I get a lot of the same kind of question so i'll do a FAQ Q: Do you even know how to weld? A: I started welding when i was 14 on a DC stick machine (i'm 16 now). Several people have hired me to repair things such as broken trailers. Recently, I spent a few months recently at a multi-million dollar company doing heavy MIG and flux core (300-400 amps) welding on heavy gauge steel, regularly completing heavy equipment repairs, I've also worked at a high-production trailer business welding load-bearing parts out of 1-2mm thick steel using MIG. I've burned through hundreds of stick rods and thousands of meters of MIG wire. I'll let you come to your own conclusions. Q: I didn't see any welding in the video, whats up with that? A: I didn't have to weld to get the point across. Q: What about flux core, doesn't it not need gas? A: Flux core is has both of the drawbacks of stick and mig with few of the benefits. On a small scale, Self shielded flux core is expensive, hard to learn, doesn't give a good result and isn't portable. I see countless people learn on flux core and struggle for years. Check out my video here: ruclips.net/video/ikt-HTYJuaw/видео.html Q: Why are you sweating so much? A: its 45 degrees Celsius in my shop during the Autumn Q: What about tig? A: Tig is great, and better than stick in many ways. If you can spend enough money to buy a tig machiene, not to mention the gas, tungsten, accesories and million other things, learn how to tig weld, clean up every part you need to weld (including wiping down everything with acetone) and buy a big enough setup to tackle things that a hobbyist runs into, good on you. I made this video for people who just want to get some welds done without a lot of fuss. Check out my video about TIG here: ruclips.net/video/SqPhna_sHRg/видео.html Q: Why so much rambling? A: I am Autistic and have ADHD and don't take medication. I hope i can build my video styles around being enthusiastic. Q: Stick welding is not better than Mig, why would it Mig be used at all if it was worse? A: This video highlights the view of a hobbyist who wants to build things without a lot of hassle. Mig is great for production work and welding shops, who's high volume requires on the speed of Mig, and who can deal with the unreliability.
I was honestly wondering why you were sweating so much. 🤷🏻♂️. Good video dude I’m from SoCal and couldn’t find some info you provided. I’m new to learning about welding.
@@March808 Haha thanks bro, glad you enjoyed. Good luck with your welding bro! Learning will put you in a very small set of people ahead of everyone in the world.
@Jackson O'Connor I can tell you are telling me someone else's information. Anyone can pick up a MIG gun and lay down a bead, but because of that, people who start with MIG never figure out the less obvious details that stick teaches you. Far too often i see people who have been MIG welding for years who are still struggling. This NEVER happens with stick welding, because people who learn to stick weld actually have to know what they are doing. Also about self-shielded flux core. It's FAR harder than you think. Anyone who says it's easy has never actually learned how to weld. SSFCAW is a joke, anyone who actually needs to make something uses Dual-sheilded flux core. It's more expensive, more complicated, gives you a worse result, harder to see what you are doing, and overall way more of a pain in the ass than stick. And anyway, even if MIG and self shielded flux core were really as easy to learn as people say, they are FAR less versatile than stick (SMAW/MMAW). You can't hard face with wire feed, if you want to weld outside you need to attempt to change wire and flip polarity which is a huge waste of time and wire, not to mention changing the rollers and changing everything back again. You have to deal with a massive and heavy machine that you have to try and haul outside. My little inverter stick welder weighs less than 10kg. It fits on a car seat, and i can fit it in a bag with a 1kg pack of electrodes. You ever tried hauling around a bottle of gas, a 15kg spool of wire and a massive machine? If you do flux core it's slightly better, but to get any sort of reasonable price you have to buy massive spools of wire which weigh a ton. The only way of not dealing with all this hassle would be to weld inside, but last time i checked, most hobbyists don't have a large workshop or empty garage they can use to weld in, and choose to weld outside instead. Good luck living past 30 trying to FC weld inside. Maybe you should have just watched the video instead of saying such a blanket statement that you read out of a textbook. Pick up a stinger and do some stick welding, Once you can play with the big dogs you can talk.
@Jackson O'Connor (i'm going to respond to both of your comments at once) I apologize for the snarky comments that I made before, i didn't mean to take a shot at your welding skill. What matters is that we both love welding and are burning rod and wire, so good luck with it man and God bless. I think we aren't on the same page, what i was talking about were HOBBYIST welders, not professional rig/field welders. For me to argue my point in terms of rig welders doesn't make any sense as they weren't the population i was talking about. The video was made for people looking at buying their first welder, and i recommended stick as something to start with, not that MIG welding was inferior. MIG welding typically isn't used because it's easier, it's used because its cheaper and faster for big companies. On structural work where everything is over-built and it's not absolutely critical that the product be maximum strength, MIG is used. I've been welding structural steel as a job for the past year. I think we can both agree that stick welds are stronger than MIG, whether they are stronger than flux core is a different debate, but stick welds typically get more penetration and TYPICALLY have better mechanical properties. This is why stick welding is STILL used to weld pipe together all around the globe. (I'm not saying all pipe is welded with stick, im saying it's still used) When you mentioned 'All you have to do is watch the puddle and your work and travel angle', i'm sorry to say, but that is what all welding is essentially. Holding steady and maintaining a consistent travel angle is by far the hardest part of Stick and wire-feed welding. I'm unsure why you think my disliking for MIG welding as a beginner process means that MIG was hard for me to learn. I'm sure you have a lot of experience too, but i've spent at a minimum over 200 hours actually under the hood MIG welding. MIG was a breeze for me to learn because i learned stick first. it's sort of like manual drivers become better at automatics than people who started automatics in the first place, because it's harder and teaches you things you wouldn't learn otherwise. Stick is FAR more VERSATILE than wire-feed welding, but that doesn't make it better. You can do more with stick, just far slower than wire-feed. Self-shielded flux core is a joke in terms of the kind of product you get on a budget. Yes, it absolutely has its place, just not for beginners in MY opinion. I never said DSFC was less expensive than flux core, i said that stick was. And idk why you are assuming i've never purchased a gas cylinder before, as a matter of fact i have 2. One for tig and one for stick. I talked about it in the video, idk if you actually watched it. Once again regarding you talking about 'field welders' (rig welders), it's something i never mentioned. That's a completely different animal that i'm not willing to wrestle with yet. So don't think i've mentioned anything to do with rig welding. Gas bottles aren't that big? The smaller size of Gas bottle typically used weighs around 50kg. The company pays for your wire? What company? I'm talking about hobbyists man, you clearly could have understood that if you watched the video. 'Finally, as I didnt insult your intelligence, dont try and insult mine by telling me that the knowledge I've acquired from personal experience is from a textbook.' So, if it's YOUR personal experience that stick is harder than MIG, how does that apply to anyone else? Finally man, i've never claimed to know everything. In fact. i boast about how LITTLE i know rather than how much. I've been welding for between 8 and 10 hours a day for over 5 months totalled up in the past year. I think that gives me at least SOME level of understanding and at least the possibility of my opinion being valid, but i've NEVER mentioned that i know anything compared to men who have over 20 years of experience. Hell, they are morons compared to people who are retiring who have been welding since they were a kid. I think you are seeing what i'm saying far more black and white than the way i intended it. All kinds of welding have their place, but for HOBBYISTS, I (as in me) think that stick welding is a better option to START WITH. I don't know you personally, but i don't want to start any bad blood. We are just two people who both love welding and that's what matters. Stick, MIG, TIG, OXY, FC, doesn't matter, as long as we are welding. Enjoy your day brother.
Can't understand people giving shit to this kid - he's so into it and his passion is oozing out! Plus, he's not wrong about the subject. Keep up the good work, mate!
People need to tear him down to make themselves look good. Forget them the more they comment it is actual good for him as RUclips only see more activity on video and will see promote the Vedic event more and recommend his video. Just like 👍 the f*ck out of both good and bad comments and move on by making more welding videos!!
@@evilgrin123 thing is as a welder.. the amount of jobs i have that is basically sorting out someone else's shit attempt at welding is mad.. There so many welders out there who know fuck all about welding to the point its almost dangerous.. I have seen people get sent to hospital because of failing stair cases or cars been damaged by gates falling of their welded hinges etc.. all done by newbs who watch youtube videos and think they experts and it really makes my blood boil because people can die from bad welding.. Not saying this guy in the video knows nothing.. he does know some welding but is misinformed and i always take my time in telling him exactly why that is.. check my comments and your see what i mean.. got nothing against him.. i just want to make sure that if hes doing videos then he needs to be telling the facts
Is arguements are dumb, saying "you need several types of gas" and comparing the price of a used 2nd hand stick welder vs a retail mig. His arguement there is so stupid, that I can't believe he does not realize it.
I was wondering whether to get a stick welding machine or a mig welding machine for home projects. Your explanation just sealed the deal. I'm gonna go for stick welding. You have helped a lot. Thanks.
It's so crazy, cause almost every video I've found and article I read steers people towards mig. They say it's best for beginners, better for garage work and has more uses. But now I'm seeing your reply and this video and it's making me question it all. Why do you think people are so against stick?
Welder here. MIG is king for mass production work on a wide range of metal thicknesses in a factory or shop (basically indoor) setting. That said, stick is an ancient art with unlimited applications. It’s slower, it’s dirtier, it’s inefficient and it’s hotter, but my advice to any young welder is to learn stick first and become pretty good at it. That means no undercut, nice slag peels in any position, and being able to run verticals with good tie-ins/restarts. You’ll not only learn the basics of most other welding processes, but you’ll impress the old-timers as well...and that can take you a long way.
I'm liking this comment so more people see it. I totally agree with you. With a large scale, the slower travel speed, time spent chipping slag and the wasted nubs of the electrodes all add up. That said, changing gas cylinders and spools of wire constantly, especially on an old machine can drive you crazy. I just finished 14 weeks of work as a mig welder (Typical flat and horizontal at 300-400 amps.
@@MiklthePikl Thanks...I currently run pulsed MiG at my job and getting set up, making sure the gas is exact, putting in wire and running a few beads to make sure I’m dialed in take up to an hour for me. I sorely miss just being able to stick in an electrode, adjust my amps and start burning. Oh well.
I'm a frequent stick and mig welder. I agree totally with your video. There mig system of welding has so any variables, it it truly trick. Stick or arc welding is simple and reliable, much cheaper and easier than a mig (Especially for the beginner),. Your spoken words saying, ;stick is not fussy' spot on. I would always recommend stick first, it's simple, cheap and you don't need to buy a gas cylinder. Well explained.
