The question “which welding machine?” causes some people to doubt and ponder for a long time. Again, one is spoilt for choice and wishes one had a clear and unambiguous answer as to when to buy which welding machine.
One would prefer to start with the welding directly.
We have taken on this task and present here a small crash course, with which everyone can find a suitable welding machine for their requirements as quickly as possible.
Our aim is that after this article you will know exactly which welding equipment is suitable for you and you will be able to find the right welding equipment without any great expenditure of time.
In the following we will go into the question “which welding equipment?” in as much detail as possible, so that in the end everyone really knows which welding equipment is the right one for their job.
Selection by skills
Which welding machine for beginners?
As a beginner, you want a welding machine that is quick, easy and, if necessary, can be learned on your own. It should not be very error-prone and should deliver solid and satisfactory results after only a few attempts.
A welding machine is particularly suitable for this purpose and also fulfils the above-mentioned expectations. The gas-shielded welding machine.
The gas-shielded welding process is in fact the simplest and most beginner-friendly compared to the others. Once you have developed a feeling for the adjustment of the wire supply and the gas, you can achieve the first good results even with a little basic knowledge.
Selection according to material thickness and material type
Welding apparatus for aluminium
Aluminium welding is a new art in its own right and is one league higher in terms of difficulty. Aluminium welding requires enormous precision and should really only be practised by experienced welders. Beginners should, if at all, expect an extreme amount of practice.
It requires the right technique, a lot of caution and patience. In addition, the required technology has its price and is simply too expensive for most hobby do-it-yourselfers. Enough as a deterrent. The question remains which welding equipment is recommended for aluminium?
The answer: The TIG welding machine
With a TIG welding machine you can get the best results when welding aluminium, provided you can handle it properly. It offers maximum precision due to the possibility of adding the filler metal separately and manually.
Alternatively, you can also resort to MIG welding. For this you need a shielded arc welding machine.
Welding device for stainless steel and steel
Here the choice is not so limited. Steel welding or stainless steel welding can actually be carried out with all known welding methods. Therefore, all welding equipment is suitable. Here you have the choice between TIG, MIG, MAG and E-welding.
Which welding machine for thin sheets?
For low material thicknesses we recommend a shielding gas welding machine or a cored wire welding machine. With the shielding gas welding device you have a universal device that you can also use for thicker sheets. If you want to be well prepared for thinner but also thicker sheets, then you are well advised to use a gas shielded welding machine.
Unfortunately, however, the shielding gas welding equipment is one of the more expensive variants and also has higher maintenance costs. As an alternative, the cored wire welding machine is still a good choice.
This is much cheaper but also suitable for thinner sheets. For thicker sheets, however, other welding machines have their advantages.
Which welding machine for thicker plate?
For thicker sheet metal, the shielding gas welding machine can be used again, as it is suitable for both low and high material thicknesses, as already mentioned above. As an alternative, however, one should rather not use the cored wire welding equipment.
For thicker sheets there is another and certainly better suited welding machine. The electrode welding machine is recommended.
Here a stick electrode is used without a gas cylinder.
Selection by work area
A mobile welding machine for outdoor welding.
For people who are often on the road with their welding equipment and often work outdoors in the fresh air, a mobile welding machine is of course needed that can also work properly outdoors in good and bad weather. The question arises as to which welding equipment can meet these requirements.
The welding equipment should have a compact design and not be too heavy. It should also be easy to grip so that it can be transported comfortably from A to B.
Last but not least you should be able to make a good weld even in windy weather. Not all welding machines can meet all these requirements.
The shielding gas welding device and also the TIG welding device can be excluded directly in advance. Both welding devices are unfortunately very susceptible to wind and it is not possible to create optimal welding seams in windy weather.
In these two models, the shielding gas is blown more or less away by the wind and can therefore no longer protect the welding area from the ambient air. Apart from that, they are quite heavy and you have to carry a gas cylinder with you.
All that remains is the flux cored wire welding machine and the electrode welding machine. These two are very well suited for outdoor use, as they are not usually susceptible to wind and you can achieve decent results here even in bad weather.
However, make sure that you select an inverter as the welding power source. These are more expensive but actually a “must have” for mobile use. An Inwärter welding machine also offers many more advantages.
For more information, please refer to Inverter Welder Test.
Which welding machine for cars?
If you want to weld on the car, you will also have to deal with thinner body panels more often. An electrode welding machine is not particularly suitable for this task. It could cause unnecessary welding with very thin sheets.
There are far simpler and more convenient alternatives. Basically, we recommend a normal shielding gas welding machine in the automotive sector. This allows you to weld all standard sheet metal in your workshop without any problems. Furthermore, you do not have to deal with slag residues and therefore do not have to remove them with a hammer.
However, if a gas shielded welding machine is expensive, there is a cheaper and more difficult to master alternative. The cored wire welding machine. It is also recommended for thinner sheets, as they are more often used for the whole car body work.
However, you have to fight with slag and remove it properly with a slag hammer. But you save the use of a gas bottle and you even have the possibility to do the car repairs outside. On cored wire welding machine test you will find more information.
You should now have the basic information you need to decide for yourself which welding equipment is suitable. We hope you enjoyed this article.