My opinion:
If you are going to learn something, learn TIG. In the long haul, it has a lot more use in hobbies and the car scene especially. MIG may be faster and cheaper, but it is not nearly as capable on anything intricate or aesthetic. Of course, budget comes into play as well- TIG is a lot more expensive, and for good reason, they also hold their value very well.
I took welding I & II at Erie 1 boces almost 5 yrs ago. The prices were reasonable back then, I know they fluctuate with their funding from NYS. I would definitely recommend them if your just starting out with the basics. Once you get the fundamentals you can go out and get your own machine and practice. Buying a TIG machine is a big investment, in both money and time if your going to try to master it. MIG machines are fairly reasonable and require much less setup, and can probably accomplish what most automotive hobbiest are trying to fabricate in their garages. I bought a hobart handler 180 from tractor supply, great machine for small mig jobs. Also have a thermal arc 185 for TIG that has served me well.
i spent the better have of 3 years learning how to “properly” mig weld. from age 15-18 roughly…without a teacher its literally trial and error. AND IT SUCKS
time spent is time earned with welding. you wont learn how to weld/fab/fit pipe/rollcages unless you do it. classes only get you so far. YOU are the one that determines your progress. yes, teachers and classes help. im not knocking them by any means. like the automotive world, you have LOTS and LOTS of opinions and even more hard facts that will be thrown your way once you start looking into welding. my advice, start slow like i did. buy a cheap mig, weld some shit together. learn how the heat works,learn how to adjust for material and other conditions. gas migs can be had ffrom 200-600 for a decent used or new rig, dont get silly. 115volt hobarts are great and around $500.
tig can be had for around the same price…i KNOW i will catch a lot of flak for that.
but yes, you can have a very nice tig rig (box,ground,torch,bottle etc) for around a grand.
esab, miller, lincoln and everlast, just to name a few sell 110plug in tig/stick set ups from $500-3K. yes 110.
suprisingly you can do a TON with a $500 lift start tig set up. i have personally welded stainless and mild, from 0.65 wall tubing to inch lap joints.
it all depends on what you want to do with it.
jesus this got long.
my final advice:
buy a welder, weld shit. the fab skills will follow if you have the projects that will allow it.
if you’d like i can point you in the right direction if you want to swing by my shop for an hour or two.
ill post some stuff ive done recently once my flickr stops suckin a bag of dicks
I bought a used miller square wave 250.
I’d love to swing by the shop sometime shoot me a pm with the address and your number buddy.
-Alex
Bumping this thread because I too would like to buy a welder, I don’t know if I should just go right to tig welding since I know how to braze copper tubing, im sure its way different but just a thought. Just looking to do exhaust work but if I need to fab up motor mounts i don’t know how thick of steel would be needed and what type of welder I’d want to use.
Pm me. I can help