Dan,,,if you have no welding experience,,,either on mig or stick,,,than you should get a stick machine,,,much simpler,,in this you got two choces,,a transformer machine[one that uses house current,230 volts,or somthing like that],,or a welder generator,,,one that has a motor,,,the transformer ones are cheaper of course,but the generator ones are portable,and have plug ins for other things,,,,,in these machines,,you got choices,,,a.c./d.c.,,,,just a.c.,,,just d.c.,,,,you should get a d.c. out put,,d.c. welds better,,,than you got to think about welding amps,,,get one that will put out about180- 200 amps,,,that way you can use up to about a 5/32 rod,,,duty cycle is how these machines are rated,,they will say 30%@200 amps,or 60%@150 amps,,,that means that machine will run 3 out of 10 min at 200 amps or 6 out of 10 min at 150 amps,,,before a breaker kicks off,so the machine don't over heat,,,about a 1/8 inch rod is as big as you need for most things,,a 1/8 inch rod takes about 100 to 120 amps,,so if you was using above duty cycle,,you would proably have close to 100 % duty cycle with a 1/8 inch rod,,something like that,,but the better the duty cycle rating,,the more better,but with stick welding,[cause you got to stop,change rods,clean,etc],you are never welding much more than 5 or 6 min out of 10.If you choose to get a mig machine,,duty cycle is even more inportant,,and works the same way,,,.035 wire is what you could run,,it takes about 120 amps,so thats how you rate them as well,,but I would get a stick machine,,lincoln,,miller/hobart,,should be able to get a good transformer type for 400?,,,motor gen. type will cost you a couple thousand,,,for a good one,,,I forgot what the question was? thingy
