[Beardly47]

I am starting welding school this fall and I am wanting to get a welder so that I can practice at home and once I develop some skills pick up work on the side. I have three welders I am considering because of their versatility and my budget and I wanted some advice on what of the three might be a better starter welder. AHP Alpha TIG 200X, Everlast Power TIG 200DV and Lincoln Electric Powermig 210 MP. I like that they are all dual voltage. I like the AHP because I can do AC/DC on both stick and TIG, The Everlast seems like a better quality machine over the AHP I just dont know if it is worth the money and according to the specs on their website it can do AC/DC TIG but only DC stick and the Lincoln is different because it can do MIG I feel like TIG and STICK I will be more versatile for small jobs and for home practice and may need more practice with TIG than I would with MIG to get good. Any suggestions or help would be great.

[Farmwelding]

Well... For practice you probably will need more time with tig than mig for sure so I would eliminate the 210 for now. On the other hand-what kind of work do you want to do? Aluminum parts, small fab jobs, small repair jobs(lawn mower), custom bikes or frames. These are all things you will want to consider before purchase. Think about it and get back. That will help make a decision

[Beardly47]

I don't know enough or have enough experience to know what I want to do yet that is one reason I am going to school. I am really interested in repair work. I want the machine to practice outside of school and if I can make some money with it down the road all the better! My experience is limited to a very small amount of stick welding and it was just running beads on a plate and I really enjoyed it, also I love working with my hands. I am going into welding because I want to provide for my family better and I want to enjoy my job more. I just don't know what I will like doing with welding specifically because I just don't have enough experience yet, but TIG really interests me a lot.

[Farmwelding]

Well... If you want to make money in the welding world you probably want to focus on tig and stick.

So in this case go with a tig unit. You can do aluminum and steel and stainless steel for repair work and practice and then do stick weld repairs. Like I said before-tig usually takes the most practice. No personal experience with either if those machines but I know many do

Don't worry about whether or not your machine will do AC stick. Almost all stick electrodes can be run on DC and get better penetration on DC anyways. And most welding in the real world is down with DC especially with 6010 and 7018. I know the AHP won't run a 6010 no matter what though. Most smaller inverters won't unless they have a dig function

As another option-have you looked at the Lincoln squarewave at all. I haven't used any of the machines so no reviews here

[Poland308]

I have the 210mp. I'm happy with it. It is a good solid machine that would be good for repair work. But I already had an AC/DC tig machine that I use for my stick and tig work. If your looking for a good machine for all three processes then your looking for an industrial quality machine with an industrial price tag. If you want to practice tig then get a 200 amp machine that can do AC/DC. Most of them will also stick weld well. Most of them won't mig. Mig is something that you will use for lots of repair or small jobs.

[bruce991]

Take a look at the classifieds I have a barely used Everlast 160STH in there for sale a great machine.

[Beardly47]

I have been doing a lot of reading and it seems that most people who have experience with welding and welders think that for the price the AHP is the best welder on the market and that it is a solid machine taking into account that it has not been around long enough to really know if it will hold up in the long run, but so far so good. Occasionally people have problems with them, but that is usually right from the get go and AHP fixes it with out any trouble. So i am leaning towards the AHP unless I can find a deal on something in the classifieds.

[Louie1961]

If your intention is to get welding school practice then I would say none of the machines you mentioned would be a good choice. I would think you would need a machine that can run 6010 rod, and none of those will.

I am not sure why you say the AHP hasn't been around long enough to really know if it will hold up in the long run, it has been on the market for 4 years now I believe.

[Beardly47]

If I have to be able to weld 6010 then from what I have seen I need either a stick specific machine or I cannot afford a machine that can do 6010 and AC/DC TIG with all of the fancy settings. From my understanding 6011 is very similar to 6010 and if anything 6011 might be harder to use than 6010 correct me if I am wrong but would I not get near the benefit from practice running 6011 in place of 6010? Everlast make the 200ST that has a dedicated 6010 port and I could get the accessories to do lift start TIG although I was really interested in HF start and being able to do really thin material including aluminium.

[Farmwelding]

If I have to be able to weld 6010 then from what I have seen I need either a stick specific machine or I cannot afford a machine that can do 6010 and AC/DC TIG with all of the fancy settings. From my understanding 6011 is very similar to 6010 and if anything 6011 might be harder to use than 6010 correct me if I am wrong but would I not get near the benefit from practice running 6011 in place of 6010? Everlast make the 200ST that has a dedicated 6010 port and I could get the accessories to do lift start TIG although I was really interested in HF start and being able to do really thin material including aluminium.

6010 and 6011 are virtually the same rods. Slight differences in the coating but they run very similarly. You get alwxcellent penetration on both and both are used with a whip and pause so practicing is the same for both to get the feel of a rod.

[Otto Nobedder]

If I have to be able to weld 6010 then from what I have seen I need either a stick specific machine or I cannot afford a machine that can do 6010 and AC/DC TIG with all of the fancy settings. From my understanding 6011 is very similar to 6010 and if anything 6011 might be harder to use than 6010 correct me if I am wrong but would I not get near the benefit from practice running 6011 in place of 6010? Everlast make the 200ST that has a dedicated 6010 port and I could get the accessories to do lift start TIG although I was really interested in HF start and being able to do really thin material including aluminium.

6010 and 6011 are virtually the same rods. Slight differences in the coating but they run very similarly. You get alwxcellent penetration on both and both are used with a whip and pause so practicing is the same for both to get the feel of a rod.

I don't "whip" 601X rod unless I have a gap larger than the rod diameter. I use a "bury-rod" technique that almost welds itself if you keep the right push and angle.

Steve S

[Olivero]

Get a TIG and Stick machine.

I can tell you that if you want to do odds and ends, fabrication, repair work, stainless, aluminum and all the fun stuff, you are gonna need to TIG.

A MIG to me is the sped up version of a mix between Stick and TIG, it comes in handy over either process at times but its rare, so if you want to be versatile and ready to fix whatever someone throws at you, a TIG will do it, might take more time than it would with a MIG but it will get done none the less.

I don't really ever MIG, I did it for one project and I am doing it for another coming up but otherwise I TIG or stick everything.