I finally decided between stick welding and MIG for my side jobs

Been doing maintenance welding at the plant for 3 years but started picking up side work last fall. I went back and forth between buying a Lincoln stick welder or a Miller MIG setup for like 2 months. Ended up going with the MIG because I was tired of chipping slag off every single bead on smaller repair jobs. First job was patching a cracked trailer frame for a guy in Cleveland and it went smooth as butter. But now I'm wondering if I should have stuck with stick for thicker stuff. Any of you guys run both for your side gigs or just pick one and make it work?

2 comments

2 Comments

ninam7619d ago

Exactly this. "MIG is SO much nicer" feels a little dramatic to me, @matthew_baker. I mean, I get that chipping slag is annoying but it's not the end of the world. You're fixing trailer frames, not building a space shuttle. I ran a cheap Harbor Freight MIG for two years on side jobs and it handled everything from sheet metal to 1/4 inch plate just fine with some preheating. Unless you're regularly welding on rusty old bridge beams or something, I think you're overthinking it.

matthew_baker19d ago

Man that's a TOUGH call because MIG is SO much nicer for the thin stuff but stick will burn through anything. I'd keep both if you can swing it since the Lincoln 225 AC/DC is cheap used and covers all your heavy jobs.

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