MIG vs TIG vs stick vs flux-core
Four processes, one table. Then the honest answer about which one you should actually start with.
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All four processes, side by side
| Process | Skill level | Gas needed | Best for | Typical home supply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flux-core (FCAW-S) | Beginner | None | First welds, outdoors, rusty steel | 120 V, 20 A circuit |
| MIG (GMAW) | Beginner to intermediate | Yes — 75/25 or 100% argon | Clean indoor steel, thin sheet, volume | 120 V or 240 V |
| Stick (SMAW) | Intermediate | None | Thick plate, filthy metal, awkward access | 120 V or 240 V |
| TIG (GTAW) | Advanced | Yes — 100% argon | Aluminum, thin stainless, visible welds | 240 V for a 200 A machine |
The one thing they all have in common
Molten steel exposed to air absorbs oxygen and nitrogen and turns brittle and porous. Every one of these processes exists to keep air off the weld pool while it solidifies, and the method each one chooses determines everything else about it.
Flux-core packs flux inside a hollow wire; it burns in the arc and makes its own shielding, leaving slag. Stick does the same with flux coated outside a solid rod. MIG and TIG blow shielding gas from a bottle.
Flux shielding works in wind and tolerates dirty metal, and leaves slag. Gas shielding gives a clean weld with no slag, and blows away in a breeze. That is the entire trade, repeated in four forms.
Flux-core: the one to start with
Self-shielded flux-core is the only process here where you can buy a machine, plug it in, and weld the same day. No cylinder, no regulator, no supplier arrangement.
It is also the most forgiving of imperfect preparation, which matters because beginners are bad at cleaning metal and gas MIG punishes that with porosity.
The costs: slag to chip off every weld, noticeable spatter, more fume, and difficulty on thin sheet. Level 1 · Flux-Core covers it properly.
MIG: where most home welders settle
Swap the flux inside the wire for gas from a bottle and you gain a clean, slag-free weld with much less spatter, and far better control on thin material.
You lose portability, immunity to wind, and a certain amount of money on the bottle arrangement. Most home welders decide that is worth it and stop here permanently — Level 2 · MIG explains why that is a perfectly good place to stop.
Stick: the specialist most people add later
Stick is the most tolerant process here. Rusty, painted, greasy, galvanized, outdoors, in the rain — a stick arc keeps going where everything else struggles. On a 240-volt supply it also reaches thicknesses a 120-volt wire feeder cannot approach.
What makes it a poor first process is arc initiation: you strike and hold the arc by hand, and electrodes stick to the work constantly while you are learning. It is an afternoon's learning spent before you start learning to weld.
It is also the cheapest arc welding there is, with no drive rolls, liner, tips or gun to wear out. Stick versus MIG covers it in depth.
TIG: a different craft
TIG separates heat from filler. The tungsten electrode makes the arc and does not melt; you feed a separate rod with your other hand and control amperage with a foot pedal.
That separation is what makes 22-gauge stainless weldable and what produces the stacked-dime bead. It is also why it is substantially harder: three inputs at once, plus the discipline never to touch the tungsten to the puddle.
The specification that decides a TIG purchase is AC output. DC welds steel and stainless beautifully and cannot weld aluminum — AC versus DC TIG.
Which should you actually learn?
Flux-core, unless one of two things is true.
If you specifically want aluminum, go straight to TIG. No other process here welds it well at home, and buying a wire feeder first means buying a machine that will never do the job you wanted.
If everything you intend to build is thin car body sheet, go straight to gas MIG. Flux-core on 20-gauge panels is a constant fight against burn-through.
For everything else — gates, frames, brackets, trailers, repairs, garden and garage steelwork — start at Level 1 and move up when something specific pushes you.
Is one stronger than the others?
No. E71T-11 flux-cored wire, ER70S-6 solid MIG wire and E7018 stick electrodes are all 70,000 psi class, and a correct weld in any of them is stronger than the mild steel around it.
The real question is always which process makes a correct weld easiest to achieve in your conditions, on your material, at your skill level. That is what this whole site is organized around.
What we would buy
1. Start here: flux-core
Forney Easy Weld 261 140 FC-i
Nothing to buy before your first weld, and the best duty cycle in its class.
For most people the answer to this page is flux-core, and this is the machine. Forney publishes 30% duty cycle at 90 amps, continuous voltage and wire-speed control, 140 amps, a quarter inch of steel, 19 pounds and a 20-amp circuit.
Nothing else has to be bought before your first weld, which is the single most important property of a first machine.
What works
- 30% duty cycle at 90 A is unusually generous for a 120 V machine in this class
- Infinite voltage and wire-speed control rather than four fixed taps, so you can actually dial a setting in
- 19 lb — genuinely carryable to the job instead of the job coming to it
- No gas bottle, no regulator, no second purchase before your first weld
What does not
- Flux-core only. It will never run gas, so it cannot become your Level 2 machine
- Every weld leaves slag that has to be chipped and wire-brushed off
- Needs a 20 A circuit — a 15 A garage lighting circuit will trip at higher settings
2. Flux-core now, MIG later
Hobart Handler 140
Runs gasless today and takes a bottle whenever you decide.