New hobbyist here and ready to buy a mig. I appreciate you putting this out there. I will definitely start researching stick welding and your not kidding the mig/tig stuff is way expensive even for a cheap setup. BTW your impressions is exactly how I imagine most people on the internet speak great video had me laughing throughout the whole thing
And a "cheap" MIG machine is almost always crappy and frustrating to weld with, it basically always end up with buying a mid-priced machine later anyway. SMAW on the other hand are of such basic construction that you can buy a Chinese non-brand and chances are they have hot start and anti stick these days. All that said, it depends on the work you plan to do. I have seen guys stick welding sheet metal, but that is showing off imho. If you plan to do alot of it just take the plunge and use a months salary on a good MIG.
You have passion for welding. And your advice is great. Keep it up. I have a stick welding and hire a Mig if I need it for sheet metal only to get better results.
I started with mig, learned big after that. Had NO use for stick....... Last year I got into stick.. Has many advantages in my opinion, I have Miller Syncrowave 250 tig, Miller 210 mig, 180i esab stick, Hobart ac/dc stick and thermal arc 95i. l find myself using the stick, more than the mig lately. I recommend people to learn to weld. It is a GREAT skill to have.
@@massimo79mmm Wire machines are mostly used on flat butt - the spaces onboard are too cramped & a power line must be connected by an electrician - stick welders drag their lines everywhere in a few minutes using machines would take hours since they are too heavy & large which require riggers & a electrician.
@@massimo79mmm Where I live getting gas for MIG and TIG is a hassle, and the Welders are waaay more expensive. I have 150$ Stick welder with 8$ pack of sticks (5kg or so) is definitely better than 500$ MIG machine with 15$ for the gas only.
@@obkf-too ok, but _normally_ a mig welding is cheaper. Obviously if you are in a tight place, you have no gas or you can't afford a mug welder, stick is a good choice
Thank your clearing this up for people! I'm a welder and honestly I've always found TRUE mig/mag more difficult than stick or even tig. Stick is so easy to maneuver and control while a mig gun is big and awkward. Your settings have to be on point on a mig rig, where as your stick machine has to be remotely close. Everyone who's ever done any real mig welding knows how complicated a mig machine is, changing wire thicknesses and other consumables etc. It no joke, hate it when people call it a hot glue gun. As to what learn first? STICK, stick opens so many opportunities. Good luck ya'll.
Thanks for your reply. I'm curious why you think so many other welders say mig is better than stick then? I've always used stick and I was going to switch to mig cause they make it sound so much better, but I'm reading comments on here that are making me think otherwise.
@@DaCake2 Hey, mig is alot cleaner and much more productive. You don't have to change electrodes or peel slack, also you're able to weld nearly any thickness with the same wire.
Having a welder work for me with upto 400kg of electrodes. I came to the conclusion you came. Shielded Metal Arc welding is cost effective, electrodes are common to find, the flexibility working off site is greater, and most of all, the machines are easy to find. I recently bought him single phase 290 amperes machine and happy to report that his machine stopped burning in 45°C as he ended up destroying too many of his machines using that 😊
Excellent down to earth presentation, Congratulations. It is obvious that at such a young age, you already have covered a lot of experiences. Your selection and diction of the English language to present the practicality of Stick, MIG and TIG welding. Best of all, it is a workshop atmosphere with no music which tend to annoy me. Well done young man!
As a hobby welder, I find MIG quite easy. I learned to weld using stick and a cheap inverter. Always welded with 6013 untill a profesional welder told me to stop using the cheap and bad electrodes amd that forced me to learn jow to use 7018. It was a very fast learning process because I was already welding big time. I have welded security doors, window protections, big garage/driveway doors, truck frame extensions, rocksliders, HD bumpers and a lot more things now. A month ago, I tried MIG for the first time and it was a breeze. Ofcourse, my friend (pro welder) made the setupnin the machine, calibrated everything and just handed me the gun, but I am quite good at figuring things out on my own, asking and investigating. I think that MIG is a wonderful option for hobby welders if they already know how to stick weld. Once you know you enjoy it and you are good at it, then go ahead and get a Mig Welder if you can afford it. Even better, get a digital multiprocess welder and sell the old stick inverter, you will not regret it. But I agree with you on the fact that the first machine should be a stick welder capable of operating with 110 and 220 volts and capable of around 200 amps. That is the sweet spot for me
BTW, how is it to have Authism and ADHD? I can just imagine it. I do suffer from ADHD myself and have no medication either, but if it is hard for me to overcome it sometimes, I wonder how you deal with both. It would be great to know and possibly quite helpful.
I think all your points are quite good! I am very glad I started with a small stick welder from HF about 2 years ago... Many frustrating welds, but I have also created some fantastic projects. I recently bought a Titanium MIG 170 and wowie.. The pleasure, the welds, the cleanness!! Highly advised to start with SMAW and then if you keep using the machine, go for a MIG.
I started with stick 30yrs ago and I think everyone should cause iteaches them how to watch rhe puddle and goes to control it. It gives them the basics to go ninto mig. Your right on what ur saying I just think u left a few things out. Keep up the good work. Herb smith from Jacksonville fl.
I respect the review. He is just a passionate guy. we need more expression like this in social media today instead of every trying be uppity and cool. The had so many valid point.
Thank you so much. I am an aeronautical engineering student and when i was taking Workshop 101 course i had a convo with my mechanics Professor about welders. When i asked him for advice, he told me the exact things you mentioned in this video. Thank you for easing our minds.
When I first decided to learn how to weld, I went and bought a core flux MIG welding machine and had nothing but fits with, couldn't get the hang of rotating while trying to weld there was a lot of spatter and kept wandering off track. I then went and bought a stick welder, first I bought a Chicago Electric for $150.00, and got 3/32" 6013 electrodes and I found it easier to weld than MIG, but I was having fits trying to keep a consistent arc. So I looked around and found an Amico stick welder for $140.00 and it's 160D, which means at 220 volts it can go up to 160amps at 110 volts it can go up to 130amps the Chicago electric that I bought at Harbor Freight was 90amps max. I get consistent arc and much better weld pools than with the Chicago Electric and it was cheaper. I have all the different sticks 7018, 7011, 6010, 6011 and 6013, well that may not be all the sticks but it's a good sampling, I like 6013 best for what I've been welding which is 1.5 angle at 0.25 thickness and 2" x 2" square tubing at 0.5 thickness. But anyway that's my experience, I like stick much better than MIG, yes it's hotter, but I got welding apron welding hats, beanies and welding jacket, I also have the heavy welding gloves, but I prefer MIG welding gloves, got better dexterity and I use the same hood that I used with MIG, it's an auto-dark helmet, that has the same batteries in it that it had 5 years ago when I bought it. Still works! 🖖😎⚒
I was recommended to go for a stick welder by local welder mate! I only need to weld stuff now and again and he, quite rightly, said the same at Mikl, plus if you don't use your MIG welder that often your lovely shinny spool of wire will degrade very quickly and not work properly! Stick welding is so simple and the machines are cheap as chips!
Stick took me months to get decent welds, with flux core, I got pretty good welds first use, it is tempting to just avoid stick, but the challenge hooks you. PS, if you can weld sheet metal without burning holes with stick, you are a great welder.
This video was very helpful and informative. I came here to get some beginner info on welding and I found this person very passionate about welding. I loved it. Looking forward to checking out your other videos.
I think i understand and learned stick welding faster then mig the only real problem I ran into while stick welding was getting the stick stuck in the metal i would weld but i quickly fixed that problem unlike mig welding which was a bit more difficult for me
I’m very new to welding but I recently hard faced a cheap cast iron anvil which I had to use stick welding to do. I really enjoyed doing it and I was quite proud of when I finished. My machine is a 200amp mig/mag/flux core/MMA, it’s a cheap one for about £200 (362 Australian dollars) but does what I need. You’ve got another subscriber.
Thanks man, those middle-of-the-pack multi-process machines are awesome. Mig has it's place, but for a lot of things, stick can't be beaten. Thank you for the support and i wis you the best of luck with your welding, God bless.
Another thing worth noting is that you can get away with using a cheap low quality stick welder, but a cheap mig (that's still more expensive than a stick) will often cause constant hassles and not last long.
could not agree more. I think most people think of " Gassless Flux Core " mig welder for their first choice, which to be honest it's like a broken solution. If you want to go flux core already, just go with stick welder then cuz they're not much different.
Never welded (yet) but looking to buy a machine and learn. Was put off with all the types, not knowing where to start. Thank you so much! I’m more than happy to start on an arc, then layer learn mig/tig. Just having fun in my shed, but always wished I knew welding. You were a brilliant showcase for starting correctly.
MIG is point and go. A bead on a plate is quite simple. Once you learn the processes then you should be sorted for picking it up for life. As an argument against the gas bottle, you can use flux cored mig wire, this gives you the same slag that needs chipped off when using stick.
I began with SMAW/ARC/STICK and later got a cheap flux core MIG. I've never run into something I couldn't do with ARC but I have found that unless the metal is perfect, MIG acts up and is difficult. Of course, preparation is always important with ARC as much as it is anything else. But you can's get 6011 MIG wire to stick some rusty parts together outside of a barn. MIG has its place and can be an amazingly clean and neat medium but SMAW/ARC/STICK is my go-to.
Right on man i weld aluminum stick welding with a pulse inverter and way much better than a spool gun i have no problems that i used to have for example the spool gets jamed contact tips burn i just weld all day
Not to mention if you get an inverter stick welder, you can reverse the polarity, hook up a bottle and run tig! Stick machines makes the most sense for a hobbyist. Yes, controlling the deposition whist moving the puddle is more difficult, but, with a little practice, most people can be successful. Good video, kid! Now get a fan for that hot box you call a shop... Pretty sure the Japanese used those sheds as torture chambers in WW2.
If you use anti heat with the 1/16 rod the anti heat will take the heat out of the surrounding sheet meat. It will help with the warping. Just trying to help
I'm new to welding , I've got an old Arlec weld mate buzz box that I bought second hand and is brilliant although if it fell out of a tree and hit you it would kill you due to its weight , I also have a Bossweld gasless fcaw and it's very fiddly to get a moderately good weld but when you nail it it's great especially on thin material but I do believe that if you can master stick welding then with a bit of tuition for each process you can weld with anything and not necessarily vice versa either
Great job on picking the hobby for cool kids! Buzzboxes are awesome man. Yes stick is the best to start most of the time. Good luck with your welding adventures and God bless.
Good video bud, thank you for the enthusiastic, and informative insight. I can tell youre a very knowledgable welder. Dont listen to the rude internet clowns that just go online to knock people down. Just keep doing you brother.. 🤘
i disagree, they commonly have very low build quality, are very expensive and have no real purpose besides covering up a lack of skill and preventing people from actually learning how to weld
@@MiklthePikl I have a Cigweld Weldskill 135 Mig and it is a very good little welder with good build quality and there are plenty of good videos on youtube to help you Mig Weld. I agree to the fact that cheap Chinese welders are junk. Not Everybody can Stick weld good enough to join metal properly Mig welding is a lot easier to learn to properly stick metal together.
