Is it one of the dumb ones that just has a high/low switch and wire feed speed? Those things work, but I hate them. They tend to be a little difficult for me to get them dialed in and often I end up where low is too low and high is too high. My one buddy has one and I’ve burned a whole spool of wire through it and still don’t really like it. Dad bought one of the Harbor Freight Titanium inverter welders awhile back that actually had dial adjustments for wire speed and power output, thing is cool because it’s small and super light, but it stopped feeding wire after the first spool through it which of course lasted long enough to be out of warranty. I’ve poked at it a bit, but so far no joy. I got tired and bought a used Lincoln WeldPak, think it’s a 125. It’s big and heavy, especially with a 10# spool in it, but it’s 120v, dials for adjustment, and can be run as flux core or with gas. I just run it as flux core and it’s my “portable” welder. Well, it’s much more portable than my Lincoln PowerMig 200 with a big gas bottle and takes 10-44# spools of wire. I just came to the end of a 44# spool yesterday. I have a 33# that’s going in it. The big one is also 240v.
I actually learned welding using dad’s old oxy/acetylene torch set years ago. I needed to patch two body mounts on my Choptop. Dad had the torch set complete with cutting and welding heads plus a box of welding rod for it. I still have some of that welding rod, but I bought a tube of new welding rod for it. Sometimes I break it out for fun or if for some reason an electric welder just won’t work well. I have the tanks strapped to a dolly so it can go where an extension cord won’t reach. That taught me a lot about penetration and puddle control and all. I’m by no means an awesome welder, but I can usually get it to stay put.
I have a Lincoln AC-225 stick welder, one of the “tombstone” style welders. I can, and have used it, but I’m not very good with stick. Someday I may play with it more and/or get a higher end stick welder. Really want a TIG machine and a plasma cutter, but those are out of the budget at the moment.
A lot of it is learning to adjust the settings for your welder correctly and learning puddle control. For thin stuff like sheet metal, it’s getting the correct setting and stitching it together. Thin stuff doesn’t take heat well and it also has a greater tendency to warp. So usually the best way to do it is get it in position and just spread out a bunch of tack welds. Just zap a little bead and move at least an inch if not more before putting another tack. Then you just keep spreading out tacks or short welds. Having an air compressor with a blow gun handy will help too, blow off the welds after welding to cool the area. It’s a tedious process to weld sheet metal because you either have to keep blowing air across it in between stitching it together with tacks or you have to do a bunch of tacks and walk away until it cools so you can continue. Of course that also applies a bit to any welding. My big MIG welder will do 1/4” plate in a single pass and 1/4” plate will take a lot more heat than sheet metal, but if you just go hog wild laying down weld, you can warp 1/4” steel with it. I found that out the hard way. You can easily run a bead with thicker metal, but you still have to be careful not to pour too much heat and warp things. It’s a process.
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