I have some experience with Mig and Arc welding, and am currently going to school to improve those skills. But my welding instructor keeps pushing OxyFuel, saying I will probable need it. So I would like to know what types of welding that are actually used so I can determine which classes I should take.

Why do you ask?

Mig works for everything, Tig is good for high strength pieces like rollcages, and oxyfuel is good for sheet metal. But ti isn't used much anymore. Arc is strictly structural. Try welding sheet metal with a stick welder and you end up with a pile of molten metal.

one advantage is you can weld aluminum and chrome moly with oxyfuel. you can also weld aluminum and chrome moly with a tig, but a gas welder is a whole lot cheaper. i believe the best thing about oxy fuel welding is learning about penetration and how to better control the metal. i personally prefer mig because it is very controlled. but i also like arc because of the penetration and oxy acetylene is good for small stuff. one can also learn to braze with a gas welder. i use all times of welding in my shop except for tig and the only reason is because i can't afford a tig welder right now. also you need a spool gun to weld aluminum. and you can't weld chrome moly with a mig

Any time that one has the opportunity to expand their skills is time well spent..Learning OA will help a lot if you ever see yourself doing TIG..

Skilled metal workers have a good range of knowledge about various kinds of metal fab and know which technique to use and how to go about the task...

OMT

__________________
If it don't work it ain't pretty!!!!

I learned O/A and stick welding @ my local JC many years ago. I do a lot of MIG and have a TIG (about 3 years!) but haven't seriously tried learning it yet. I am most comfortable with O/A and use it a lot for brazing, For example great for putting a reinforcing brass fillet @ the tube/flange interface on headers. Brazing is indispensable for assembling things that need gaps filled and smooth joints (see photo below for an example of this). I also use it exclusively for welding header tubes and all tubing and small sheet metal jobs where warpage isn't an issue.


The smooth chromed thermostat housing with all the many nozzles shown in the top arrow and the pump suction pipe @ the bottom arrow with its tight 90deg turn would have been difficult to make w/o brazing.

Also, there is NO replacement for rod welding on heavy metals, especially when custom filler metals are required. Virtually the whole mechanical infrastructure of modern society rests on good old electric rod welds.

That being said, MIG welders fill a huge gap in the middle that calls for a fast convenient, low cost welding method. It is by far the most versatile welder you can own.

For the beginning welder my recommendation is;

• Take a welding class or two @ your local JC.
• Your first welder should be a MIG w/ solid wire and gas bottle.
• Second welder should be O/A. Not only for welding but for cutting too.
• Third welder should be a buzz box stick welder.
• Next item to get is a plasma cutter.
• Finally when you are a master builder and really bucks-up get a TIG. In no way necessary for 99.99% of what the typical rodder does but fun to use.

I'm currently enrolled in Welding Technical Oreintation I and we have covered OxyFuel welding and cutting extensively. I do have experience with the OxyFuel cutting torch and Plasma cutter and know how good of tools those are. Brazing would be my only interest in OxyFuel welding at this point, but how often is it used. I'm unemployed and am paying for these classes out of pocket. So at this time, I need to get the skills that will get me in a shop, and then perhaps continue school to learn more. I can't afford to take a class in OxyFuel at this time if I'm not going to be using those skills much. This is why I would like to know what is being USED, verses what is good to know.

Thanx for the clarification. I thought there must be a reason for the original question. What you learn depends totally on what shop you get a job in. If it is an auto body shop, MIG is probably #1 followed by O/A. If it is a structural steel shop, stick welding is king. If it is a racing frame shop, aluminum or stainless fab shop, TIG will rule.

My goal is to get into a shop that does restoration and/or customization. Something like Boyd Coddington's shop on American Hotrod. My ultimate goal is to put Boyd out of business with my own shop.

We use MIG the most in my shop(Millermatics 200),however TIG(Miller syncrowave 250) is used on AL,SS & critical parts(ie-steering shafts). I still use ox/act when I want the metal to be more workable......like chopping a top that needs lots of shrinking. I use no brass rod in the shop.
Mig is a snap to learn. Tig is more difficult.& a lot more time consuming. Keep you metal CLEAN.
Don

I have only used MIG, for about 5 years, on both steel, and aluminum. I did learn torch welding(oxy/actyl), in college, and I found that it works better than MIG, or ARC, on cast iron.

I bought a TIG, for my welder, but never have taken the time to figure out how to run it.

I have a Mig and a Tig (both Lincolns! ). I find I use them both about 50-50. I use the Tig on Sheetmetal and the Mig for everything else (I'm doing a lot of Sheet Welding these days!)-

I took a Welding course (Ox/Ac) at the local Community College, and I found that I liked to Tig the best-

Craig

I only have a mig, but am saving for a tig.

In the OxyFuel class they teach brazing. Is this something that I should learn? Tuition for OxyFuel is $460 plus the equipment and gear I would need for it, all would be coming out of pocket. No grants, scholorships, or loans. Whould it be worth taking the class?

Becoming a good O/A welder will only improve your skills at all other types of welding because you will learn to control your heat and penetration. You can weld, solder or braze just about anything with it. Note, I didn't say everything. The few things you can't do with it you most likely won't be doing anyway.
While you will probably do most things mig, make the most versatile welding system (O/A) a part of your shop.
I have used O/A to weld everthing from .010 wire (jewelers torch) to 2 " plate (#6 rosebud). You can braze, powder weld or nickel weld cast iron with O/A without the cracking problems of arc welding. O/A will let you weld solder and braze a host of nonferrous metals that will just laugh at an arc welder.
You can use it to cut, weld, solder, braze, scarf, gouge, trim, heat, bend, shape, shrink ad infintum. So what do you think would be the most important thing to have in your shop?