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Originally Posted by spielnicht
Patience and practice I can do (I still hate caulking). Definitely sound advice to practice on some scrap metal, but great to hear that this can def be a DIY skill. I've watched a couple of YT videos but to your point I need a little more how-to on movement and speed.
I honestly have only heard of MIG and TIG welding from the shops I used to take my cars to. I'll definitely look into stick weld if it's easier for a beginner. Although when I was reviewing the specific MIG welder I was looking into at HF, it didn't require gas. Either way, I'm not looking for the prettiest welds, so I'll take whatever is easier and cheaper. I'll do more research.
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This might be more info than you want but here goes. Stick welding is done with a metal rod, covered in flux to shield the weld, held by a clamp or "stinger". The rod is 12-18" long, and can be a lot harder to control. But, it's less complicated and needs less equipment, and a plain old stick welder is usually cheaper. MIG or Metal Inert Gas uses sort of a pistol grip attached to a hose, that the wire and inert gas are fed through. The gas serves about the same shielding purpose of the flux on a stick welder. A Flux Core MIG welder does away with the bottle of inert gas, and the flux is inside the wire and serves the purpose of shielding the weld. It's kind of a combination of the two types, MIG and Stick. TIG, or Tungsten Inert Gas uses a tungsten rod in a holder as an electrode to create heat, and a metal rod to act as the filler. For most people it's more difficult to learn, more complicated, and the equipment is more expensive.
For what you want to do, get started and practice, a flux core would be fine. Or, get a MIG welder without a gas set up, and run flux core. Most MIG units can do that. It's what I've done when outside in a breeze where the gas would get blown away.