I think you are giving up too soon on the stick. I suggested 6013, you
insist on working with 7018 Your weld looked fine with the 7018, the
sticking problem is endemic with 7018

Stick vs Mig: If you can consistently start a sick rod, your project
might go 10% faster with a MIG. Cleanup is also faster on the MIG.
Leaving a cold bead on one side of the weld happens with both Mig and
stick, it's just more obvious on the stick weld.

If you want an excuse to go get a new tool, have at it! (Insert Tim
Allen grunt here) If you want to get the job done in minimal amount of
time, then not plan to do any other welding for a while, spend the time
working on the stick welder. If you spent 2 full hours over a couple of
days running 6013 rod downhand on some scrap plate, you will be doing
great. You would spend more time than that just loading up and unpacking
the new MIG, not to mention the $600 to $1200 for the new 220 volt MIG.

wander over to sci.engr.joining.welding the string starting "looking at
Millermatics" on May 20. the original poster was in the same boat as you
are, was looking at the new machines, got his old stick welder to do
what he needed.

Rick wrote:
snip really good stuff!

Also, there is one gotcha on MIG welding that a lot of people seem to run
into when beginning to MIG weld. It is possible to lay a beautiful bead
only to find that it's mostly lying on top of the metal rather than having
penetrated into the metal. Don't ask me how I know about this one! :-D

IMHO the best way to learn not to do this is to learn to watch the puddle
instead of just zipping along looking at the cool arc and assuming
everything's working well. In other words, get some scrap and practice a
bit before you start on your project. It won't take long to get the hang of
it and you'll be very glad you did.

Best Regards,
Keith Marshall



Thanks Keith, very informative post. Do you think I am giving up on the AC
stick welder
too soon? Everyone on here says MIG MIG MIG and gives stories about how their 3
y.o.
welds car trailers with it. I wish I knew how the MIG would weld this compared
to the stick.
If it is going to take me 30 hours to weld this with the stick once I learn how
to actually get
the arc started once out of every ten strikes, and spending some cash on a MIG
setup would
mean I can do the job with equal strength welds in 5 hours, then it is worth it.

Sigh,

Rick