Best Beginner MIG Welder Learn MIG Welding
Do you want to know the best beginner mig welder and want to venture on MIG welding as a hobby or profession? Then better read what you should know about MIG welding and where to find the best budget mig welder to complete your search.
MIG stands for Metal Inert Gas. In the US, they call this process GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding). If you are not yet familiar with how MIG welding works, this is the welding method that uses wire electrodes as welding filler. This electrode is fed by a spool placed inside the machine and when the trigger of the torch is pulled this activates the spool and at the same time switches the welding current and the shielding gas on. Because the electrode is positively grounded while the work piece is negatively grounded, once the electrode touches the work metal an electric arc is formed and melts the electrode into a weld pool. This weld pool is what fuses the work metals.
The three popular types of welding that are worthy of learning are the TIG welding that uses Tungsten electrode instead of wire, the stick welding that needs flux-coated rod and the Flux-core welding which also uses wire electrode but coated with a combination of silicate and carbonate for shielding. If you want to cover MIG, TIG, stick and flux-cored welding, you can now find the best multi process welders on the market that can do all these three welding processes.
But why do people think that the MIG is the best welding machine for beginners?
Why the MIG Can Be the Best Welding Machine for
MIG welders can be the most flexible among other modern welding machines today. In about a week or two you can learn the basic techniques of MIG welding. You may find it difficult to find the right combination of shielding gas and parameter setting at first. But with the MIGs once you learn how to fix these up, as they say, it’s like using a glue gun on metal because the basic principle of MIG welding is the “point and shoot” process.
For a beginner mig welder, everything about the MIGs can be easy. From loading up the wire spool, guiding the electrode and handling the MIG torch, it’s all breeze doing these. On the other hand, choosing the right wire type and size can be a bit confusing for the newbie but there’s always the user’s manual and the printed guide for these found inside the machine’s metal casing.
Since the MIGs are generally digitally featured, setting up the amperage is also a matter of easy learning. And as you go along, you can easily identify the metals you can weld with the MIG including the thickness of the metals. By only watching videos from the set up to troubleshooting the machine, you can learn a lot about MIGs without the need for a welding instructor. MIG welders are available on mid-range to the high-end but we advise that if you are a beginner, you should start with the best budget mig welder first because this can have the basic settings you need while at the same time can be flexible once you already know how to do more complex welding.
Best Budget MIG
Why we recommend the budget beginner MIG welder is because of two reasons. One, for you to avoid getting confused with the number of MIG welders out there that may not worth your money and two, these are the easiest machines to master in terms of being a newbie in the welding world.
We have found two top-reviewed MIG welders for beginners that will suit your tasks regardless if you are a newbie or a welder who just want to have the best valued but useful welder.
The best welding machine for beginners should be compact, lightweight but can cut about 1/8 inch thick metals to be able to gauge your skills in dealing with metal thickness. So it’s not just the metal sheets that you should deal with but at least thicker metals and this welder has all these qualities. Best for home repairs and DIY projects, this welder could be your best choice for welding light gauge mild steel or basic metal projects. Considered a convenience welder than a worker’s welder this is designed to be highly portable and compact for the beginners to use and carry.
Packed with 70 amps power output this is for newbie welders to avoid chances of getting injured during operations. Essentially, this is not for heavy-duty welding jobs but mainly for home use like automotive repairs, home projects, for hobbies and as a practice welder for those who want to invest in the future for MIG welders with higher amps that are capable of heavy-duty welding. The Lincoln K2185-1 operates on 115V and has a capacity of 35-70 output amperage with 20 duty cycle which means you can do 2 minutes of welding but requires 8 minutes of torch cooling. It has 4-voltage settings and with wire speed adjustment, so you can specifically adjust the speed based on the thickness of the metal.
It also comes complete with the essentials such as the gun cable assembly, gas nozzle, work cable and clamp, gas regulator and hose, contact tips and hand shield with filter plates, as well as a spool of solid wires. You can also use this best budget mig welder for flux-cored welding and that’s why the necessary items for it are also included in the box – spool of self-shielded flux-cored wire, chipping hammer, brush for gasless welding, and contact tips. With all these included, you can use this basic machine out of the box.
Pros:
Best choice as a beginner mig welder due to its affordability and low power requirements
For MIG and flux-cored welding
Comes complete with accessories and electrodes
Compact and very portable best for small spaces and travel
Front panel settings for more convenient use
Overall durable design
Comes with one year warranty
Cons:
Designed not for heavy-duty welding jobs
Shielding gas tank not included
This mid-range best beginner mig welder can weld 24 gauge to 5/16-inch thick steel on a single pass. We recommend this machine because if you want to jump from the most basic welder which we have shown you above, you can have higher expectations with this one. This machine can both be used by beginners and professionals alike and it operates on 230V power. With an output 25-190 amperage power and 7 voltage selections, you can adjust the heat of your arc to enable you to melt electrodes at high speed.
The enhanced magnetics and continuous wire speed control are what make this welder popular to welders of all classes and Hobart is a known brand for efficiency and durability. It also has a 30% duty cycle at 130 amps which means that at 130 amps setting you can continuously weld for 3 minutes and let the torch cool off for 7 minutes.
The Hobart 500554 is also capable of flux-cored welding so it can weld mild steel, aluminum, stainless steel, and flux core steel. If you have a workshop at home, this can be your perfect domestic and as a travel welding companion. If you are working for a contract welding job, as long as there’s the 230V outlet you can find on the site, this should let you do a lot of welding tasks.
Pros:
Packed with 190 amps output power for welding thick metals up to 5/16-inch thick.
Perfect choice for beginners who want heavy-duty welders
Quick wire feed speed controls
Quick-change drive roll
Multi-voltage selector
Easy switch from MIG gun to spool gun
Works well with argon/CO2 mix for shielding gas
Comes with MIG torch and cable, earth clamp, .030 flux core wire, 2-pc .030 contact tips, and 2-head gauge for gas mixture with cable
Available at 5-year limited warranty
Cons:
Needs a dedicated 230V outlet
Aluminum wire not included in the box
Bit heavy at 190 lbs
Conclusion:
The best beginner mig welder should not be too basic but not also not too heavy-duty made that it was designed for hardcore welding. As a beginner, you should first start with the mid-range welders with a good selection for voltage settings. This is because you must learn first the initial feel and knowing how the mig welders work, what their limitations and their best uses.
That’s why we have introduced you to these two different welders like Lincoln which is an American brand and has the simple features for beginners to practice on. And for the already skilled beginner welders, the Hobart 190 is a good choice because its features and capacity can fit the skills of those who already learned the basic MIG welding but want to further their skills either for personal use or wanted to become professional welders.
We also want to introduce you to the best 110v mig welder for beginners for our next blog and why we choose these is because some of these low-voltage welders have the most basic features fit to be the best welding machine for beginners.
