Q&A topic

Basics & process choice: 14 questions answered

• What is the best welder for a beginner in Australia?

  A 135–180 A multi-process inverter around $400–$800 is the best first welder for most Australians: it MIGs and sticks from a stand…

• Do cheap welding machines work?

  Yes — cheap inverters genuinely weld. A $150 stick box or $200 gasless MIG lays real beads, and for occasional fence repairs they'…

• What is the difference between MIG and TIG welding?

  MIG feeds a consumable wire automatically — fast, easy, the go-to for steel fabrication. TIG uses a non-consumable tungsten electr…

• MIG or stick — which should I learn first?

  Learn MIG first if you'll weld mostly indoors on clean steel; learn stick first if your work is outdoors, on farms, or on thick di…

• What is welding and how does it work?

  Welding joins metals by melting them together — usually with an electric arc around 6,000°C that fuses the parent metals and a fil…

• Which welding process should I learn first?

  Learn MIG first — it's the fastest path to competent beads and teaches puddle reading that transfers everywhere. Learn stick first…

• What does duty cycle mean on a welder?

  Duty cycle is the fraction of each 10-minute period a welder can run at a given output without overheating: 35% at 180 A means 3.5…

• AC or DC welding — what's the difference?

  DC (direct current) runs nearly all MIG, stick and TIG steel/stainless welding — stabler arcs, easier starts. AC (alternating curr…

• What are welding positions (flat, horizontal, vertical, overhead)?

  Welding positions describe the joint's orientation: flat (easiest — gravity helps), horizontal, vertical (up or down) and overhead…

• Butt weld vs fillet weld — what's the difference?

  A butt weld joins two pieces in the same plane; a fillet weld joins them at an angle (like a T-joint). Fillets are the workhorse o…

• How long does it take to learn welding?

  MIG competence on basic steel joints takes 10–20 hours of practice; genuine proficiency across positions and thicknesses, a few mo…

• Can I teach myself to weld?

  Yes — MIG and stick are genuinely self-teachable with modern inverters, scrap steel and a disciplined practice loop. What self-tea…

• Why do my welds look bad?

  Bad-looking welds trace to five causes: wrong amps for thickness, inconsistent travel speed, wrong arc length or stick-out, poor t…

• What should a beginner weld first?

  A beginner should weld beads on flat scrap plate first — 30 minutes of straight beads before any joint. Then butt joints, then T-j…