@@CycloneDev I totally disagree. Stick is the classic and more challenging way to learn welding. You actually have to understand amperage, discontinuities, travel speed, rod angle, deposition, rod classifications, code, heat placement, the list goes on. But, you can also pick up a Flux Core machine, know nothing, lay a good looking bead & start calling yourself a Welder..
Stick welder: its cheap, simple and can found anywhere, even a single igbt stick welder machine only cost 30$, it have more penetrating power than other, but hard to use, a newbie will have hard time using this Tig : simple,clean and even can weld without using filler, the difficulty is average ,but cant weld gasless and penetrating power its so poor, you cant use this in thick steel, a newbie can tigweld in few days Mig : very good aplication on butt weld ,can do gas or gasless ,simple but very powerfull ,all car and motorcyle fabrication on my country using mig for welding, very easy aplication ,a newbie even a 7 year old boy can do a mig without sweat on his first day😂🔥 ,the minus its heavy, not portable, spatter more than stick when gasless, very high wattage use and more expensive than other Sorry if my english bad sir...😀 ,By the way im from indonesian, very good video you have sir ❤️
All good brother! appreciate your comment. Yes stick welding can be a little harder to learn than MIG but it is definitely worth it. TIG can be used on any thickness of metal with the right setup, it's just not practical, the penetration is about the same. TIG is very difficult to learn though, harder than stick and mig. Enjoy your day man, God bless :)
i agree mig is overly complicated the are a couple of advantages like prettier welds are easier with mig and once you have everything dialed in it is much faster "in certain settings"
Hey, new to welding - buying a welder soon. Watched a few videos and then came across this one. Thanks for taking the time to make the video, good opinions and info well presented. Keep it up.
I agree with you on the fact that stick is the right way to learn, but you can get flux core mig that in my opinion (I have welding experience with mig tig and stick) is easier to use, with stick there are so many more things than just a stick then u can weld, u have to strike and maintain the arc at the right height and speed and not stick the rod to the metal, I think stick is the better way to learn because if you can learn to stick well you can pick up a mig welder and you allready understand how to weld, arc speed and heat control. Mig is just for people that can't stick or tig weld so
I have a major gripe with flux core, It is far harder to see what you are doing, harder to learn, far more expensive and more complicated. It suffers from both the drawbacks of MIG and stick. I would never recommend self-shielded flux core.
No process is really better than the other. It all depends on what type of welding you are doing. If you are production welding, Mig is where it’s at. Unless you are talking exotic metals, medical prosthetics, than probably Tig. If you are welding off a truck, outside, in the field/Mobil, Stick is where it’s at. Also underwater welders use stick as well. Stick is really where the money is at for most high paid welders. I’m active duty military and have a side business welding in the evenings and on weekends. So I would say I’m semi professional. I have a truck rig and run a Miller Trailblazer 325 EFI. I would say 75% of my welding is done off my truck and I get to charge more per hour when I come out to a customer’s location to do a job. I do however run a Mig machine as well in my shop. Sometimes I have to repair or fab something up. If I can do that in my shop, it’s usually Mig. For that process I run a Miller Multimatic 255 which is also capable of spray arc mig, pulse Mig, DC Tig and stick. Even in my shop I occasionally run stick off the machine. If I just can’t clean a piece well enough or I can’t reach into a tight space with a Mig torch. I’m getting ready to dive into Tig. I just haven’t found a real need yet. I would say Stick should be what everyone should learn first. Not because it’s better, but because the skills you learn with Stick will carry over to all other processes. Because stick can be used on dirty, oily steel indoors or outdoors, from 18 gauge to very thick steel as thick as you can find, I would say it is more versatile. If I could only have one machine it would be stick. But I would not want to work on a production line using stick. Certainly not Tig. Now, if I’m welding something that has to be very strong and take a lot of shock. Say an implement or a trailer hitch or something, nothing beats stick with 7018. If you can learn Stick and Mig, you can handle most anything you come across. And you can get a multiprocess machine for on Amazon for $250. Tooliom seems like a decent machine on a budget. If you want to spend a little more, Everlast makes a great machine for a great value and the best Warrantee in the bussiness. 5 years!!! And still a quester of white my Multimatic 255 costs. I have a Tooliom 200A Tig/Stick machine I keep on my truck packed away so I can have a helper running a welder off my Trailblazer along side me if I need help. I hope my 2 cents helps newbies out there.
Impressive. My father is a welder and I'm thinking about a little arc welder inverter for small jobs and for myself and I agree with the versatility of using the rods.
Thanks for your comment Lostin, Yes go ahead and get one, once you are able to attach steel together it opens up a whole new world of being able to fix or create almost anything
As a full time welder working with dirty/rusted used oilfield pipe and sucker rod. Mig is the way to go. No way stick would benefit the company in sny way snd we have a couple bigger welders and when jt comes to convenience and speed mig is best option and also easier to work with in general. This video makes mig seem way more complicated than it is not to mention all the different types of Rod they have for stick welding. It all deoends on situation. Also mig welding sucks if there is any kind of wind
I have always been less coordinated than most folks in all activities Sports, athletics, music and horrible at multitasking with the exception of being able to keep still for long periods of time. Mig and Tig especially seemed impossible trying them out despite people saying it was so easy. I tried stick 10 years ago and was fairly good at it from the beginning. now I can weld with certainty almost every material I come across. slag peeling of your weld after you break an arc revealing an under cut free weld nicer than Mig can definitely be done.
I'm a brand-new hobbyist with welding starting out w/DC stick and watching this vid definitely relieved most all of my second-guessing & inner-skeptisism I've that I've slowly let accumulate from the (already) countless times the SMAW process has evoked intense frustration from me, leading me to intermittently ponder whether I would've been far better off going with one of the point & shoot options... Granted I wouldn't have given more than a cursory glance toward MIG and just gone with simpler flux-core because shielding gas logistics are a PITA/$$$ which this vid was a great reminder overall of the pure simplicity and versatility that's unmatched by any other process. I just gotta learn some good habits/technique into muscle memory is all since this process is also unmatched by the requisite finesse and manual dexterity needed to stick metal bits together with anything other than shitty, hideous globs of porous snot for weld beads like I've properly mastered, lol.
@@MiklthePikl Thanks bud, pretty sure I'll get there sooner or later once I put in the hours too & is a thought that's much easier to have confidence in once I became convinced that stick welding has a "bell-curve" of difficulty (at least for me) by being easy to pick up & start utilizing, but is fairly difficult to become proficient/competent at, but then is likely relatively easy to master once you reach that point... That's all just to say that patience is key!
Stick welding however is difficult to weld thin metal, even when you’re on the thin electrodes like 5/64th and the “spaghetti sticks” of 1/16th. If I’m welding anything 1/4” thick or bigger, I prefer stick. Thinner and I prefer MIG with .025 wire. Thinner than 1/16’ thick steel and I prefer TIG. That’s just me. I say get all three process machines one at a time. Build your tool collection slowly because it does get expensive. ...but it’s worth it in the end.
I agree. The thinnest material in the realm of possibility of welding with stick would be about 2mm/1/8in thick, and even that would be a challenge. I recommend tig for thin material, it saves countless headaches. You think filling holes with MIG is difficult? Gah lee try stick. In my opinion, MIG should be a later purchase, when the volume of work you want to get done increases enough for the hassle and cost of mig to be overshadowed by the deposition rate and time saved not having to chip the slag.
Always better to learn welding principles with Stick first. My dad use to tell me that they were saying that MIG would soon completely replace stick in the 1960's already. Stick is very reliable and is still going strong. Still mostly used for repairs in the field. Troubleshooting a MIG machine that isn't running right takes a lot of skill in itself and can be very frustrating. (Not taking anything away from MIG by the way)
Stick welding in my opinion is way better than mig. Stick is harder to learn than mig but they are both hard to master, when I was learning to stick weld I sat there for an hour welding my rod onto the table
Stick is harder than mig. That's why it's best to start with stick. It teaches you the basics of the puddle and it's the best process for heavy structural welding. Nothing beats a 7018.
which type of welding is the best in terms of longetivity for welding a 2mm thick Hot Rolled sheet and 5mm thick angle section. the HR sheet is to be welded to a 4' x2' frame made of 40mm x 40mm x 5mm angle section and this sheet - angle section welded board "ll 've to bear a load of around 500kg during rcc casting.
its going to be a little bit of a challenge stick welding 2mm hot rolled with stick, it would be less of a pain in the ass though because you wouldn't have to get it as clean, hot rolled has millscale. i would say it depends on how many you are making, if you are making 1, i'd go with stick. If the hot rolled sheet is going on top of the angle, i would use a 3.2mm/1/8 inch 7018/7016 rod, but if its going on the side to make a flat weld i'd use 2.5mm/3/16 in 7018/7016. both will work, but i suggest stick, its stronger and you wont have issues with strength. Make sure you run some test beads and be sure to use a low-hydrogen electrode just to be safe. I wouldn't trust 6013 for a heavy-load bearing application.
people are mad about this lol i agree to a point stick welding is alot cheaper to get started and somewhat easy to a point but still pretty hard but at the same time mig and tig have their uses to i would not say 1 is better than the other people they all are meant to do the same thing just different ways but what ever you like more and work with easier is what is better for you but for getting started i would say stick or mig would be the easiest stick is a bit more simple just hard to get good at fast unlike mig you can get decent in a few weeks
bought a electrode welder today but the sticks are expensive. and i dont know if i can weld aliminium frames with it i have no idea im confused by the electrode stick sizes 1.6mm and such should i buy 6030 1.6mm 2.5m?
I'm unsure of where you live but where i'm at rods are pretty expensive, about $30 for a 5kg pack of 6013s and $50 for a 5kg pack of 7016s. I always use 7016. No you can't weld aluminium frames unfortunately Here's a quick guide on stick electrode sizes: 1.6mm - VERY thin material, maybe 2mm and thinner 2.5mm - 2-3mm material 3.2mm - Everything else. These ones are the ones i always use. 6013 is called 'general purpose' and 7016 is called 'low hydrogen. 6013 is easier to learn on but isn't as strong. God bless brother
@@MiklthePiklthank you for your response could you tell me if a 300AM welder is useless or not? mine goes up to 300 but i dont know shat i would need it for
@@killerjay6755 All good brother, 300 amps is pretty much useless for stick welding, but can be alright for MIG. Most welding I do at my job is done close to 300 amps, we never typically change the settings, we just go faster on thinner metal. It works down to about 4mm steel. High amperage is also great for carbon-arc gouging, you just need a pretty powerful compressor to do it (CAG is typically done at 350+ amps) So while i doubt you will find much use out of it, 300 amps is handy to have. Using higher amperage burns through millscale and rust, and the faster travel speed makes your workpiece less hot. Have fun :)
ok question. theres another type of weld not mentioned here. no gas, flux core welding. this was the way I was thinking about starting, as its also cheap and can be pretty fast as its wire fed. what are your thoughts on it?
