Stick Welding vs Mig: Simple Beginners Guide

Welding is an essential process in manufacturing industry for joining of metals with heat andpressuretechnique, butliteratureistoovasttograbthesametechniquebybeginners. There are many types of it to do the job with different engineering parameters and variables, two of common types are Stick and Mig welding having different pros and cons with different thickness criteria. Thus it is need of beginners to understand them.

 

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What is Stick Welding

How does Stick Welding Work?

How Mig Welding Works

Difference Between Mig and Stick Welding

Is Stick Welding Better than MIG

Easiest Type of Welding

How Shenzhen Tuofa Leads Chinese Factories in Welding and Machining Processes

FAQs about Welding Processes

 

 

 

What is Stick Welding

 

It is common welding technique which need electrode, holder, transformer, clamps, electrical cable leads and tools to weld with hand and in manual manner so that one can do it for low cost project. It has application in common engineering job which does not require any modern machines and extra shielding gasses to protect it from defects, porosity, pinholes and cracks. Thus in nutshell this technique has application in common grade fabrication structure without use of difficult level of qualification and passing quality check. Figure.No.1 shows stick welding work.

 

Figure.No.1.Stick Welding Sketch.

 

 

 

How does Stick Welding Work?

 

It has electrode with covering of flux and bare metal in center of it to fuse and become part of final weldment so that base metal can get joining strength from it. First of all current passes from electrode to base metal or in opposite direction so that current path can get its connection to travel, then electrode goes to vicinity of base metal to fuse and solidify in it. Transformer in whole process regulates the current cycle and control the amount of electron flowing from electrode to base metal or viceversa otherwise it is difficult to weld thick. Advantages of Stick Welding:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advantages of Stick Welding

 

There are many advantages of this technique that is why it is common one in every workshop of fabrication and welding, but almost all advantages lie on agenda of cost saving and economical process. Some of engineering advantages are:

 

1. Easy Manipulation.

 

2. Low heat Input.

 

3. Easy for manhandling.

 

Disadvantages of Stick Welding

 

Although this technique is useful for doing common and structural engineering but there are certain disadvantages which have connection with them and that are:

 

1. No automatic process have connection with it.

 

2. No shielding gas have connection with it.

 

3. It has low production rate with it.

 

These disadvantages can reduce its cost effective use to zero because in this way modern automatic process with shielding gasses re more effective and useful.

 

 

 

What is Stick Welding used for?

 

It has common use in engineering fabrication structure where access of electrode is only possible with the help of hand and human interference. Thus for these kind of structure it is suitable welding practice due to simple process, ease of operation, less accessories and small equipment. Both AC and DC polarity have application in this process because in both way current polarity makes its electrode form anode to cathode and viceversa for removing of aluminum oxide chip on surface.

 

 

 

Does Stick Welding Require Gas?

 

This process has an electrode with flux covering on the cover of bare metal wire which can provide the shielding gasses equivalent cover to molten metal for protection from foreign oxide. Another factor which makes it to work without shielding gasses is that flux make slag on top of molten metal and cover the ambient gases to make sound weld in perfect condition. Good stick welds the base metal without any use of foreign oxide, metallic inclusion, slag inclusion and porosity so that stick out welding may work.

 

 

 

How Mig Welding Works

 

It is inert gas technique for joining base metals with filler metal wire so that shielding gasses can provide resistance against the porosity, pinholes, cracks, lack of penetration and lack of fusion. Thus it is important to understand this welding process because welding materials like Alumnium, Steel and even Copper can do their best with this technique in mass production phenomenon. Filler metal wire comes from spool of round circle with the continuous exposure of shielding gasses in way that electric have enough heat to fuse and melt the base metal in weld joint.

 

Figure.No.2 shows Mig welding works.

Figure.No.2.Mig Welding Torch.

 

 

 

Is MIG Welding AC or DC?

 

In most of cases it is DC welding technique because base metal is best at fix polarity with thefillermetalwire, otherwisemovingfillermetalwirecannotchangeitspolaritywithdefect free weld. Another concern with AC polarity in MIG meaning weld is that during welding process distortioninmovingfillermetal wireis quitepossibleandlack of fusioncandestroy the quality of weld. Advantages of MIG Welding:

 

 

Advantages of Mig Welding

 

Statement that MIG welding good for your job is not simple one because it has certain background on technical grounds which decide that it can perform better in field without any defect of weld. Some advantages are:

 

1. Fast Production.

 

2. Active Gasses option is also available.

 

3. It is easy to perform.

 

 

Disadvantages of Mig Welding

 

Welding tips define that which process is good for you and can perform good work in weldingcomparisonof Stick Welding vs MIG, otherwise normal weldercandohis job with low quality and NDT. Some disadvantage are:

 

1. It is difficult for Alumnium.

 

2. It has less control.

 

3. It cannot do ACorDCat sametime.

 

 

What is MIG Welding Used for?

