...some angle and square/rectangle tube welding projects for making some machine tools to help in bladesmithing and woodworking projects... By any chance, are you thinking of a belt grinder? Part 2 of your original post was "which is best for a newbie". Since $$$ are a concern, flux core ...

Welcome to the forum! Homeboy pretty much nailed it, but i'll add a detail or two. Broadly speaking there are two types of wire-feed welding, determined by the type of wire you use. Solid wire welding, often called MIG, uses shielding gas (such as argon-co2 in various mixtures, or just plain co2) t...

Just so I get this right which type of mig welding doesn't use a gas? Also which would be the best to start with of the 2 mig types for a total newb to welding?