No two welders work in the same manner. This is what makes their tools different from each other, in regard to their style and need for work.
The most important tool a welder has is the welding machine itself. A lot of factors, including cost, portability, and material must be considered while purchasing a welding machine. Your decision will not only impact your quality of work but also burn a hole in your pocket, so make a wise decision.
To begin with, choosing the right profiling machine, ask yourself multiple questions like your budget, the project work, duration of the project, frequency of your work, power supply, and material to weld.
Apart from the answers to these questions, your decision for the welding machine should majorly depend on the three welding processes, MIG, TIG, and Stick. In the case of welding machines, there’s no one size fits all as every machine has its own set of benefits and limitations.
So, let me quickly brief you about each of these processes:
1. MIG Welding
MIG Welding is known for its ease of learning, ability to serve, and tackle a lot of variety of projects. It also is known to give better results for its technical ease of use.The filler metal is fed through the MIG Welding torch itself, letting you hold the torch with both hands, in turn giving you better results. Also, MIG Welding is known for its speed, and this can be derived from the wire feeder, speeding the entire welding process by 4 times.
This process uses inert gas to shield the weld from impurities so that the achieved results will be very easy, neat, clean, and free of chips.
Although MIG welding can be used on a variety of materials, for instance, aluminum, it is more commonly used for locomotive work. It might appear very easy and cost-friendly, but don’t be deceived. This process involves you purchasing a shielding glass and other costly materials, making it costlier than other processes.
2. TIG Welding
The highest quality welding process, TIG Welding requires you to specialize in it and also consider training for you to master the process, in each and every aspect.Slightly more complicated than MIG Welding, this method involves you to pedal to regulate the welding process, and as well as a filler rod, separate from the torch.
Also, an upside would be that this process is far less likely to distort the metal, using a non-consumable tungsten electrode. This process is preferred by a part of the population because of the fact that it can weld a wide variety of metals, and the versatility of argon is always a plus.
Argon can weld any material at any thickness, of course with TIG Welding, eliminating the need to change the gas for different projects.
3. Stick Welding
Unlike the other two, this process requires you to use consumable stick electrodes, making it quite a simple process.When it comes to fusing alloys and joints, this is the most efficient method to go by, but on the other hand, since it is not protected by shielding gas, this process is also least efficient in various ways.
So, to protect the electrode, it is covered with flux. At the completion of the weld, this process will also require you to chip away the layer. What makes this process so popular is its cost-effective nature. Apart from that, for a welder, it is the most convenient as it allows the welder to change the filler rod in order to match the metal workpiece.
If you are a welder by profession, you must have understood the technical terms with ease, but for the aspirants, it might not have been as easy.
While this is not all that is important in deciding the machine, it is definitely the primary basics you must check.
In conclusion, it’s also wise to pay close attention to the welding machine parts and their efficacy while making your pick. Again, in that genre too, there is a lot to explore and learn, so take your time and then make the decision.