 

Major need for this type of process in context of Stick Welding vs Mig is for mass production of welding jobs because its speed tells the answer for is mig welding better thanstick. Weldingcomparisontells that statement of stick welding goodfor manhandling comes from low production rate of stick welding while Mig welding has high production rate, easy training approach and better control of parameters.

 

 

Can you MIG weld without Gas?

 

Gasless mig welding can do weld without shielding gasses and have flux cored weld wire with central flux, which can protect the foreign atmosphere elements in weld pool. But in truesenseitnot migmeaning weldbecausehereprocessgoestoanothertypeof welding which is called gasless mig welding and this one is different from welding materials of Mig welding with shielding gasses and wire spool. For gasless mig welding get an instant expert quotation byclicking here.

 

 

 

Difference Between Mig and Stick Welding

 

Question of Stick Welding vs Mig makes lot of new aspects for your job with regards to it material, thickness, chemical composition, heat treatment, surface treatment and post weld heat treatment. But below are some welding comparison for better understanding and selection of process during execution and fabrication of job with wither of these processes:

 

 

 

 

Suitable Materials

 

Best material for stick out welding has relation with welding tips and its properties of mass production, lack of fusion / penetration, thickness factor, oxide formation and brittle properties. For common structural engineering materials statement saying that stick welding good for carbon steel is in conformance with advantages of stick welding. For Mig welding best materials are Aluminum which can have welding by special protection of inert shielding gasses and inert atmosphere with or without change of polarity to remove chipping of base metal.

 

 

Weld Quality

 

Stick welding vs Mig have common question for selection of process and that is which one is good for weld quality because out of these two processes only one weld process is suitable and good for your welding job. And in case of common engineering carbon steel gives good stick welds but Alumnium and mass production materials support the stamen of Mig welding good for engineering materials. In case of job which need man handling and other job access issues stick welding is best but it cannot give quality results for NDE and mechanical testing qualification.

 

Figure.No.3.Mig Welding Look.

 

For good weld quality and its services,click here.

 

 

Indoor and Outdoor

 

For outdoor and field application where welder needs the full working liberty and space for qualification and completion of joint within time, stick welding is best option due to its user friendly and less components nature. Thus Mig welding option is only suitable for working of dedication in indoor atmosphere, low guest, less environmental effects and less humid atmosphere. Thus each process has its own limitation and good effects in relation to indoor and outdoor environment of job and working place.

 

 

Typical Applications

 

Butt joints, V groove joints, Fillet joints and double v joints are bets option for stick welding because it can weld in these welding configuration without any limitation of defects and porosity holes. But for mass production butt joints and fillet joints with full penetration Mig welding is good option because it can do it with gas protection, high production rate, automatic process and with defect free fusion.

 

 

Ease of Use

 

Stick welding is for ease of use because it can weld with parameter of electrode, holder, transformer and welding leads without any provision of shielding gases to protect and maintain in running cycle. But in case of Mig welding provision of maintaining of shielding gases is also must because it will decide that how much protection the weld metal has after removing of its flux.

 

 

Equipment Cost

 

Stick welding uses the transformer, holder and electrode for main cost elements but Mig welding has much more dedication for it because it involves transformer, shielding gases monitor and automatic system in it. Thus cost of mig welding equipment becomes more than stick welding due to shielding gas monitor, wirespool, transformer and automatic system with controller of wire feed rate and current relation.

 

 

Consumable Cost

 

Consumable in case of stick welding is only electrode because it does not exist after the process while in case of Mig welding wire, shielding gases and other special tools are the consumable materials. Thus stick welding consumable cost is less than Mig welding due to its less component nature, cheap electrode and no use of shielding gas for protection of weld quality.

 

 

Protective Gear

 

In case of Mig welding welder need high heat resistant protective gear due to continuous use of welding torch, deep welding, and high heat input, thus its protective gears are expensive than stick process of welding.

