John wrote:

Hobbyist have different goals. Speaking as a hobbyist, I've learned
MIG, gas, stick, and TIG. All of them required effort to learn and
cost a fair amount of money. And all required practice to stay in
tune. I am speaking from a hobbyist point of view, I wouldn't pretend
to advise someone who makes their living as a welder. As a hobbyist, I
don't find TIG that slow, I don't think it requires as much skill as
stick, and I don't notice it costing a great amount more than other
processes.



TIG is so much more satisfying than any other welding
process that if I had to do it all again, I would start with TIG and
skip everything else. It's not that hard.



Yup, that's my take on it, as a newbie to the TIG process. The cleanliness
alone is worth it. As for the slow - well, sure, it is my LACK of skill at
stick, but extreme speed at blowing holes in everything is NOT a virtue!
And, that's how I now feel about stick, is it is a great way to punch big
holes in stuff you are trying to weld together! I still have some trouble
seeing what I'm doing with TIG, but I can weld with stick practically as
well with my eyes closed - meaning, with all the damn smoke, I can't
see what I'm working on. I can just barely see the weld puddle and the
vague outer dimensions of the part, but I can't see the lines of the seam
I'm trying to weld. I literally have to FEEL the seam with the end of
the stick.
With the TIG, I CAN see the seam, and usually pretty well. I didn't realize
how much I depended on the color of the weld puddle in steel, but moving to
aluminum where there is no color to see, I found out how important that was.
But, being able to see what I'm doing helps me kep on the seam with the
electrode. I'm still getting the feel of controlling the weld puddle by
sight, and judging how much penetration I'm getting. Dealing with the
greater thermal distortion on aluminum is new, too, I guess.

Jon