Hi Adam, I've made a whole video discussing Flux core welding: ruclips.net/video/ikt-HTYJuaw/видео.html . In summary i wouldn't recommend it, stick and MIG individually are far superior. Thanks for your comment :)
True!.... You've just nailed it Mate..! I'll go to stick... being confused which is which for sometime now, You've just explained what i really wanna hear.. Cheers mate!
A stick is cheaper to buy, cheaper to buy electrodes and don't have gas or tips. I personally have used all different types of welders but I just love MMA or stick. It works inside and out, is not effected by wind and they are portable.
Thanks you for a great advice, all I understood was it is better to get mig welder, it is still easier to work with, even it is more expensive. Can you recommend mig welder? I have never welded before)))
I want to start welding! But everyone keeps telling me to buy a mig, I can’t be assed with a bloody mig, after watching this I think I will go down the stick route.
I had been stick welding for a year and got the hang of it. Then I thought hey let's get a MIG cause it's cleaner and easier right... ? Wrong I ended back stick welding 😄
I was all about mig but I found some portable invertir welders for 100 buks. Being 110amp can't go wrong with that bu then I saw the acupocket 150. Stick welding it is. Thanks and keep it low
I’m interested in learning to weld , primarily mufflers, would stick work ?? I’m assuming if it’s a bit easier to learn I’ll also do a better quality job. Thank you !
All good man, TIG would be the best option, but if you are starting from scratch, stick would work with 1.6mm/1/16 inch 6013s or 6011s, but MIG would be easier because of the thin metal, it just depends how much hassle you are willing to go through. All good brother, God bless
I am welder more than 47 years I think for heavy duty job and put weight on it stick is the better ,,and for small work or light thickness sheets or Auto shop is Meg better and for Aluminum I’d Tig ,thank u ,,
What about welding .065" (~1.6mm) 1020 tubing for a DIY bike frame. I tried TIG, couldn't do it (yet). I do not own a mig/mag machine. I have got 2mm 6013 electrodes for stick. I've read their tensile strength is similar to that of the 1020 steel, however what about the heat affected zone? Will it hold up? It's a simple street bike, not an MTB or something but I want it to be sturdy nonetheless.
Unless you are VERY skilled with stick, i wouldn't suggest it. Don't go out and buy a MIG machine just yet. Tig is most likely your best option. Just keep practicing man. I understand how frustrating TIG is to learn but keep your head up man. and keep trying.
@@MiklthePikl Thanks bro. Guess I'm gonna use the 6013s to build myself a proper welding table then. My set-up now kinda sucks. And then practice TIG more. Nonetheless I still wonder how they did it in the old days before Tig and Mig. Most were lugged and brazed, but many were also at least partially welded, and they seem to hold up quite well too. I don't think it was all done with a gas torch?
@@westelaudio943 All good man, sounds great. Keep up the good work. Gas and stick welding were both around at about the same time, contrary to popular belief. Oxy welders were very skilled and could weld super thin material, as in WWI planes had to be produced.
Recientemente he adquirido una máquina de soldar inverter y 2 kg de electrodos 6013 (2mm y 2.5mm) es una gran satisfacción cada vez que puedo practicar. Ya hice mi primer parrilla con un rim de coche 😁
If you've ever welded car bodywork with an electrode welder then you will know the reason for using a mig welder, it means you get easy start strong smooth welds as against lumpy bird muck welds and blown holes. I find my electrode welder ideal for anything from 1/8" to 1" it will weld the heavy metals far better than the mig.
Thanks for your comment man, and if that is your experience, thanks for sharing, but i disagree with you. It takes skill to stick weld thin metal but it can be done. I've seen people weld metal under 1mm with a stick welder and 1.1mm/1/16in 6011.
I went with the 'logic' that.. Tig is hardest, start with that, then once you can weld 6 inches without dipping the tungsten, go to mig, then stick. Been welding for about 18 months now, been on stick for the last 2 weeks an darn it I think my idea was piss poor.......
Aye don't get discouraged man, we all get better by failing. I think starting like that is good if you don't have a financial restriction and have an anger management hotline on speed dial. I think dipping your toes in with stick and moving to tig once you get the fundamentals down might work. I suggest watching some stick welding videos by weldingtipsandtricks, you might be running into a technique issue which is holding you back. Anyway, God bless and good luck with your welding adventures, i hope it works out.
Just because a process is complex or "harder" to set up does not make it a better process.. as for penetration i can spray weld anything from 4mm to 20mm thick steel on my mig machine. So saying stick has more penetration is incredibly short sighted. You get what you pay for alot the time with welding machines which is a reason stick welders are very easy access to newbies because they work well on the simple projects and cost next to nothing but again that does not make a superior process.. All processes have their uses but advancement in mig/mag has allowed almost every welding job on the planet to be done on a mig/mag machine now providing you are trained for it while with stick you are pretty limited in terms of what material you can weld as no company is going to let you stick weld stainless or aluminium. Apart from that its a good video you did
Thats true, I regularly weld up to 40mm thick steel with MIG, but i think that point is taken a bit out of context. For the same amperage, you get more penetration with stick than MIG. MIG is fantastic for production work because of it's speed, but besides that it falls short. It is possible to weld Aluminium with MIG, but the process is very expensive, difficult and frustrating, often requiring a spool gun. If you think that almost every welding job on the planet can be done with MIG, try welding razor blades together (A standard TIG test for people in sheet metal and autobody employment). So yes, MIG does have it's place, but in my opinion stick is better for hobbyists. Thanks for the support bro, God bless :)
@@MiklthePikl Stick gives off the false impression that it uses less amps but in reality your find it uses around the same and depending on the machine even more.. reason for that is because stick often runs at a slightly higher voltage than mig so naturally mig will require the amps to be higher. I would love to know how you are welding 40mm on mig because that is done on a 500a+ mig set. Mines a 350a Fronius but i wouldn't weld more than 20mm on one pass. the most i would do is 30mm on a multi pass with a open root. And there is alot of miss information about mig welding aluminium.. for the diy hobby guy then yes a spool gun is your only chance of welding a 5356 alu filler let alone a 4043. But on decent machines with good feed rollers (even 2 roll) your find that they can feed aluminium just fine so long you change the rollers and liner. Miller/lincoln/fronius all make high quality machines with decent feed rolling systems that are made to handle wires other than solid steel. But as for actually welding it. You actually ment to spray or pulse when you doing aluminium through a mig process.. your find you be very limited to what you can weld using a short arc/dip transfer process because as you probably know that is normally the only mig process a single phase welder can do most the time. Dip transfer on aluminium opens up a can of worms to long term weld defects that will compromise it over time. But push pull guns exist to help with alu welding as well especially at distances over 20m. But for me personally the only time i stick is if its something that needs capping outside on a tractor attachment.. the actual penetration i leave to a mig.
@@Migman2020 Sure man, you're right about the aluminium, it's not worth getting into such specifics about that anyway. As for the 40mm steel MIG welds, We do a single prep with typically 3 runs on one side, backgrind and another 3-5 on the other side at around 250 amps.
@@MiklthePikl 250a is borderline spray which is what you should use for anything thicker than 15mm tbh short circuit has its limits and they show up very well through destructive bend tests
I get a lot of the same kind of question so i'll do a FAQ
Q: Do you even know how to weld?
A: I started welding when i was 14 on a DC stick machine (i'm 16 now). Several people have hired me to repair things such as broken trailers. Recently, I spent a few months recently at a multi-million dollar company doing heavy MIG and flux core (300-400 amps) welding on heavy gauge steel, regularly completing heavy equipment repairs, I've also worked at a high-production trailer business welding load-bearing parts out of 1-2mm thick steel using MIG. I've burned through hundreds of stick rods and thousands of meters of MIG wire. I'll let you come to your own conclusions.
Q: I didn't see any welding in the video, whats up with that?
A: I didn't have to weld to get the point across.
Q: What about flux core, doesn't it not need gas?
A: Flux core is has both of the drawbacks of stick and mig with few of the benefits. On a small scale, Self shielded flux core is expensive, hard to learn, doesn't give a good result and isn't portable. I see countless people learn on flux core and struggle for years. Check out my video here: ruclips.net/video/ikt-HTYJuaw/видео.html
Q: Why are you sweating so much?
A: its 45 degrees Celsius in my shop during the Autumn
Q: What about tig?
A: Tig is great, and better than stick in many ways. If you can spend enough money to buy a tig machiene, not to mention the gas, tungsten, accesories and million other things, learn how to tig weld, clean up every part you need to weld (including wiping down everything with acetone) and buy a big enough setup to tackle things that a hobbyist runs into, good on you. I made this video for people who just want to get some welds done without a lot of fuss. Check out my video about TIG here: ruclips.net/video/SqPhna_sHRg/видео.html
Q: Why so much rambling?
A: I am Autistic and have ADHD and don't take medication. I hope i can build my video styles around being enthusiastic.
Q: Stick welding is not better than Mig, why would it Mig be used at all if it was worse?
A: This video highlights the view of a hobbyist who wants to build things without a lot of hassle. Mig is great for production work and welding shops, who's high volume requires on the speed of Mig, and who can deal with the unreliability.
I was honestly wondering why you were sweating so much. 🤷🏻♂️. Good video dude I’m from SoCal and couldn’t find some info you provided. I’m new to learning about welding.
😂 😂 😂 😂 😂
@@March808 Haha thanks bro, glad you enjoyed. Good luck with your welding bro! Learning will put you in a very small set of people ahead of everyone in the world.
@Jackson O'Connor I can tell you are telling me someone else's information. Anyone can pick up a MIG gun and lay down a bead, but because of that, people who start with MIG never figure out the less obvious details that stick teaches you. Far too often i see people who have been MIG welding for years who are still struggling. This NEVER happens with stick welding, because people who learn to stick weld actually have to know what they are doing.
Also about self-shielded flux core. It's FAR harder than you think. Anyone who says it's easy has never actually learned how to weld. SSFCAW is a joke, anyone who actually needs to make something uses Dual-sheilded flux core. It's more expensive, more complicated, gives you a worse result, harder to see what you are doing, and overall way more of a pain in the ass than stick.