 

 

Ventilation and Gas Monitoring

 

Ventilation is such process which is present in both of process and you cannot say that is mig welding better than stick for this issue. Another factor important for Stick welding vs Mig is gas monitoring because its hazard has direct relation with safety of people working at place and in vicinity.

 

 

Skill Level Required

 

Stick welding is common process for any welder because it has many applications in every engineering workshop but for first time it also has some techniques to learn due to quality of weld. For Mig automatic process it is always important to learn the basic training at machine, control panel, G/M codes and user interface so that welding and gas monitoring go in parallel.

 

 

Summary Chart: Difference Between Mig and Stick Welding

 

Although for question tick welding vs Mig many instructions are present on workshop manual but for beginner welder it important to learn the key difference between them. Table.No.1 explains this phenomenon:

 

 

 

Stick Welding. Mig Welding -Structural materials, Carbon steel. Special material like Alumnium etc. -Slow production. Fast Production. -Good weld quality. Excellent weld quality. -Low equipment cost. High equipment cost. -No gas monitor. Gas monitoring is essential. -No extra skill. Machineskill needs. -Outdoor, Site and indoor Only for indoor. Table.No.1. Stick Welding Vs Mig.

 

 

 

 

Is Stick Welding Better than MIG

 

Mig welding can do special material welding as in case of Alumnium material because of presence of special protection gas option and aesthetic look of weld quality at end of process.

 

 

Easiest Type of Welding

 

Easy Stick welding process can do welding of job by just using electrode holder, transformer and welding accessories therefore it has ease of use in it but for difficult Mig process special gas monitor and automatic controller is also essential.

 

 

Is Mig or Stick Welding Stronger?

 

Mig welding can do deep groove penetration weld with quality of qualification therefore it has advantage of stronger strength but for stick process you cannot do seep groove weld in simple manner due to thickness and weld defects limitation.

 

 

 

Gasless Mig vs Stick Welding

 

Gasless Mig process has one option to do and that is with the use of Flux cored arc welding because in this case flux melts in pool to protect it from foreign elements of defects. But stick welding does not have gas protection in its primary use due to same flux protection and can provide good protection against pin holes, porosity and lack of fusion/penetration.

 

 

Flux Core Mig vs Stick Welding

 

Flux core Mig can do the best welding instead of gas protection because hereflux can protect it from oxide formation elements but stick welding cannot compete it in mass production and deep groove penetration of v joints.

 

 

Wire Feed vs Stick Welding

 

Wire feed option is only available in case of Mig welding because in case of stick welding no wire feed option is available due to solid flux electrode and bare metal wire inside it.

 

 

Table.No.2 describes thickness criteria of Stick Welding vs Mig.

 

 

 

Easiest Type of Welding

 

Stick welding is an easy technique because it can do welding in simple manner, with less tools, one type of transformer an electrode holder, in this way it can accommodate any type of joint and job configuration with simple manner. While in case of Mig same process becomes difficult due to heavy equipment, gas monitor, ventilation need, automatic system and dimensional limitation with weight capacity.

 

 

 

How Shenzhen Tuofa Leads Chinese Factories in Welding and Machining Processes

 

For welding and machining process only expensive equipment cannot do work because manpower with training is also an essential thing with ISO certification of process. Tuofa China has following features:

 

1. ISO 9001 certification with international standard certification.

 

2. Manpower with skill of doing machining and welding.

 

3. Process qualification record of machining and welding.

 

4. Experience of doing international jobs with tight tolerances.

 

5. Have modern equipments of CNC machine and automatic welding equipments.

 

Thus Tuofa china can deal your job as per need of engineering drawing and tight tolerances of des and standards with modern equipment and process having complete certification of machining and welding.

 

For more information please visit https://www.tuofa-cncmachining.com, Drawing design and quotation, contact support team for [email protected]

 

 

 

FAQs about Welding Processes

 

What is the easiest welding to learn?

 

Stick welding is an easy process to learn because it does not need training of welder for Gcode/ MCodeandcertainothertypes of automatic controlleruserinterface with parallel operation of wire feed and shielding gasses for oxide protection.

 

 

What is Wire Feed?

 

It is an input of wire for welding process with unit time for continuous fusion of welding material and insertion of same in metallic pool so that it can provide weld pool for solidification and strong bond with base metal.

 

 

Mig welding gloves vs Stick

 

Robust type of gloves are the need of Stick welding because in this process wear and tear of gloves is obvious but in case of Mig welding heat resistant, fatigue and creep resistant gloves are the essential need due to high heat and chemical gas process.