Quote:
| Originally Posted by firhead  I would like to do some maintenance & repair welding around the farm. I've been told that a stick welder, tho a little harder to get the hang of than a MIG, would be the way to go if I want strong welds on old stuff that does not have to look pretty. |
Ugly welds are almost never "strong", but pretty welds may or may not be.
I'd strongly suggest you take a look on Craigs list for a nice used transformer stick machine. Use a CL aggregator like Crazedlist or Searchtempest to widen your search area for better luck. The AC only ones around me usually go for $50-150 and the AC/DC ones about $250-500. Most of these 230v machines are tanks and usually don't have much to go wrong with them, even if they have sat for quite a wile and are a bit rusty.
With a bit of practice it's not all that hard to make decent looking beads using rods like 7014, 7012 or 7018AC on either an AC or AC/DC stick machine, especially in the flat and horizontal positions. Learning to weld vertical and overhead, takes a bit more practice and usually separates those who practice and learn, from those that simply want to glob metal on things. Post up picts when you get started along with your settings, material thicknesses etc, and we can help.
If you are serious, I'd strongly suggest looking into a night class at a local votech school. When you sit down and add up what material, rod, gas, electric will cost you, not to mention the instruction, a class is usually stupid cheap. Since you may have your own machine, you can practice between classes, and spend the class time working on issues,or learning the next step, rather than spending it on repetitive practice. Taking a class and learning the basics correctly right from the start, is the fastest way to making good solid welds.
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