And anyway, even if MIG and self shielded flux core were really as easy to learn as people say, they are FAR less versatile than stick (SMAW/MMAW). You can't hard face with wire feed, if you want to weld outside you need to attempt to change wire and flip polarity which is a huge waste of time and wire, not to mention changing the rollers and changing everything back again. You have to deal with a massive and heavy machine that you have to try and haul outside. My little inverter stick welder weighs less than 10kg. It fits on a car seat, and i can fit it in a bag with a 1kg pack of electrodes. You ever tried hauling around a bottle of gas, a 15kg spool of wire and a massive machine? If you do flux core it's slightly better, but to get any sort of reasonable price you have to buy massive spools of wire which weigh a ton. The only way of not dealing with all this hassle would be to weld inside, but last time i checked, most hobbyists don't have a large workshop or empty garage they can use to weld in, and choose to weld outside instead. Good luck living past 30 trying to FC weld inside.
Maybe you should have just watched the video instead of saying such a blanket statement that you read out of a textbook. Pick up a stinger and do some stick welding, Once you can play with the big dogs you can talk.
@Jackson O'Connor (i'm going to respond to both of your comments at once) I apologize for the snarky comments that I made before, i didn't mean to take a shot at your welding skill. What matters is that we both love welding and are burning rod and wire, so good luck with it man and God bless.
I think we aren't on the same page, what i was talking about were HOBBYIST welders, not professional rig/field welders. For me to argue my point in terms of rig welders doesn't make any sense as they weren't the population i was talking about. The video was made for people looking at buying their first welder, and i recommended stick as something to start with, not that MIG welding was inferior.
MIG welding typically isn't used because it's easier, it's used because its cheaper and faster for big companies. On structural work where everything is over-built and it's not absolutely critical that the product be maximum strength, MIG is used. I've been welding structural steel as a job for the past year. I think we can both agree that stick welds are stronger than MIG, whether they are stronger than flux core is a different debate, but stick welds typically get more penetration and TYPICALLY have better mechanical properties. This is why stick welding is STILL used to weld pipe together all around the globe. (I'm not saying all pipe is welded with stick, im saying it's still used)
When you mentioned 'All you have to do is watch the puddle and your work and travel angle', i'm sorry to say, but that is what all welding is essentially. Holding steady and maintaining a consistent travel angle is by far the hardest part of Stick and wire-feed welding.
I'm unsure why you think my disliking for MIG welding as a beginner process means that MIG was hard for me to learn. I'm sure you have a lot of experience too, but i've spent at a minimum over 200 hours actually under the hood MIG welding. MIG was a breeze for me to learn because i learned stick first. it's sort of like manual drivers become better at automatics than people who started automatics in the first place, because it's harder and teaches you things you wouldn't learn otherwise.
Stick is FAR more VERSATILE than wire-feed welding, but that doesn't make it better. You can do more with stick, just far slower than wire-feed.
Self-shielded flux core is a joke in terms of the kind of product you get on a budget. Yes, it absolutely has its place, just not for beginners in MY opinion.
I never said DSFC was less expensive than flux core, i said that stick was. And idk why you are assuming i've never purchased a gas cylinder before, as a matter of fact i have 2. One for tig and one for stick. I talked about it in the video, idk if you actually watched it.
Once again regarding you talking about 'field welders' (rig welders), it's something i never mentioned. That's a completely different animal that i'm not willing to wrestle with yet. So don't think i've mentioned anything to do with rig welding.
Gas bottles aren't that big? The smaller size of Gas bottle typically used weighs around 50kg.
The company pays for your wire? What company? I'm talking about hobbyists man, you clearly could have understood that if you watched the video.
'Finally, as I didnt insult your intelligence, dont try and insult mine by telling me that the knowledge I've acquired from personal experience is from a textbook.'
So, if it's YOUR personal experience that stick is harder than MIG, how does that apply to anyone else?
Finally man, i've never claimed to know everything. In fact. i boast about how LITTLE i know rather than how much. I've been welding for between 8 and 10 hours a day for over 5 months totalled up in the past year. I think that gives me at least SOME level of understanding and at least the possibility of my opinion being valid, but i've NEVER mentioned that i know anything compared to men who have over 20 years of experience. Hell, they are morons compared to people who are retiring who have been welding since they were a kid.
I think you are seeing what i'm saying far more black and white than the way i intended it. All kinds of welding have their place, but for HOBBYISTS, I (as in me) think that stick welding is a better option to START WITH.
I don't know you personally, but i don't want to start any bad blood. We are just two people who both love welding and that's what matters. Stick, MIG, TIG, OXY, FC, doesn't matter, as long as we are welding. Enjoy your day brother.
Can't understand people giving shit to this kid - he's so into it and his passion is oozing out! Plus, he's not wrong about the subject. Keep up the good work, mate!
Ayyyyy thanks my man! God bless
People need to tear him down to make themselves look good. Forget them the more they comment it is actual good for him as RUclips only see more activity on video and will see promote the Vedic event more and recommend his video. Just like 👍 the f*ck out of both good and bad comments and move on by making more welding videos!!
@@evilgrin123 thing is as a welder.. the amount of jobs i have that is basically sorting out someone else's shit attempt at welding is mad.. There so many welders out there who know fuck all about welding to the point its almost dangerous.. I have seen people get sent to hospital because of failing stair cases or cars been damaged by gates falling of their welded hinges etc.. all done by newbs who watch youtube videos and think they experts and it really makes my blood boil because people can die from bad welding.. Not saying this guy in the video knows nothing.. he does know some welding but is misinformed and i always take my time in telling him exactly why that is.. check my comments and your see what i mean.. got nothing against him.. i just want to make sure that if hes doing videos then he needs to be telling the facts
Is arguements are dumb, saying "you need several types of gas" and comparing the price of a used 2nd hand stick welder vs a retail mig. His arguement there is so stupid, that I can't believe he does not realize it.
@@kevinragsdale6256 Yeah i tried to explain that to him but he fell on deaf ears.. typical diy "welder"
Mans absolutely sweating from the outrage.
Lmao
Haha
Agreened
I was wondering whether to get a stick welding machine or a mig welding machine for home projects. Your explanation just sealed the deal. I'm gonna go for stick welding. You have helped a lot. Thanks.
Any time man, i'm glad to help. I wish you the best of luck with your welding adventures!
@Jackson O'Connor I'm going to school for welding. We started off on 1/8 inch rods. And actually it's really fun.
@@christopherrasmussen8446 Have you tried MIG welding yet? Was curious which you thought was easier.
Me too, stick. I'm considering a 20-75 110 v unit.. is 75 big enough or do I need around 125 A.
I have stick, mig and tig all really nice miller machines and I use stick 90% of the time.
Same here man XD
Not an indoor sport tho, as a classic said.
@@1u5t1n Yep
It's so crazy, cause almost every video I've found and article I read steers people towards mig. They say it's best for beginners, better for garage work and has more uses. But now I'm seeing your reply and this video and it's making me question it all. Why do you think people are so against stick?
Welder here. MIG is king for mass production work on a wide range of metal thicknesses in a factory or shop (basically indoor) setting. That said, stick is an ancient art with unlimited applications. It’s slower, it’s dirtier, it’s inefficient and it’s hotter, but my advice to any young welder is to learn stick first and become pretty good at it. That means no undercut, nice slag peels in any position, and being able to run verticals with good tie-ins/restarts. You’ll not only learn the basics of most other welding processes, but you’ll impress the old-timers as well...and that can take you a long way.
I'm liking this comment so more people see it. I totally agree with you. With a large scale, the slower travel speed, time spent chipping slag and the wasted nubs of the electrodes all add up. That said, changing gas cylinders and spools of wire constantly, especially on an old machine can drive you crazy. I just finished 14 weeks of work as a mig welder (Typical flat and horizontal at 300-400 amps.
@@MiklthePikl Thanks...I currently run pulsed MiG at my job and getting set up, making sure the gas is exact, putting in wire and running a few beads to make sure I’m dialed in take up to an hour for me. I sorely miss just being able to stick in an electrode, adjust my amps and start burning. Oh well.
@@jakefranklin89 Yeah man, I feel you. Good luck anyway
I'm a frequent stick and mig welder. I agree totally with your video. There mig system of welding has so any variables, it it truly trick. Stick or arc welding is simple and reliable, much cheaper and easier than a mig (Especially for the beginner),. Your spoken words saying, ;stick is not fussy' spot on.
I would always recommend stick first, it's simple, cheap and you don't need to buy a gas cylinder.
Well explained.
Thanks for the comment brother, God bless
New hobbyist here and ready to buy a mig. I appreciate you putting this out there. I will definitely start researching stick welding and your not kidding the mig/tig stuff is way expensive even for a cheap setup.
BTW your impressions is exactly how I imagine most people on the internet speak great video had me laughing throughout the whole thing
Any time man! i appreciate the support and God bless
And a "cheap" MIG machine is almost always crappy and frustrating to weld with, it basically always end up with buying a mid-priced machine later anyway. SMAW on the other hand are of such basic construction that you can buy a Chinese non-brand and chances are they have hot start and anti stick these days.
All that said, it depends on the work you plan to do. I have seen guys stick welding sheet metal, but that is showing off imho. If you plan to do alot of it just take the plunge and use a months salary on a good MIG.
Get this guy some water ASAP!!!!!
It's hot down undah!
My first welder was a MIG and I agree that it was a mistake to get before a Stick welder.
You have passion for welding. And your advice is great. Keep it up. I have a stick welding and hire a Mig if I need it for sheet metal only to get better results.
Thanks brother, God bless. Yes that is a great way of doing things, MIG has its place.
I started with mig, learned big after that. Had NO use for stick....... Last year I got into stick.. Has many advantages in my opinion, I have Miller Syncrowave 250 tig, Miller 210 mig, 180i esab stick, Hobart ac/dc stick and thermal arc 95i. l find myself using the stick, more than the mig lately. I recommend people to learn to weld. It is a GREAT skill to have.
yeah man! i wish you the best and God bless
@@MiklthePikl thanks mate. keep up the good work
Stick welding is huge in the shipyards. Cheap, easy, fast, and it gets into the tight spaces.
Cheap? Fast?
Absolutely no.
The deposition rate is lower, and the cost of sticks is much higher
@@massimo79mmm Wire machines are mostly used on flat butt - the spaces onboard are too cramped & a power line must be connected by an electrician - stick welders drag their lines everywhere in a few minutes using machines would take hours since they are too heavy & large which require riggers & a electrician.
@@massimo79mmm Where I live getting gas for MIG and TIG is a hassle, and the Welders are waaay more expensive. I have 150$ Stick welder with 8$ pack of sticks (5kg or so) is definitely better than 500$ MIG machine with 15$ for the gas only.
