usafa2010

I have searched this and kind of found some insite to the answer I am looking for, But I am going to ask again in hopes of some good answers.

I am looking to buy a welder to start learning on( a big key is I don't want to have to add a new outlet yet for more power, but will consider it). I don't know if I should go and buy a tig to start on, or just buy a mig from home depot to start with.

I am looking at the lincoln 3200HD kit, and the miller econotig. This would all be just to start learning, mainly using scrap metal and practicing to get good penetration and all. I am kind of leaning towards the MIG because of all the money I will save ( I will be able to afford gas tanks and everything). However I want to eventually start to learn to do aluminum fab.

Basically the question is would it be beneficial to just buy a cheep welder to learn on now, or just fork out the cash for a tig and learn that from the beginning.

Thanks for any input.

TIGboy

it all depends on your skills or welding and your bugdet and use. I would go with the econotig simply becasue you cant go wrong with miller but if you do your probably going to want to upgrade down the line. Aluminum you can mig BUT tig comes much easier if you ask me when fabbing aluminum, With the econotig you can do both AC and DC and if you choose mig for aluminum welds come out kinda crappy and with tig they come out awsome depending on your skill level. If your leaning towards MIG, Buy a semi decent setup and learn the basic princibles of welding before you start tigging. If you go the Tig route you would probably have to up your power to 220v roughly 60+amps. If your just starting out Buy a mig get to the point where your welds look and perform as they should then rent or barrow a tig from somone and practice with that, once the money comes around (which is hard to come by since tig machines are so exspensive) look into buying a dynasty or a econotig. Hope I helped.

-Jon
Good luck!