** puts needle on broken record......
#1. Good machine. Doesn't have to be a expensive machine,....It has to be a good machine.
Enter the dragon,......AKA, Chinee machine.
I learned on a good American machine, ( Big power Hobart IIRC). I went home, and bought a hobbist grade 110v lincoln, and adjusted my style accordingly.
You learn that you have to prep your work to accomodate for the chicken peen power of that welder,....but it will weld up to 1/8" plate with no problem. Now that I've gotten to be a big boy, I have a 220v Chinee welder, bought for a fraction of what a Miller/Linclon/Hobart would've cost me that welds like a muther
#2. Mig is better than Flux core. A flux core machine is a good "farm implement" tool when you don't care about the looks of the weld. It'll burn hotter than solid MIG wire, and commensurately penetrate better at a particular voltage setting, but will leave holy hell behind that you'll have to clean up if you want a pretty weld. Like Chris said, It burns too hot for sheet metal work.
#3 Any body can weld with a MIG,........ ANYBODY. Unless they have Parkinsons.
It is single-handidly the easiest damn thing you can do short of peeing.
You simply get the heat, and wire speed right for the thickness ( recommendations are on side of machine), point the gun at the work,..brace the other hand against the one holding the gun to steady it, hold it at 1/4-1/2" above the work,, and pull the damn trigger.
All it takes after that is technique. (has to be learned through T&E.) I can weld the p iss outta anything,with a MIG, and in alot of cases,...looks like I tigged it.
It's all about the machine first, then the material,..then the practice...If you have good stuff it'll make you better faster.
#1. Good machine. Doesn't have to be a expensive machine,....It has to be a good machine.
Enter the dragon,......AKA, Chinee machine.
I learned on a good American machine, ( Big power Hobart IIRC). I went home, and bought a hobbist grade 110v lincoln, and adjusted my style accordingly.
You learn that you have to prep your work to accomodate for the chicken peen power of that welder,....but it will weld up to 1/8" plate with no problem. Now that I've gotten to be a big boy, I have a 220v Chinee welder, bought for a fraction of what a Miller/Linclon/Hobart would've cost me that welds like a muther
#2. Mig is better than Flux core. A flux core machine is a good "farm implement" tool when you don't care about the looks of the weld. It'll burn hotter than solid MIG wire, and commensurately penetrate better at a particular voltage setting, but will leave holy hell behind that you'll have to clean up if you want a pretty weld. Like Chris said, It burns too hot for sheet metal work.
#3 Any body can weld with a MIG,........ ANYBODY. Unless they have Parkinsons.
It is single-handidly the easiest damn thing you can do short of peeing.
You simply get the heat, and wire speed right for the thickness ( recommendations are on side of machine), point the gun at the work,..brace the other hand against the one holding the gun to steady it, hold it at 1/4-1/2" above the work,, and pull the damn trigger.
All it takes after that is technique. (has to be learned through T&E.) I can weld the p iss outta anything,with a MIG, and in alot of cases,...looks like I tigged it.
It's all about the machine first, then the material,..then the practice...If you have good stuff it'll make you better faster.