@@obkf-too ok, but _normally_ a mig welding is cheaper. Obviously if you are in a tight place, you have no gas or you can't afford a mug welder, stick is a good choice
@@massimo79mmm Yeah, obviously it depends on the place you live in.
Thank your clearing this up for people! I'm a welder and honestly I've always found TRUE mig/mag more difficult than stick or even tig.
Stick is so easy to maneuver and control while a mig gun is big and awkward. Your settings have to be on point on a mig rig, where as your stick machine has to be remotely close. Everyone who's ever done any real mig welding knows how complicated a mig machine is, changing wire thicknesses and other consumables etc.
It no joke, hate it when people call it a hot glue gun.
As to what learn first? STICK, stick opens so many opportunities. Good luck ya'll.
Hell yeah man, couldn't have said it better. Good luck and God bless.
Thanks for your reply. I'm curious why you think so many other welders say mig is better than stick then? I've always used stick and I was going to switch to mig cause they make it sound so much better, but I'm reading comments on here that are making me think otherwise.
@@DaCake2 Hey, mig is alot cleaner and much more productive. You don't have to change electrodes or peel slack, also you're able to weld nearly any thickness with the same wire.
@@DaCake2mig is a great process for working on cars and stuff, and it's also a much fast process
Having a welder work for me with upto 400kg of electrodes. I came to the conclusion you came.
Shielded Metal Arc welding is cost effective, electrodes are common to find, the flexibility working off site is greater, and most of all, the machines are easy to find.
I recently bought him single phase 290 amperes machine and happy to report that his machine stopped burning in 45°C as he ended up destroying too many of his machines using that 😊
Excellent down to earth presentation, Congratulations. It is obvious that at such a young age, you already have covered a lot of experiences. Your selection and diction of the English language to present the practicality of Stick, MIG and TIG welding. Best of all, it is a workshop atmosphere with no music which tend to annoy me. Well done young man!
As a hobby welder, I find MIG quite easy. I learned to weld using stick and a cheap inverter. Always welded with 6013 untill a profesional welder told me to stop using the cheap and bad electrodes amd that forced me to learn jow to use 7018. It was a very fast learning process because I was already welding big time. I have welded security doors, window protections, big garage/driveway doors, truck frame extensions, rocksliders, HD bumpers and a lot more things now. A month ago, I tried MIG for the first time and it was a breeze. Ofcourse, my friend (pro welder) made the setupnin the machine, calibrated everything and just handed me the gun, but I am quite good at figuring things out on my own, asking and investigating. I think that MIG is a wonderful option for hobby welders if they already know how to stick weld. Once you know you enjoy it and you are good at it, then go ahead and get a Mig Welder if you can afford it. Even better, get a digital multiprocess welder and sell the old stick inverter, you will not regret it. But I agree with you on the fact that the first machine should be a stick welder capable of operating with 110 and 220 volts and capable of around 200 amps. That is the sweet spot for me
BTW, how is it to have Authism and ADHD? I can just imagine it. I do suffer from ADHD myself and have no medication either, but if it is hard for me to overcome it sometimes, I wonder how you deal with both. It would be great to know and possibly quite helpful.
I think all your points are quite good! I am very glad I started with a small stick welder from HF about 2 years ago... Many frustrating welds, but I have also created some fantastic projects. I recently bought a Titanium MIG 170 and wowie.. The pleasure, the welds, the cleanness!! Highly advised to start with SMAW and then if you keep using the machine, go for a MIG.
I started with stick 30yrs ago and I think everyone should cause iteaches them how to watch rhe puddle and goes to control it. It gives them the basics to go ninto mig. Your right on what ur saying I just think u left a few things out. Keep up the good work. Herb smith from Jacksonville fl.
I respect the review. He is just a passionate guy. we need more expression like this in social media today instead of every trying be uppity and cool. The had so many valid point.
The way you explained is absolutely natural. Good video.
Thank you so much. I am an aeronautical engineering student and when i was taking Workshop 101 course i had a convo with my mechanics Professor about welders.
When i asked him for advice, he told me the exact things you mentioned in this video. Thank you for easing our minds.
When I first decided to learn how to weld, I went and bought a core flux MIG welding machine and had nothing but fits with, couldn't get the hang of rotating while trying to weld there was a lot of spatter and kept wandering off track. I then went and bought a stick welder, first I bought a Chicago Electric for $150.00, and got 3/32" 6013 electrodes and I found it easier to weld than MIG, but I was having fits trying to keep a consistent arc. So I looked around and found an Amico stick welder for $140.00 and it's 160D, which means at 220 volts it can go up to 160amps at 110 volts it can go up to 130amps the Chicago electric that I bought at Harbor Freight was 90amps max. I get consistent arc and much better weld pools than with the Chicago Electric and it was cheaper. I have all the different sticks 7018, 7011, 6010, 6011 and 6013, well that may not be all the sticks but it's a good sampling, I like 6013 best for what I've been welding which is 1.5 angle at 0.25 thickness and 2" x 2" square tubing at 0.5 thickness. But anyway that's my experience, I like stick much better than MIG, yes it's hotter, but I got welding apron welding hats, beanies and welding jacket, I also have the heavy welding gloves, but I prefer MIG welding gloves, got better dexterity and I use the same hood that I used with MIG, it's an auto-dark helmet, that has the same batteries in it that it had 5 years ago when I bought it. Still works! 🖖😎⚒
Thanks for your story man!
Flux core is extremely easy to use. It has all the pros of mig/mag, while still being very simple to use
I was recommended to go for a stick welder by local welder mate! I only need to weld stuff now and again and he, quite rightly, said the same at Mikl, plus if you don't use your MIG welder that often your lovely shinny spool of wire will degrade very quickly and not work properly! Stick welding is so simple and the machines are cheap as chips!
Stick took me months to get decent welds, with flux core, I got pretty good welds first use, it is tempting to just avoid stick, but the challenge hooks you. PS, if you can weld sheet metal without burning holes with stick, you are a great welder.
This video was very helpful and informative. I came here to get some beginner info on welding and I found this person very passionate about welding. I loved it. Looking forward to checking out your other videos.
It's a pleasure! Thank you for your comment and i wish you the best with your welding.
thanks,
got a mig welder a while back (flux core, so no gas bottle) but will be looking at getting an inverter stick welder, Thanks!
I think i understand and learned stick welding faster then mig the only real problem I ran into while stick welding was getting the stick stuck in the metal i would weld but i quickly fixed that problem unlike mig welding which was a bit more difficult for me
I found my new favorite RUclips video.
I’m very new to welding but I recently hard faced a cheap cast iron anvil which I had to use stick welding to do. I really enjoyed doing it and I was quite proud of when I finished. My machine is a 200amp mig/mag/flux core/MMA, it’s a cheap one for about £200 (362 Australian dollars) but does what I need. You’ve got another subscriber.
Thanks man, those middle-of-the-pack multi-process machines are awesome. Mig has it's place, but for a lot of things, stick can't be beaten. Thank you for the support and i wis you the best of luck with your welding, God bless.
Kid u are so right , damn it , I hate to admit it . I am getting a stick welder , getting on line Amazon right now .
Saludos from El Salvador .
Ahahaha thanks brother, Good luck with your welding!
Another thing worth noting is that you can get away with using a cheap low quality stick welder, but a cheap mig (that's still more expensive than a stick) will often cause constant hassles and not last long.
could not agree more. I think most people think of " Gassless Flux Core " mig welder for their first choice, which to be honest it's like a broken solution. If you want to go flux core already, just go with stick welder then cuz they're not much different.
Exactly man
Never welded (yet) but looking to buy a machine and learn. Was put off with all the types, not knowing where to start. Thank you so much! I’m more than happy to start on an arc, then layer learn mig/tig. Just having fun in my shed, but always wished I knew welding. You were a brilliant showcase for starting correctly.
MIG is point and go.
A bead on a plate is quite simple.
Once you learn the processes then you should be sorted for picking it up for life.
As an argument against the gas bottle, you can use flux cored mig wire, this gives you the same slag that needs chipped off when using stick.
Excellent job, you made me select a stick welder
Thanks brother! Hope your learning goes well, maybe check out my 'How to get good at stick welding video' for some tips :) God bless
I began with SMAW/ARC/STICK and later got a cheap flux core MIG. I've never run into something I couldn't do with ARC but I have found that unless the metal is perfect, MIG acts up and is difficult. Of course, preparation is always important with ARC as much as it is anything else. But you can's get 6011 MIG wire to stick some rusty parts together outside of a barn. MIG has its place and can be an amazingly clean and neat medium but SMAW/ARC/STICK is my go-to.
This is hands down the best comparison on the internet.
Thanks brother
Right on man i weld aluminum stick welding with a pulse inverter and way much better than a spool gun i have no problems that i used to have for example the spool gets jamed contact tips burn i just weld all day
Sounds great brother! thanks for your comment
When preworkout kicks in
Not to mention if you get an inverter stick welder, you can reverse the polarity, hook up a bottle and run tig! Stick machines makes the most sense for a hobbyist. Yes, controlling the deposition whist moving the puddle is more difficult, but, with a little practice, most people can be successful.
Good video, kid!
Now get a fan for that hot box you call a shop... Pretty sure the Japanese used those sheds as torture chambers in WW2.
🤣
If you use anti heat with the 1/16 rod the anti heat will take the heat out of the surrounding sheet meat. It will help with the warping. Just trying to help
Clear, informative, passionate, down to earth, sensible advice that will save people money and help them. Like a lot. Thanks
Any time bro, thanks for the support and God bless
For me, as new to this job, I prefer to master the stick weld first and when you want more complicated and challenging, try TIG.
yep
Great explanation I haven't heard anywhere else! you've convinced me to start by getting into stick welding. Thanks!
any time bro! i'm glad to help :), good luck with your welding!
I'm new to welding , I've got an old Arlec weld mate buzz box that I bought second hand and is brilliant although if it fell out of a tree and hit you it would kill you due to its weight , I also have a Bossweld gasless fcaw and it's very fiddly to get a moderately good weld but when you nail it it's great especially on thin material but I do believe that if you can master stick welding then with a bit of tuition for each process you can weld with anything and not necessarily vice versa either
Great job on picking the hobby for cool kids! Buzzboxes are awesome man. Yes stick is the best to start most of the time. Good luck with your welding adventures and God bless.
