Why use wire or stick?

[MoArk Willy]

I have both welders, like many if not most here.
What makes you decide to use your stick welder or your wire feed?
When you decide to turn it on and put on your helmet......which machine fits the bill?
I'm fairly new to welding and I admit my wire feed welds usually look better than the stick.

But the DC stick isn't that bad and I have done a lot with it.

So what is your preference and why?
If you had to have only one...which would it be?

 

[4570Man]

Based on my opinion the advantages to stick is much longer leads available. Works much better on dirty metal. Which is important for doing repair work when proper grinding isn’t possible. Works better in the wind. Is stronger than a smaller mig machine can do. Advantages to the wire machine. Much faster. Easier. Fills gaps better, and it’s a lot easier to tack a delicate setup together with. All of the above is based on thicker metal. For thin metal the wire welder wins hands down. The mig seems to arc burn my skin a lot worse but that could be avoided if I wasn’t a t shirt welder.

 

[Big Barn]

Limiting myself to ONE machine :

If all I did was fabrication , MIG

If did mostly farm repair then SMAW (stick)


But then of course with the three in one inverter machines you can have it all.

 

[5030]

I prefer filler rod and TIG myself but with TIG, there is a steep learning curve. MIG is electric gluegun welding and SMAW is close with slag. I 'fell' into TIG because when I started welding many years ago, it was with a gas axe and coat hangers for filler rod. Only difference between that (gas axe and coat hangers) and TIG is you keep the filler rod in the gas envelope. TIG is 2 handed welding, something I got proficient at, at a young age (back when a Lincoln Buzz Box was high tech)....

Still have mine somewhere in the shop btw.

My shop does limited production MIG weld ups but then again, it's cost effective. TIG isn't unless the metals are exotic.

 

[4570Man]

I think if all I had was a AC buzz box I’d just bolt it together.

 

[Big Barn]

I still have my AC buzz box. I never use it anymore but I’d be fine if it was all I had. It’s the only welder I used for over 50 years.

 

[RNeumann]

Some if it is preference and some of it is circumstances. If it’s outdoor and heavy grab the stick. That what structural welders and pipeline welders are using. If it’s in the shop the wire feed may do the trick. Wire feed can generally do lighter gauge steel.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

I think if all I had was a AC buzz box I’d just bolt it together.

You must love drilling holes. If I can't get it into the drill press I have to re-think bolts. Outside of the work place where getting paid is the game; give me a buzzbox any day. The AC/DC ones are still better. I have a lot of hours behind the stinger on both. 6011 and 6013 is what I cut my teeth on. For what most of us tractor guys do 70,000 psi rod is an overkill. Most of what we work on is even way under the strength of the 60s. I have done my share of coat hanger O/A welding also. Old timer taught me how to weld low grade castings with bare coat hanger in a AC buzz box stinger.

Ron

 

[4570Man]

You must love drilling holes. If I can't get it into the drill press I have to re-think bolts. Outside of the work place where getting paid is the game; give me a buzzbox any day. The AC/DC ones are still better. I have a lot of hours behind the stinger on both. 6011 and 6013 is what I cut my teeth on. For what most of us tractor guys do 70,000 psi rod is an overkill. Most of what we work on is even way under the strength of the 60s. I have done my share of coat hanger O/A welding also. Old timer taught me how to weld low grade castings with bare coat hanger in a AC buzz box stinger.

Ron

No I don’t like that either. I have to admit I’ve only tried to use a AC buzz box once and it was a complete disaster.

 

[Tractor Seabee]

No I don’t like that either. I have to admit I’ve only tried to use a AC buzz box once and it was a complete disaster.

It takes a lot of practice. Some folks take to it quickly, others never get it. I happen to be one of those intuitive guys so for me it was easy. I probably put in 100 hours getting ready to take my first arc certification test. O/A I did the first time with no extra practice. The O/A test was on 4" xh pipe in one pass. It was a sweat shop. The inspector said he had never had any one pass the first time. Then I was fitter not a welder full time so did not have the hours a full time welder gets in a production environment.

Ron

 

[WranglerX]

My go to is MIG (GMAW) because it is all I have..... Prefer solid wire and shield gas (75/25) over flux core...

I actually had a Lincoln 180 AMP tombstone and sold it many years back thinking I would not be welding any more... A few years ago I decided to get back into welding and MIG had a lot more appeal to me then stick...

Dale

 

[cdaigle430]

I prefer MIG\TIG over most welding needs.Right now I have a cheap 90 AMP harbor freight MIG that uses flux or gas welding. Currently its setup for flux core wire welding.

Stick is fine but you have to store the rods correctly to protect the flux....and you need multiple rod types for multiple applications. I used 6011, 6018 and 6013 rods primarily for just about all my needs before I got the MIG.

