buy this you will be happy its capable of all kinds of stick welding, and mig welding if you end up needing that and its in Mass. And makes all its own power and extra to power your house in a lightning storm.
I have one without the CV option and I love it And I would buy this one too if it was in my area. Trust me I look every day.
https://worcester.craigslist.org/tls...884765546.html

[pat h]

Find someone who can do it faster than 2 to 4 weeks by the time you buy all the crap (especially all the nonsense mentioned above) and learn how to use it you would be more money ahead building more wood tops or whatever and letting someone setup to weld do the welding

[Raybonz]

I make wooded tables and usually end up buying metal legs for them but I'm sick of waiting (2-4 weeks) and paying for someone else to do it so I'm thinking of just getting a stick welding and doing it myself. Some questions though, as I'm completely new to welding.

Looking at something like this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/AMICO-PO...-165/304254631

Attachment 1701720

1.) Most legs are 1-2" square tubing with some kind of panel on top to screw it into the table. I'm assuming that the stick welding can handle this without any issues? Is this metal easy to find and affordable?

2.) My shop only has 50 amps coming into it, I can barely run a table saw and dust collector so I'm worried about running a welder in there. I can run another 240v outlet but I would probably have to keep it to 30 amps to leave room for lights etc. Is this fine, does this change what type of welding I can get?

3.) To get started, I have this shopping list. What else should I get? Welder, sticks, mask, gloves, grinder.

4.) Since I would be doing this in my wood shop where there are often shavings etc should I be concerned about sparks causing a fire? I can always do it outside I guess.

5.) I want it mostly for table legs but I'm assuming once I see it in action I'll find other uses for it. Some other projects I can think of are various tables for my tools, wood racks, shelfs, etc. I'm assuming a basic stick welding would work for this basic stuff too, right?

6.) Is there anything I'm not asking that I should be asking? What am I missing about this hobby that I should know?

Thanks!

I too started with a stick welder for the experience of stick welding.. I bought an Amico inverter welder and it runs well on 120 or 240 volts.. It doesn't like 6011 Hobart rods but does fine with Lincoln 6011 plus it runs other rods such as 6013 and 7018.. Here is a link to the exact welder I have and when I bought it paid around $125.00.. I did replace the ground clamp with a solid brass clamp.. Overall I really think it's a great value!

https://smile.amazon.com/ARC-160D-In...66W5BAVN97Y5S5