Good video bud, thank you for the enthusiastic, and informative insight. I can tell youre a very knowledgable welder. Dont listen to the rude internet clowns that just go online to knock people down. Just keep doing you brother.. 🤘
You can get Gasless Flux Core wire and a less powerful machine (e.g. Cigweld Weldskill 135 Mig) would be perfectly enough for the hobbyist.
i disagree, they commonly have very low build quality, are very expensive and have no real purpose besides covering up a lack of skill and preventing people from actually learning how to weld
@@MiklthePikl I have a Cigweld Weldskill 135 Mig and it is a very good little welder with good build quality and there are plenty of good videos on youtube to help you Mig Weld. I agree to the fact that cheap Chinese welders are junk. Not Everybody can Stick weld good enough to join metal properly Mig welding is a lot easier to learn to properly stick metal together.
@@CycloneDev I totally disagree. Stick is the classic and more challenging way to learn welding. You actually have to understand amperage, discontinuities, travel speed, rod angle, deposition, rod classifications, code, heat placement, the list goes on. But, you can also pick up a Flux Core machine, know nothing, lay a good looking bead & start calling yourself a Welder..
Stick welder: its cheap, simple and can found anywhere, even a single igbt stick welder machine only cost 30$, it have more penetrating power than other, but hard to use, a newbie will have hard time using this
Tig : simple,clean and even can weld without using filler, the difficulty is average ,but cant weld gasless and penetrating power its so poor, you cant use this in thick steel, a newbie can tigweld in few days
Mig : very good aplication on butt weld ,can do gas or gasless ,simple but very powerfull ,all car and motorcyle fabrication on my country using mig for welding, very easy aplication ,a newbie even a 7 year old boy can do a mig without sweat on his first day😂🔥 ,the minus its heavy, not portable, spatter more than stick when gasless, very high wattage use and more expensive than other
Sorry if my english bad sir...😀 ,By the way im from indonesian, very good video you have sir ❤️
All good brother! appreciate your comment.
Yes stick welding can be a little harder to learn than MIG but it is definitely worth it.
TIG can be used on any thickness of metal with the right setup, it's just not practical, the penetration is about the same. TIG is very difficult to learn though, harder than stick and mig.
Enjoy your day man, God bless :)
i agree mig is overly complicated the are a couple of advantages like prettier welds are easier with mig and once you have everything dialed in it is much faster "in certain settings"
Yes i agree
Hey, new to welding - buying a welder soon. Watched a few videos and then came across this one.
Thanks for taking the time to make the video, good opinions and info well presented. Keep it up.
All good man! have fun and good luck, welding is an incredible skill to have. God bless
MIG IS REAL GOOD FOR PRODUCTION WELDING.. BUT YOU ARE RIGHT...
Haha thanks man, yes that's what MIG is for, production settings.
I agree with you on the fact that stick is the right way to learn, but you can get flux core mig that in my opinion (I have welding experience with mig tig and stick) is easier to use, with stick there are so many more things than just a stick then u can weld, u have to strike and maintain the arc at the right height and speed and not stick the rod to the metal, I think stick is the better way to learn because if you can learn to stick well you can pick up a mig welder and you allready understand how to weld, arc speed and heat control. Mig is just for people that can't stick or tig weld so
I have a major gripe with flux core, It is far harder to see what you are doing, harder to learn, far more expensive and more complicated. It suffers from both the drawbacks of MIG and stick. I would never recommend self-shielded flux core.
I’ve been bouncing back and forth between arc and mig. You finally convinced me on arc, thank you.
All good man, Glad you found the light side XD
No process is really better than the other. It all depends on what type of welding you are doing. If you are production welding, Mig is where it’s at. Unless you are talking exotic metals, medical prosthetics, than probably Tig. If you are welding off a truck, outside, in the field/Mobil, Stick is where it’s at. Also underwater welders use stick as well. Stick is really where the money is at for most high paid welders.
I’m active duty military and have a side business welding in the evenings and on weekends. So I would say I’m semi professional. I have a truck rig and run a Miller Trailblazer 325 EFI. I would say 75% of my welding is done off my truck and I get to charge more per hour when I come out to a customer’s location to do a job. I do however run a Mig machine as well in my shop. Sometimes I have to repair or fab something up. If I can do that in my shop, it’s usually Mig. For that process I run a Miller Multimatic 255 which is also capable of spray arc mig, pulse Mig, DC Tig and stick. Even in my shop I occasionally run stick off the machine. If I just can’t clean a piece well enough or I can’t reach into a tight space with a Mig torch. I’m getting ready to dive into Tig. I just haven’t found a real need yet.
I would say Stick should be what everyone should learn first. Not because it’s better, but because the skills you learn with Stick will carry over to all other processes. Because stick can be used on dirty, oily steel indoors or outdoors, from 18 gauge to very thick steel as thick as you can find, I would say it is more versatile. If I could only have one machine it would be stick. But I would not want to work on a production line using stick. Certainly not Tig. Now, if I’m welding something that has to be very strong and take a lot of shock. Say an implement or a trailer hitch or something, nothing beats stick with 7018. If you can learn Stick and Mig, you can handle most anything you come across. And you can get a multiprocess machine for on Amazon for $250. Tooliom seems like a decent machine on a budget. If you want to spend a little more, Everlast makes a great machine for a great value and the best Warrantee in the bussiness. 5 years!!! And still a quester of white my Multimatic 255 costs. I have a Tooliom 200A Tig/Stick machine I keep on my truck packed away so I can have a helper running a welder off my Trailblazer along side me if I need help. I hope my 2 cents helps newbies out there.
Great video young man! I appreciate the fact that you took the time to make the video in a hot shed. You are a great instructor.
Thank you brother, God bless!
Impressive. My father is a welder and I'm thinking about a little arc welder inverter for small jobs and for myself and I agree with the versatility of using the rods.
Thanks for your comment Lostin, Yes go ahead and get one, once you are able to attach steel together it opens up a whole new world of being able to fix or create almost anything
As a full time welder working with dirty/rusted used oilfield pipe and sucker rod. Mig is the way to go. No way stick would benefit the company in sny way snd we have a couple bigger welders and when jt comes to convenience and speed mig is best option and also easier to work with in general. This video makes mig seem way more complicated than it is not to mention all the different types of Rod they have for stick welding. It all deoends on situation. Also mig welding sucks if there is any kind of wind
All this guy said is 100% true! Keep up!
But I would recommend starting with 6013
Thanks brother, 6013 is cheap and the beads from it look great but it is:
1: Very difficult to see the puddle
2: Hard to weld vertical
@@MiklthePikl indeed the pudle is hard to see but vertically if you go up instead of down it gets a by easier
@@clips8615 True, but you have to be pretty skilled to weld vertical up with 6013
@@MiklthePikl indeed im training to do it 2 day in a row
That's great man! keep it up.
I have always been less coordinated than most folks in all activities Sports, athletics, music and horrible at multitasking with the exception of being able to keep still for long periods of time. Mig and Tig especially seemed impossible trying them out despite people saying it was so easy. I tried stick 10 years ago and was fairly good at it from the beginning. now I can weld with certainty almost every material I come across. slag peeling of your weld after you break an arc revealing an under cut free weld nicer than Mig can definitely be done.
That's great bro, Keep up the good work
I'm a brand-new hobbyist with welding starting out w/DC stick and watching this vid definitely relieved most all of my second-guessing & inner-skeptisism I've that I've slowly let accumulate from the (already) countless times the SMAW process has evoked intense frustration from me, leading me to intermittently ponder whether I would've been far better off going with one of the point & shoot options... Granted I wouldn't have given more than a cursory glance toward MIG and just gone with simpler flux-core because shielding gas logistics are a PITA/$$$ which this vid was a great reminder overall of the pure simplicity and versatility that's unmatched by any other process. I just gotta learn some good habits/technique into muscle memory is all since this process is also unmatched by the requisite finesse and manual dexterity needed to stick metal bits together with anything other than shitty, hideous globs of porous snot for weld beads like I've properly mastered, lol.
Good luck man, practice makes perfect. Took me years to get to where i am now.
@@MiklthePikl Thanks bud, pretty sure I'll get there sooner or later once I put in the hours too & is a thought that's much easier to have confidence in once I became convinced that stick welding has a "bell-curve" of difficulty (at least for me) by being easy to pick up & start utilizing, but is fairly difficult to become proficient/competent at, but then is likely relatively easy to master once you reach that point... That's all just to say that patience is key!
@@kurtilingus Yes man, just grab a box of 7018s and practice beads on a plate, you will get there eventually
What stick electrode should i use to weld new floor pans to my mustang.
thanks man, you saved my life
Any time man, glad to help
Stick welding however is difficult to weld thin metal, even when you’re on the thin electrodes like 5/64th and the “spaghetti sticks” of 1/16th. If I’m welding anything 1/4” thick or bigger, I prefer stick. Thinner and I prefer MIG with .025 wire. Thinner than 1/16’ thick steel and I prefer TIG. That’s just me. I say get all three process machines one at a time. Build your tool collection slowly because it does get expensive. ...but it’s worth it in the end.
I agree. The thinnest material in the realm of possibility of welding with stick would be about 2mm/1/8in thick, and even that would be a challenge. I recommend tig for thin material, it saves countless headaches. You think filling holes with MIG is difficult? Gah lee try stick. In my opinion, MIG should be a later purchase, when the volume of work you want to get done increases enough for the hassle and cost of mig to be overshadowed by the deposition rate and time saved not having to chip the slag.
Always better to learn welding principles with Stick first. My dad use to tell me that they were saying that MIG would soon completely replace stick in the 1960's already. Stick is very reliable and is still going strong. Still mostly used for repairs in the field.
Troubleshooting a MIG machine that isn't running right takes a lot of skill in itself and can be very frustrating. (Not taking anything away from MIG by the way)
My thoughts exactly
I like your enthusiasm !
Cool that you are so passionate about welding.
BR,
Oedi
Thank you brother! God bless!
Stick welding in my opinion is way better than mig. Stick is harder to learn than mig but they are both hard to master, when I was learning to stick weld I sat there for an hour welding my rod onto the table
He is definitely correct
that blue storage shelf in the background is perfectly designed for what it holds and i love it
Took a bit of measuring and messing around, but fits perfectly :))
Stick is harder than mig. That's why it's best to start with stick. It teaches you the basics of the puddle and it's the best process for heavy structural welding. Nothing beats a 7018.
