MIG or Stick?

[BlacknTan]

I will be running on 220 voltage for repairs and modifications on mild steel from maybe .093 sheet to probably no thicker than 5/16".. Much of the work could possibly be done outside.
I worked in machine shops my entire adult life as a tool & die maker. Used to do a fair amount of stick welding before getting a job in a union shop.. No more welding for me! But, I had access to extremely talented certified high vacuum welders... Many of them were true artists and forgot more about welding than I nwill ever know..

But, for my purposes, what is the best solution... MIG or Stick??

Whatever I get will be Blue, otherwise my old buddies would never speak to me again!

 

[J_J]

BlacknTan,

Do yourself a favor and get away from that mentality that there is only one way to go. You will never know unless you have used them all. Just like women, there is always a better one somewhere. Most times in life, you don't have time to check them all, or the product out throughly.

I have both, and use whatever seems best for the situation.

 

[westcliffe01]

Just make sure that whatever you get has an acceptable duty cycle for what you want to do. Consumer rated machines are typically 20% duty cycle. Pro are 80% to 100% rated. I do not use the welder too many hours per year, but when I do, I don't want to take a break 8 minutes out of every 10 because the thermal overload kicks in.

My observation is that there is little "middle ground" in welding machines. There are the consumer grades for $400 & up and then pro equipment that starts at about $1200 at the bottom. I would love to have a small, light compact inverter tig welder, but can't justify the coin for one (yet).

That was what prompted me to look at used industrial style equipment and I consider the Miller Dialarc 250 I got yesterday to be a bargain at $500. You may have to keep looking for a while, but every now and again you will find a good deal on craigslist.

 

[Willl]

I love my Mig.

 

[Dargo]

Working on rebuilding a bucket for my excavator I've burned 10 pounds of wire with my MIG and have burned 5 pounds of rods with my buzz box. I really have no preference. It all depends. On areas where it was impossible to get all the rust and contamination off the metal stick was the only way to go. With clean new steel I was putting in my MIG was what I used. For really thin material or aluminum I always use my TIG. Clear?

 

[JohnDeere4300]

I Like my MIG for small jobs and use a stick for large jobs.

 

[framer]

I like my mig easier to weld much better looking beads.Framer

 

[bobodu]

A good looking bead don't mean squat if it DON"T HOLD!!!!
Unless you have a LOT OF MONEY for a decent MIG and since you said you will mostly be welding outside...go with the tried and true stick. Use the several hundred dollars difference for something else.

 

[suncoast]

I agree with JJ that there is advantages in both. I like my mig and use it much more than my stick. You can weld outside with a mig welder using flux core wire. If I were in your situation and was only going to purchase one type, my choice would have to be the mig. Much easier for me to use in odd directions and you have the choice of gas or not. A Hobart 180 would be plenty for you and it is a good machine that is not outrageously expensive. I know you want Miller, which are great, but they do make Hobart.

 

[wushaw]

Buy the stick machine it does everything you may want (so I've been told), if it doesn't then go buy a 220v mig (blue of course) and see if that is what you like and if that doesn't cover all you want to do then get ya a tig (also blue) and play with that.....now after you have used all these for awhile then you will probably know what you want.

It is really hard to say what one person really wants since his/her needs and wants are usually different from from mine or anyone else on this board but if you just want to stick two pieces of metal together cheaply and and don't care about chipping, brushing and scraping every weld you do then a stick machine is in your future.