Most welding content online is written by people who have never run a bead. This site is different: every review, guide, and recommendation comes from nearly 15 years of actual welding — on real jobs, with real equipment, in a real workshop. I started Beginner Welding Guide because when I was learning, the advice I found was vague, untested, and often wrong. I didn’t want to build another site like that.
Who writes the content
I’m Liam Bryant. I’ve been welding for close to 15 years out of my workshop in South Houston, Texas. MIG and stick are what I use most — structural work, repairs, fabrication. I’ve also developed solid TIG skills over the years, which I use when precision matters more than speed.
Over that time I’ve built and repaired carports, barns, stock trailers, ranch gates, roping arenas, truck bumpers, and race car cages. I hold a 6G welding certification, which is the most demanding pipe position test in the trade. The point isn’t the credential — it’s that I’ve been doing this long enough to know the difference between a machine that performs and one that just has a good spec sheet.
How we test equipment
Nothing gets recommended on this site without being tested in person. When I review a welder, I run it — butt joints on 3/16″ mild steel, fillet welds, overhead position where it’s relevant. I test MIG machines on mild steel, stainless, and aluminium when the manufacturer claims compatibility. I run machines at their rated amperage for their rated duty cycle period, because that’s where cheap machines fail. I check wire feed consistency under sustained load, and I assess arc stability across the full amperage range, not just the midpoint.
For helmets and PPE, I use them during welding sessions — not just hold them up to a light. For consumables, I run real welds.
If a product appears in a comparison without hands-on testing, the article says so explicitly. We don’t hide that.
You can read the full breakdown on our testing methodology page.
What we won’t do
We don’t publish a review because a brand sent us a free machine. We don’t write articles designed to rank for a keyword we have nothing useful to say about. We don’t recommend products we haven’t tested just to fill out a comparison table — and when we do include an untested product for context, we say so in the article.
We also don’t pretend that every machine at every price point is “great for beginners.” Some aren’t. If a welder has a serious flaw, we say so, even if it costs us an affiliate commission.
Technical review — Russell Egan
Russell Egan reviews my drafts before they’re published. He’s been welding for over 30 years, starting on a farm and working across agricultural, structural, and repair contexts since then. His job is to cross-check my findings against manufacturer specs, flag anything that doesn’t hold up, and bring in his own experience where it’s relevant. If something doesn’t pass that check, it doesn’t go on the site.
Get in touch
If you have a question about a specific machine, a process, or something in an article that doesn’t match your experience — I want to hear it. Disagreements from people who’ve actually used the equipment are genuinely useful to me.
You can reach me at liam@beginnerweldingguide.com or Russell at russegan1@gmail.com.