The way to avoid choosing between the first two columns of the table below: a gas-capable machine runs self-shielded flux-cored wire out of the box and accepts a regulator and solid wire later.
Hobart publishes 25 to 140 amps, a 20% duty cycle at 90 amps, and a 20-amp dedicated circuit.
What works
- The most documented 120 V MIG machine there is — every settings question has already been answered somewhere
- Runs flux-core on day one and gas MIG the day you buy a bottle, so the machine survives the level change
- Built-in five-position drive-roll tension and a genuine cast-aluminum drive system
What does not
- 20% duty cycle at 90 A is roughly two minutes of arc time in ten. Fine for a gate, not for a trailer deck in one sitting
- Single-voltage: it will never take advantage of a 240 V circuit if you later run one
- Needs its own 20 A circuit. Shared with a freezer and a shop light, it will trip
3. If you genuinely want several
YESWELDER MIG-205DS PRO
MIG, flux-core, spool-gun MIG, lift TIG and stick, on either voltage.
YESWELDER publishes five processes at 30 to 205 amps MIG and 20 to 205 amps stick on 220 volts, from 22.7 pounds, with synergic control.
Useful if you know you need two processes now. Be clear that the lift TIG is DC only with no pedal — it is not the TIG in the table below.
What works
- Synergic mode sets voltage and wire speed from the thickness you select, which removes the single hardest part of learning MIG
- Spool-gun capable, so aluminum is a gun purchase rather than a machine purchase
- 22.7 lb for a 205 A dual-voltage machine is remarkable
What does not
- Lift TIG is DC only and has no foot pedal, so it will not weld aluminum and is not a route to Level 3
- Five processes means five sets of consumables to stock
- Dealer support and warranty handling are not on the level of Hobart or Lincoln
Who this is wrong for: A true first machine for someone still working out what they want. Five processes means five ways to have the wrong setup.
4. If the answer is TIG
AHP AlphaTIG 200X
AC/DC at 10 to 200 amps — the only route here to aluminum done properly.
If you already know you want aluminum or welds that will be seen, skipping to TIG is a legitimate choice rather than an impatient one.
AHP publishes AC/DC TIG at 10 to 200 amps, a 60% duty cycle at 200 amps, aluminum capacity to a quarter inch, and AC balance from 30 to 70 percent.
What works
- AC output is what makes aluminum possible at all — this is the cheapest widely supported machine that has it
- 60% duty cycle at 200 A is a genuinely high rating for the price
- Adjustable AC balance lets you trade cleaning action against penetration instead of accepting one compromise
What does not
- The bundled torch and consumables are the first thing most owners replace
- The manual is thin. Budget time for learning the machine as well as the process
- 50 lb and a foot pedal means it lives in one place
Questions people actually ask
Which welding process should a beginner learn first?
Self-shielded flux-core, for most people. It is the only process where you can buy a machine, plug it in and weld the same day — no gas cylinder, no regulator, no supplier arrangement.
It is also the most forgiving of imperfect metal preparation, which is exactly what beginners are worst at.
Which welding process is strongest?
None of them, inherently. E71T-11 flux-cored wire, ER70S-6 solid MIG wire and E7018 stick electrodes are all 70,000 psi class, and a correct weld in any of them exceeds the strength of mild steel.
What differs is which process makes a correct weld easiest to achieve in your conditions.
Which process is best for aluminum?
AC TIG. It is the only one that welds aluminum well at home, because AC output is what breaks up aluminum's oxide layer.
MIG with a spool gun works for thicker utility aluminum. Flux-core and stick cannot do it at all.
Which process works outdoors?
Flux-core and stick. Both carry their own shielding, so wind does not affect them.
MIG and TIG both rely on gas from a bottle, and a breeze blows that shield away — producing porous welds with no obvious cause.
Can one machine do all four?
Multiprocess machines cover MIG, flux-core, stick and lift TIG, and that is genuinely useful.
The caveat is always the TIG: lift-start DC with no foot pedal, which means no aluminum and no live heat control. It is not the TIG in this comparison.
Sources
Read next
- What is the first welder to buy?
The one job a first welder has to do, and the four specifications that decide whether it does it.
- Flux-core vs MIG for beginners: which should you learn on?
Where the shielding comes from, and how that one difference changes everything downstream.
- MIG vs TIG welding: which should you learn?
One control versus three. What that difference buys, and the jobs only one of them can do.
- Stick vs MIG welding for a home shop
Stick handles rust, wind and thick plate; MIG is faster and cleaner. Why most shops want both.
- Find your level before you spend a penny
Most bad first welder purchases are not bad machines. They are the right machine bought by the wrong person, one level too early or one level too late.
Back to Find Your Level, or start over at Find Your Level.
Ryder M.
Ryder M. is the hands-on owner behind Magoo Media Group. He writes Arc & Bead's buying guides and picks every machine on the site. What every recommendation is based on — and what it is not based on — is set out on How We Pick.