I'm thinking of buying a welder and teach myself how to weld.
I'm going for a Mig welder as I've heard these are the easiest to use.
It will only be used for work on cars....cills , chassis just general rust repairs etc.

How much should I pay for a good one?
Any recommendations?
Anything I should know as a complete beginner?
Any help would be great thanks.

Cheers Jon

 

welcome to the board

you really wanna buy the best welder you can find, i'll have a lookie on ebay

 

thanks for the welcome..was regular on xroc..dont know what happened there...this seems to be the place to be now

 

this dont just seem the place,,, it is THE PLACE

had a little look at ebay,, whats your budget mate

 

Welcome jon,

I started out with a Clarke 100E from machine mart (check out their website) have had it around 8 years now and never had any bother with it at all. Just have to change the liner and tip every now and then. I binned the little reel that comes with it and use the larger reels now and also got a full size bottle as the small disposies dont last two minutes, I also replaced the origional earth wire and clip with some proper welding cable and clip. I think they're about £150 but maybe you can pick up a S/H one. I have a spare one but I think you're a bit far away.
To start with just get loads of clean scrap sheet steel and practice practice practice, you'll soon build your confidence up. Oh and get some decent overalls that dont ignite every time your not looking.

Good Luck

Steve

 

http://www.migtigarc.co.uk hello mate i'm a welder by trade, i've used this company before, there very helpful. Thay can be abit pricey but there stuff was a good investment. Have a look there always good for consumables aswell, like mig wire liners.

 

a11bejay,

welcome,,

 

What ever you do, don't get a NO GAS crap welders...

I use a Snap-On 130 which has been fooking top notch for at home!!

 

BOC are doing a 180amp mig set for just over £600 i bought my 180 about 8 years ago and u cant beat them.euro torch connection can burn 0.8 wire all day with out cutting out but 0.6 is better for cars.

the snap on welders are usually cebora (spell) or murex welders renamed.

the cheapy clarke and sealy etc are a waste of money spend the £600 on a good set which is brand new with bottle hire for a year,mask,gloves, maybe a free refill and wire and tips thrown in on the deal then when u want to get rid of it sell it for £300-£400 been offered that sort of money for mine by quite a few of my mates as i looked after it too.

but too be honest wouldnt sell it,as its never let me down,and it paid for itself in the first 12 months as once someoen knows that u weld (which i do for a living) someone is always knocking on your door.you then get fed up of crawling under escorts and fiestas etc but the extra cash is nice.

one tip and tthe main one realy CLEANESS is the key if u try welding rusty paint covered steel then doesnt matter how good a welder u are u will end up with crap birds poo weld. so make suer the welding area is clean.use wire wheels for the best results as this doesnt reduce the thickness of the steel as apposed to a grinding wheels.

good luck

 

we got a little clarke pro90 start kit thing from machine mart about 6 months ago. seems a bit shit compared to the £600 jobs the pros use, but to be honest mate, its all you need to begin with. ive done shitloads (and i mean SHITLOADS) of welding with ours and its never let em down once. its only ever cut out due to over heating about 3 times to. fooking good if you ask me.

i taught myself aswell mate, if youve got good aptitude for picking stuff up it wont be a problem. i was knocking out good welds after about 4 hours practice. no tutoring at all.

as rswoza said, keep everything CLEAN!! make sure youve always got a good clean earth too, not just where your welding. make sure you read up on adjusting the settings to. i just fiddled with mine and got the hang of it but itd be easier to know what your doing to start off with. youd be suprised how well even an novice can weld with the welder setup properly.

you'll be suprised how much you use it aswell! ive welded my own car, mates cars engine mounts for conversions for loads of people, intercooler moutning and done exhuast manifold today aswell.


get stuck in mate!!

 

This is next on my list of things to do as well.

Any help would be greafull- good topic to start.

J

 

the missus got me a sip150 dual mig welder with the mask and gloves and a few other bits like wire etc for £160 through her work.......just need to sort out a bottle now so i can play on me golf gti rust bucket
she bought me a fire exstingusher too

 

i got a murex tradesmig ( i think its a 135 ) top stuff
spent about £900 to get set up but i love it
best tool i ever bought, good luck and enjoy

 

How big a welder can you run on a standard 13amp household plug? I've been told everything from 130amp to 18oamp will work fine. Is there any advantage to having a bigger capacity machine?

 

the higher the amperage the thicker metal u can weld in a single pass.13 amp fuse is fine for 185 amps

anything above 180-200 is pro use imo.... 130-180 is a very handy bit of kit for home..... 90-130 is very basic diy use once every 12 months or so.

like i said use 0.6 wire on cars and 0.8 on diy jobs like car trailers, bbq's andanything like that realy a 180 amp machine wil burn 0.8 all day a less powerful machine will strugle due to the duty cycle shown as a percentage on the side of the machine which in lay mans terms how long u can run the set at a perticular power rating for.

sometimes u can find a very good cheap set, come across a few but when the break or go wrong they cost just as much to buy a new one as it is to fix it.

the main reason i bought a bigger set is i can get 0.6 on 15kg spools where u would noramly use 5kg and i get these very cheap (free)
and if i ever have a problem with the torch its just a basic euro torch connecting gun from any welding supplys shop, instead of waiting weeks for replacement clarke parts etc.

any one can weld, my mum can weld but the quality of the welding is down to practice and who teachs u, not some muppet down the pub whos been there done it got the tee shirt.
alot of collages do evening classes for studants, best bet is give teh collage a bell and ask if u can learn etc.the tutor will tell you all the basics and help u wih problems give advice on maintaning the machine etc.
u may even pick up a few fabricating tips too that will come in handy when doing cars and the advice u get is correct not hear say or bollox.


the fire extinguser is a good buy may save your life or your car. co2 is betters as powder and foam makes a real mess,and i think it costs £40 to refill a co2 extingisher 5 litre.

 

thanks for all your advice guys its really helpful and has given me a hell of alot of information.

Will be looking for welder now knowing abit more waht im talking about 1!

Thanks Again Jon

 

The loval college by me does a city and Guilds course for 100 quis but the course is 1 day a week ( 3 hours in the eve or sat) for a full term.

J

 

currently being taught by my mechanic ... the git started me on gas ... said if i can weld with that then mig will be easy

 

i wont add anything to this post other than welcome to the board and for car work you want at lease a 160amp @ 60% duty cycle Thats about a 180-200amp welder .

stick to well known makes , ( that doesnt mean Draper ( DRA-POOR)or machine mart )

i use pure argon as a gas shield but i use tig aswell and just use the same gass , 5% co2 is ok aswell , ( u burn a lot of crap off a car when your welding so a good gas will make a lot of difference .

good luck bud ,

 

This is what i have. I have found it to be right up to the DIY job.

 

cool replys i used to work as a tig ..mig welder....