Well yesterday I became a beginning welder.  I have a Miller Thunderbolt I bought last spring cheap but didn't have a 220 outlet I could use.  I found a good deal on a cheap flux core mig Wednesday so I jumped at it.  I will only being doing yard art welding no structural.  It was fun trying it out yesterday after watching so many YouTube videos.  Eventually I will get a 220 outlet installed in the garage.  I need a auto darkening helmet though.

I just bought a lincoln 180 weld-pak.  I borrowed a small wire welder when I redid my jeep but had no clue what I was doing.  I burned through the thin metal a lot but as I was only doing floorboards it didn't matter much.  I have always wanted to learn to weld but couldn't justify it as my brother in law was a welder by trade.  Well now my youngest son is a sheetmetal worker and the union is training him to weld so I thought it would be a great opportunity to get one.  Already have an outlet in the garage from out meat grinder.

Thought this may be a decent place to mention...

I had a welding job to do with my 240v stick welder (fixing a broken piece of my plow mount, 3/16th steel). Wasn't anywhere close to my 240 plug on the house.. So I decided that a mobile welder would be handy. Fortunately, I bought a Champion duel fuel generator (the 7k/9k watt model) for other uses last year (can't believe I'm saying that about 2016 already..). I put the proper twist lock plug onto the welder and it was able to do the job just fine. In fact, I was having issue with my old, moisture laden rods and had the settings kind of hot and was burning through the 3/16th steel, so I'm confident the generator would weld thicker metal.

Just thought I'd put this FYI out there.

TL/DR version:
Champion 7k/9k generator can power a 240v stick welder just fine.

The Hobart Handler 210 MVP is pretty much the same machine as the Miller 211 (some of the parts are even stamped Miller), and you can usually get it for a few hundred cheaper.  I picked one up at Cal Ranch for a decent deal. The only real difference is the Miller is "infinitely adjustable voltage" vs the 7 or 8 stops on the Hobart. 

I got the Hobart, and picked up a tank of gas. Makes great welds, much cleaner than the flux core.

Sure. If you would use it for boots, use it for the gloves. Just make sure it isn't flammable 

Means you can adjust the "power" for different metals (thicknesses, nothing welds good through rust). My cheap wire feed has 2 modes, 1 and 2 . 

Just the proper 240 plug on the welder. I use pallets for everything, use the 316 to move pallets around.

I have done this before, and I would caution you that it will probably melt metal but it's NOT just fine.

Check out the spec sheet for the Miller Bobcat 225, engine driven welder. Open the Spec sheet from this page

You can see that the output from most generators is not a smooth, constant amperage.  It fluctuates as the generator tries to maintain the output.  That's why people warn about running electronics on most generators.  You are running a welder that needs a 50a breaker because it pulls (or wants to pull) 47.5a in the max duty cycle.  You are powering it with a generator that provides 30a output.  When you are welding with it, I'll bet you noticed that the arc kind of flickered more than usual almost like a flame that wants to start and then dies, then flares up again.  Much different than the steady power coming in from the utility pole.  That unsteady current doesn't penetrate as well, which means your weld won't be as good as it should be (although a lot of farm welds will hold with a little surface melt, so you may not notice).

So, it will work.  Just know that you are taking chances with your gear.

Doesn't matter that much for most welding applications in my opinion.  Back in welding school we had dials to perfectly adjust the welding current.  Problem is, you need someone else using a clamp on ammeter to check the current in your weld cable (while you are actively welding) to set the dial where you need it.  In our case, we had spec sheets that said a certain type of metal and weld process needed to be within specific amp ranges and heat ranges.   So we would get some scrap metal, tell the guy we wanted it set at 100a or 105a (or whatever) and then strike an arc.  While welding, he would read the meter and adjust the dial to exactly what amperage you wanted.  Then you knew you would pass the metallurgy test on your weld.

I haven't worried about a clamp-on ammeter since I left the Navy.  When I want to weld I just use the Miller app to see what range it recommends, get as close as possible, and try it out.  If it burns hot, turn it down.  (Or, turn up the MIG feed rate if using that instead of stick).  If it sticks a lot or spits metal on the surface, turn it up.

Of course proper gear and setup is better.

But when it needs done, getting it done to satisfactory is better than staring at it

My sister is a horse lady.
I made her a coat hanger rack out of old horseshoes welded together.
Cleaned them up well with a cup brush in an angle grinder and welded with 1/16 inch diameter 7018 rod using my old Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC stick welder.
Spray painted it all black, drilled a pair of holes 16" on center so it can be screwed into wall studs.




Autodarkening helmets are sweet.

Horseshoe stuff is neat

I started making horseshoe stuff to sell when I was out of work. Didn't sell anything . Oh well, what do you do.

My "simple" double hat holder. My more ornate model had pony shoes as the backing instead of bar stock. This is basically my single hat holder doubled up. Attached File