Either stick, MIG or TIG can be used to assemble and install Welder Series parts. The machine has to have the capacity to weld the material thickness (most Welder Series brackets are 3/16” mild steel).

Stick welders don’t need a tank of shielding gas because the electrode is coated. This coating burns and keeps the air from the weld during the fusion process. Stick welders are more forgiving than TIG if the material being welded is dirty. A good weld made with a stick welder is… a good weld.

MIG welders are convenient because the wire feeds as long as the trigger is pulled (until the spool is emptied). It is easier to get the gun in position to weld because the arc will only be created when the trigger is pulled. MIG offers greater control than stick because the arc is closer to your hand, the arc is always the same distance from your hand (a new stick electrode starts out 12” to 14” long and burns down to the holder), and it’s easy to use two hands to steady the gun. MIG welders are more forgiving than TIG if the material being welded is dirty.

TIG welding gives the greatest power control of the three types being discussed. Often a foot pedal or thumb control is used to adjust the intensity of the arc while welding. TIG requires co-ordination between both hands and, with a foot control, one foot. TIG is not tolerant of dirty material. Rust or carbon scale will “jump” from the material to the tungsten electrode and change the arc pattern. Often it’s necessary to stop welding and replace or sharpen the tungsten when this happens. TIG does produce the dainty, “etched” pattern often seen in street rod and race car products. These are made by highly skilled welders.

A Welder Series tig weld.

Welder Series Mustang II upper towers, showing a mig bead (foreground) and tig bead (around the shock cone).