This guy is on point. I've started with stick, easy to pick up and go.
which type of welding is the best in terms of longetivity for welding a 2mm thick Hot Rolled sheet and 5mm thick angle section. the HR sheet is to be welded to a 4' x2' frame made of 40mm x 40mm x 5mm angle section and this sheet - angle section welded board "ll 've to bear a load of around 500kg during rcc casting.
its going to be a little bit of a challenge stick welding 2mm hot rolled with stick, it would be less of a pain in the ass though because you wouldn't have to get it as clean, hot rolled has millscale. i would say it depends on how many you are making, if you are making 1, i'd go with stick. If the hot rolled sheet is going on top of the angle, i would use a 3.2mm/1/8 inch 7018/7016 rod, but if its going on the side to make a flat weld i'd use 2.5mm/3/16 in 7018/7016. both will work, but i suggest stick, its stronger and you wont have issues with strength. Make sure you run some test beads and be sure to use a low-hydrogen electrode just to be safe. I wouldn't trust 6013 for a heavy-load bearing application.
people are mad about this lol i agree to a point stick welding is alot cheaper to get started and somewhat easy to a point but still pretty hard but at the same time mig and tig have their uses to i would not say 1 is better than the other people they all are meant to do the same thing just different ways but what ever you like more and work with easier is what is better for you but for getting started i would say stick or mig would be the easiest stick is a bit more simple just hard to get good at fast unlike mig you can get decent in a few weeks
bought a electrode welder today but the sticks are expensive. and i dont know if i can weld aliminium frames with it i have no idea im confused by the electrode stick sizes 1.6mm and such should i buy 6030 1.6mm 2.5m?
I'm unsure of where you live but where i'm at rods are pretty expensive, about $30 for a 5kg pack of 6013s and $50 for a 5kg pack of 7016s. I always use 7016.
No you can't weld aluminium frames unfortunately
Here's a quick guide on stick electrode sizes:
1.6mm - VERY thin material, maybe 2mm and thinner
2.5mm - 2-3mm material
3.2mm - Everything else. These ones are the ones i always use.
6013 is called 'general purpose' and 7016 is called 'low hydrogen. 6013 is easier to learn on but isn't as strong.
God bless brother
@@MiklthePiklthank you for your response could you tell me if a 300AM welder is useless or not? mine goes up to 300 but i dont know shat i would need it for
@@killerjay6755 All good brother, 300 amps is pretty much useless for stick welding, but can be alright for MIG. Most welding I do at my job is done close to 300 amps, we never typically change the settings, we just go faster on thinner metal. It works down to about 4mm steel.
High amperage is also great for carbon-arc gouging, you just need a pretty powerful compressor to do it (CAG is typically done at 350+ amps)
So while i doubt you will find much use out of it, 300 amps is handy to have. Using higher amperage burns through millscale and rust, and the faster travel speed makes your workpiece less hot.
Have fun :)
You did a good job explaining it bro!!! Keep it up!
Somebody give this man a fan
ok question. theres another type of weld not mentioned here. no gas, flux core welding. this was the way I was thinking about starting, as its also cheap and can be pretty fast as its wire fed. what are your thoughts on it?
Hi Adam, I've made a whole video discussing Flux core welding: ruclips.net/video/ikt-HTYJuaw/видео.html . In summary i wouldn't recommend it, stick and MIG individually are far superior. Thanks for your comment :)
True!.... You've just nailed it Mate..! I'll go to stick... being confused which is which for sometime now, You've just explained what i really wanna hear..
Cheers mate!
Haha any time man, i'm glad to help. God bless
A stick is cheaper to buy, cheaper to buy electrodes and don't have gas or tips.
I personally have used all different types of welders but I just love MMA or stick.
It works inside and out, is not effected by wind and they are portable.
Absolutely agreed. Stick welding is a lot simpler and produces strong welds.
Thanks you for a great advice, all I understood was it is better to get mig welder, it is still easier to work with, even it is more expensive. Can you recommend mig welder? I have never welded before)))
No i'd recommend stick welding (also known as arc welding) for beginners.
I just wanted to say that if those rods are 7018, they need to be kept in a watertight container!! Low hydrogen rods are like that!
Yeeeeeep
I want to start welding! But everyone keeps telling me to buy a mig, I can’t be assed with a bloody mig, after watching this I think I will go down the stick route.
Good luck man, welding is a fantastic skill to learn
Should also add the fact that stick welding is less impacted by the environment you're welding in.
Great video Mate. Thanks, you helped me make my decision. Cheers,
I had been stick welding for a year and got the hang of it. Then I thought hey let's get a MIG cause it's cleaner and easier right... ? Wrong I ended back stick welding 😄
I was all about mig but I found some portable invertir welders for 100 buks. Being 110amp can't go wrong with that bu then I saw the acupocket 150. Stick welding it is. Thanks and keep it low
Thanks brother, stick is where it's at.
I’m interested in learning to weld , primarily mufflers, would stick work ?? I’m assuming if it’s a bit easier to learn I’ll also do a better quality job. Thank you !
All good man, TIG would be the best option, but if you are starting from scratch, stick would work with 1.6mm/1/16 inch 6013s or 6011s, but MIG would be easier because of the thin metal, it just depends how much hassle you are willing to go through. All good brother, God bless
Thanks for the info mate.
All good brother, God bless
I am welder more than 47 years I think for heavy duty job and put weight on it stick is the better ,,and for small work or light thickness sheets or Auto shop is Meg better and for Aluminum I’d Tig ,thank u ,,
Thanks for the advice. I’m getting a mug setup soon but if I have the money in the future I will certainly get stick as well.
Good luck bro
What about welding .065" (~1.6mm) 1020 tubing for a DIY bike frame.
I tried TIG, couldn't do it (yet).
I do not own a mig/mag machine.
I have got 2mm 6013 electrodes for stick.
I've read their tensile strength is similar to that of the 1020 steel, however what about the heat affected zone? Will it hold up?
It's a simple street bike, not an MTB or something but I want it to be sturdy nonetheless.
Unless you are VERY skilled with stick, i wouldn't suggest it. Don't go out and buy a MIG machine just yet. Tig is most likely your best option. Just keep practicing man. I understand how frustrating TIG is to learn but keep your head up man. and keep trying.
@@MiklthePikl
Thanks bro.
Guess I'm gonna use the 6013s to build myself a proper welding table then. My set-up now kinda sucks. And then practice TIG more.
Nonetheless I still wonder how they did it in the old days before Tig and Mig. Most were lugged and brazed, but many were also at least partially welded, and they seem to hold up quite well too. I don't think it was all done with a gas torch?
@@westelaudio943 All good man, sounds great. Keep up the good work.
Gas and stick welding were both around at about the same time, contrary to popular belief. Oxy welders were very skilled and could weld super thin material, as in WWI planes had to be produced.
Flux core mig welding better choice or gas C25 or 💯%C02
I started with mig, later learned stick... then my mig welds improved.
Happened to me too XD
Awesome Dude, stick rules hands down
Recientemente he adquirido una máquina de soldar inverter y 2 kg de electrodos 6013 (2mm y 2.5mm) es una gran satisfacción cada vez que puedo practicar. Ya hice mi primer parrilla con un rim de coche 😁
If you've ever welded car bodywork with an electrode welder then you will know the reason for using a mig welder, it means you get easy start strong smooth welds as against lumpy bird muck welds and blown holes. I find my electrode welder ideal for anything from 1/8" to 1" it will weld the heavy metals far better than the mig.
Thanks for your comment man, and if that is your experience, thanks for sharing, but i disagree with you. It takes skill to stick weld thin metal but it can be done. I've seen people weld metal under 1mm with a stick welder and 1.1mm/1/16in 6011.
I went with the 'logic' that..
Tig is hardest, start with that, then once you can weld 6 inches without dipping the tungsten, go to mig, then stick.
Been welding for about 18 months now, been on stick for the last 2 weeks an darn it I think my idea was piss poor.......
Aye don't get discouraged man, we all get better by failing. I think starting like that is good if you don't have a financial restriction and have an anger management hotline on speed dial. I think dipping your toes in with stick and moving to tig once you get the fundamentals down might work.
I suggest watching some stick welding videos by weldingtipsandtricks, you might be running into a technique issue which is holding you back.
Anyway, God bless and good luck with your welding adventures, i hope it works out.
Thanks i get a little SMAW welding tools and feel free to do anything
Just because a process is complex or "harder" to set up does not make it a better process.. as for penetration i can spray weld anything from 4mm to 20mm thick steel on my mig machine. So saying stick has more penetration is incredibly short sighted. You get what you pay for alot the time with welding machines which is a reason stick welders are very easy access to newbies because they work well on the simple projects and cost next to nothing but again that does not make a superior process.. All processes have their uses but advancement in mig/mag has allowed almost every welding job on the planet to be done on a mig/mag machine now providing you are trained for it while with stick you are pretty limited in terms of what material you can weld as no company is going to let you stick weld stainless or aluminium. Apart from that its a good video you did
Thats true, I regularly weld up to 40mm thick steel with MIG, but i think that point is taken a bit out of context. For the same amperage, you get more penetration with stick than MIG. MIG is fantastic for production work because of it's speed, but besides that it falls short. It is possible to weld Aluminium with MIG, but the process is very expensive, difficult and frustrating, often requiring a spool gun. If you think that almost every welding job on the planet can be done with MIG, try welding razor blades together (A standard TIG test for people in sheet metal and autobody employment). So yes, MIG does have it's place, but in my opinion stick is better for hobbyists. Thanks for the support bro, God bless :)
@@MiklthePikl Stick gives off the false impression that it uses less amps but in reality your find it uses around the same and depending on the machine even more.. reason for that is because stick often runs at a slightly higher voltage than mig so naturally mig will require the amps to be higher. I would love to know how you are welding 40mm on mig because that is done on a 500a+ mig set. Mines a 350a Fronius but i wouldn't weld more than 20mm on one pass. the most i would do is 30mm on a multi pass with a open root. And there is alot of miss information about mig welding aluminium.. for the diy hobby guy then yes a spool gun is your only chance of welding a 5356 alu filler let alone a 4043. But on decent machines with good feed rollers (even 2 roll) your find that they can feed aluminium just fine so long you change the rollers and liner. Miller/lincoln/fronius all make high quality machines with decent feed rolling systems that are made to handle wires other than solid steel. But as for actually welding it. You actually ment to spray or pulse when you doing aluminium through a mig process.. your find you be very limited to what you can weld using a short arc/dip transfer process because as you probably know that is normally the only mig process a single phase welder can do most the time. Dip transfer on aluminium opens up a can of worms to long term weld defects that will compromise it over time. But push pull guns exist to help with alu welding as well especially at distances over 20m. But for me personally the only time i stick is if its something that needs capping outside on a tractor attachment.. the actual penetration i leave to a mig.
@@Migman2020 Sure man, you're right about the aluminium, it's not worth getting into such specifics about that anyway. As for the 40mm steel MIG welds, We do a single prep with typically 3 runs on one side, backgrind and another 3-5 on the other side at around 250 amps.
@@MiklthePikl 250a is borderline spray which is what you should use for anything thicker than 15mm tbh short circuit has its limits and they show up very well through destructive bend tests