Welding Tips and Tricks

I've been lurking for a few months and finally joined. Awesome forum, cool dudes.
I don't have a welder or much experience yet. I borrowed a Co workers hf 90 amp flux and I'm building a work table now. I really want to get a tig but I know everyone says mig is easier to learn. Tig looks like it would be easier for me though.
I don't know what to do, buy a tig or mig or maybe the lincoln 210mp with tig setup. I would rather have a fully loaded machine so I don't have to upgrade soon. I'm planning on building my kids some motorized drift trikes with 1-1/4" .120 DOM and just making little stuff, just basically looking for a hobby and a way to fix stuff. Maybe one day when I'm good at it building my own motorcycle from ground up.
I have been watching the classifieds around here and there isn't crap for decent prices some is more than buying new.
Any suggestions would be appreciated and it's great to be a member of this forum. Jody is my new hero lol.

Joe, as nice as the Multifunction machines seem at first, it is normally better to just save up a bit more and get separate machines, especially if plasma cutting is involved. If it is just mig, TIG, stick then you don't have to worry about contamination from the compressed air getting into the torch line for argon while mig or TIG welding.

If you have a multipurpose machine break, you are out 3 machines as opposed to just one. You can normally make do with a different process while waiting to get your other machine fixed, but if you are not making a living welding then this isn't AS big of a deal, just a minor inconvenience that may take a few days or weeks to get resolved.

Edit: Welcome to the forum as well!

Joe, Grein is right...the thing I have found most useful in my life is patience...and for me it didn't come easy. I buy from Craigslist alot but I have found that if I am patient and wait, I usually get a good deal on what I am looking for. Like Grein said, don't get a multi-process cause your out of the game if it breaks. And as much as I hate buying new and paying retail, the warranties on big-ticket items are soothing if something goes wrong. If you are looking for a tubing roller or bender on the cheap, check out Harbor Freight. I bought theri tubing roller BUT I also bought the SWAG OFFROAD upgrades to go with it before I used it. Most of HFs stuff is junk but you can get away with some of their stuff...but don't buy their welders!

Welcome to the forum Joe.

Welcome, Joe!

Thanks for the replies and warm welcome. I'm going to get separate units.

Joe,
Welcome to the forum. I am in the process of building 3 drift trikes. Eventually I will have the progress shots here on the forum to follow along with.

I am not disagreeing with everyone on not buying a multi-process machine but if cash is strapped and you don't see yourself putting a lot of miles on machine, that's when the 3-in-1 machines really shine. Or if you were doing portable work and didn't want to lug several machines around. They are correct about being out of luck if the 3-in-1 breaks though. Decisions, decisions.
-Jonathan

Thanks Jonathan and I look forward to seeing your drift trikes.

Joe,
I would like to get some of these projects out of my garage so I can get back to the trikes. I will be getting tubing bent on Monday so that will be progress.
-Jonathan

Nice, I'm building me a hybrid jd2 bender now, the die should be here any day. Only problem I'm having is figuring out how to build a hydraulic power unit, I'm not sure where the pump mounts on it. It's the kind that has the reservoir mounted on motor, like the ones used for car lifts.

Welcome to the forum, Joe. I have the 210MP and love it. Of course it won't do AC tig, but is a very nice, easy to use machine.

Cheers.
-Eldon

Thanks x, do you have the tig setup on it then? How does it do as a mig? I looked at that welder and almost bought it at the local store. Is hf start that big of a deal where I should get it if it's just a dc tig?
Thanks

Uhhhh it depends on what you're doing I guess man. I've never tried it any other way, but it definitely makes life easier. You don't contaminate the tungsten on every start, and you can typically start at lower amps, which is a definite plus on thin stock.

I don't have the tig option on mine so I can't comment on that. It's a nice mig unit though and the little stick welding I've done with it (7018) worked fine too.

Cool thanks guys