To start I am not a welder but can weld. I own a Hobart Handler 140. Runs off of 120, came with a gas guage set up and has a pretty good duty cycle; 40% I think. Cost when I purchased it was about 400. Works great. They make a 125 that is a little less but would likely be adequate for what you describe. I use mine on the farm, and it welds great. I use the fluxed wire and no gas. If you get the shielding gas, these kind weld even better.

Best guidance I offer is to get the biggest duty cycle you can afford; it is irritating when the equipment "times out" on you while in the middle of a job. You have to wait on it to cool. Hobart is (if I remember correctly) made by Miller and has served me well, but is considerably less than some of the other bigger name brands.

I love my old Lincoln for the really heavy and larger jobs; but for every day, quick stuff, a wire welder is where its at.

Good luck.

Thanks!

Seth

Seth, As Jarret indicated duty cycle is important , but mostly only if you are doing big projects, for most of what a bladesmith does with a welder duty cycle while important is not primary in my mind. I would ask if you can upgrade your 20 amp circuit to 30 or even better 50? Mig welding is generally a fairly shallow penetrating process, for any given amperage you will get better penetration out of flux core but then you are dealing with the same cleanup issues as stick.If staying with the 220 I would shoot for a 180 amp machine as this opens all kind of possibilities for fairly heavy fab such as press or power hammer dies etc.If you must go with a smaller amp machine remember , by preheating to red you can vastly increase the capabilities of almost any small mig machine. As for mig gasses Co2 while not a true inert gas is cheapest to use but will have more splatter,75%argon 25% co2 is about an ideal mix. Some tri mixes while running hotter are alot more expensive. Like all things knives any attributes you go after will result in tradeoffs in one form or another.I hope these thoughts will help you make an informed decision. kinzea l thompson

I have a new miller 180 auto set mig. Like you I only have a 20 amp breaker and the welder really needs more. Luckily though I work for the power company, and have bribed one of the electricians at the plant to change it out for a 50 amp. This should get me just about anything done I want to do except some stainless that will need to be tigged. It will be cheaper for me to farm that work out than to buy a tig set up for only a couple of small jobs.

http://www.millerwelds.com/products/mig/millermatic_180_autoset/

Don't forget the tools sections of your local craigslist, thrifty nickel, nifty nickel, ebay, or classifieds. There are some good bargains out there now, but you need to be fast and educated on the subject to capitalize.

You stated that you sucked at stick welding, then I hate to say it but you will suck at mig welding and tig. A different process doesn't make it easier. I don't know where you live but most places have small vocational schools that you can take a welding class in. I would suggest you take a few classes to educate yourself so you can buy the appropriate welder and gear. After taking a few classes you will probably change your mind on what you need.