i am in my firast year collage, deploma for qwelding. mig welding is a walk in the park aside from stick, stick is not hard but mig isamuch easyer weld and isa better for thin metal 1/4 is the loweast i've welded with stick i wouldnt go no lower, 6011 6010 and 7018 1/8as and 3/32s are the most popular welding electrodes for stick nowadays