I also do not have a steady grip and rod welding sucks for me because the your not only fighting steady puddle motion but the rod shrinks as you go. MIG the length is always the same.

Rod does have some advantages like you can use it to cut as well. Its also better for welding 1\4 inch or more metal or building up metal like a dozer tread.

So for me the MIG wins for my needs and shaky hands.

 

[atsah]

I use only a Lincoln stick machine, I can't mig to save my life, if I need something to look pretty my brother does it with his snapon welder/gen and that is not often..

 

[Big Barn]

I prefer MIG\TIG over most welding needs.Right now I have a cheap 90 AMP harbor freight MIG that uses flux or gas welding. Currently its setup for flux core wire welding.

Stick is fine but you have to store the rods correctly to protect the flux....and you need multiple rod types for multiple applications. I used 6011, 6018 and 6013 rods primarily for just about all my needs before I got the MIG.

I also do not have a steady grip and rod welding sucks for me because the your not only fighting steady puddle motion but the rod shrinks as you go. MIG the length is always the same.

Rod does have some advantages like you can use it to cut as well. Its also better for welding 1\4 inch or more metal or building up metal like a dozer tread.

So for me the MIG wins for my needs and shaky hands.

I knew an old guy who was an alcoholic with the SHAKIEST hands. All his welds were picture perfect due to his shakiness.

 

[Paul N]

I grew up with a stick welder. I got a MIG a few years ago, and I never got the hang of it. I seems the nozzle is always blocking my view, and it goes too fast for my liking. I can do a much better job with stick, so that's my preference.

 

[Big Barn]

I grew up with a stick welder. I got a MIG a few years ago, and I never got the hang of it. I seems the nozzle is always blocking my view, and it goes too fast for my liking. I can do a much better job with stick, so that's my preference.

I LIKE to think I got the hang of MIG but I LOVE stick.

 

[jaxs]

So what is your preference and why?
If you had to have only one...which would it be?

Depend's on whether I will haul it in a Chevy or a Ford. But you didn't specify that did you?
You also didn't specify what it will be welding.
Nor how many amps or volts will be available.
Nor if beads will be laid outdoors in wind and rain or elsewhere.
Nor if machine will be expected to moved 3 times every day.
Nor what kind of budget.
Nor,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So an answer would be totally meaningless.

 

[k0ua]

DC stick welder for me. I started on a Lincoln AC only stick welder, but DC is better for me. Better selection of rods and less spatter/cleanup. AC is OK, and I fixed a lot of things with it, but DC is just better. Or it seems that way to me. The light stuff that MIG excels at I use TIG with my DC stick welder. Yep, I can TIG very light material and while much harder to learn than MIG and much slower to boot, it gets the job done for me.

I just don't seem to need a MIG so I don't have one. I don't need the speed of the MIG and my welds don't have to look as pretty as a MIG can make them. Although some of my stick and TIG welds can look pretty darn good. Stick welds hold, They always seem to burn in and penetrate the parent metal well, without a lot of fuss and settings. That's another thing; stick welding is easy to set up and you can change things instantly by just grabbing another stick and setting the current to what the Miller weld calculator tells you to start with. Adjust as you go by watching the puddle. Too hot ? turn it down a bit. Too cold, turn it up a bit. It is simple NOT finicky.

Far to many MIG operators run their rigs TOO cold and make lousy welds. We see them all the time on here and not just amateur welders, but manufacturing guys too. MIG can and does make perfect welds all day every day, but for some reason a lot of guys run them too cold and have poor penetration. You just don't see that many stick welds that are bad. Some look ugly, but even those still hold.

So there you have it, I have one machine, DC stick for heavy and DC TIG for light work. But don't let my opinions or practices color your thinking that much. Some guys get along fine with just a good MIG welder, but if it is going to weld thick stuff properly, it is probably going to need to run on 220 and have it turned up. Else you are going to have beautiful welds that hold about like as if you had welded it with chewing gum. *

*note I am an unqualified hack weldor that would not make a pimple on a good weldor's .......

 

[Big Barn]

Depend's on whether I will haul it in a Chevy or a Ford. But you didn't specify that did you?
You also didn't specify what it will be welding.
Nor how many amps or volts will be available.
Nor if beads will be laid outdoors in wind and rain or elsewhere.
Nor if machine will be expected to moved 3 times every day.
Nor what kind of budget.
Nor,,,,,,,,,,,,,, So an answer would be totally meaningless.

The OP isn’t looking to buy. He already has a stick and a Mig.

 

[BLSXJ]

3/16" makes me decide which one to use.
my mig is set up with 030 wire and shielding gas.... and struggles to do a good job on anything thicker then 1/4" on a single pass (much happier at 3/16 and under)
I use 1/8 6013 rods in my AC arc welder set at about 140 amps and its just fine with anything thicker then 3/16"

If I could only have one, I'd have a TIG welder