hi all ,

I'm thinking of going to buy a welder and have a play on a few old bits of metal and see how I get on .
I've looked at dong courses but well expensive !!

What decent Welders on the Market ?

 

To weld what ?

 

Depends on your budget, and what you plan on welding.

Clarke do some tidy migs, I've just bought one which is gas and gasless. 24 amps lowest setting and only 90 at the highest so ideal for body work.

I learnt with a ferm gasless which is good for thick metal but shit on body work with no power settings, just a high and low.

Get a gas one rather than gasless if it's for body work. Wire's cheaper and gas gives a smoother cleaner weld so less work smoothing back the weld.

Have a look at machinemart

 

As above - there's different processes for different materials/scenarios.

 

Going to be doing body work but want to learn before I start attacking the car

Unsure what ones to go for so thought I would ask here

 

Before you buy a welder, there's a few good books to read

 

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/index.php

it's simple. Buy a good quality gas based welder, that has a good range of power levels, and low power options, as well as variable wire speed ( ie no switches )

And I would always say buy the best you can afford...or even spend more. Buy a good welder and it wll give you many many years of good service and it will become an invaluable tool.

Ive had my Murex for around 20 years now and wouldnt be without it. Back then it cost me about Ł500 which was a lot of money. 20 years on and still working great....relatively speaking it was pennies for the service it has given.

Just a pity I have to rent gas bottles from BOC which is a cunt.

 

Id say you wont go far wrong with an Esab Caddy Mig 160.
Its about 650quid, inverter technology, light weight very easy to set up
gas or gasless, good duty cycle, runs off a 13amp plug or generator.
will do from car body work to medium fab work. good quality machine like.

 

Most people say that 30amps is the best for body work, and there's a few on machinemart etc that start off from 30 upto around 110.
I went for the one that starts at 24amps to give more range with thinner metals.

I reckon the clarke EN90 converted to run gas would be ideal to learn on body work. Around 210 new without the regulator or gas, but they arent that much to buy to convert

 

If I was buying again, I'd seriously consider a Thermal Arc Fabricator 181

It has the added bonus of being a MIG ( albeit with no trolley ), ARC and TIG welder all in one. It also can go down to very low currents for fine work.
It can take a 5kg roll which is plenty really.

I wanted a trolley based machine that could take a 15kg roll when I bought mine ( so it could carry the bottle ), but in reality a 15kg roll is bloody huge.

And you can buy trolleys to mount the smaller units and carry the gas bottle anyway.

http://www.migtigarc.co.uk/MIG_Welde...ator_181i.html

 

Spot on advise here

 

I had a sealey 150 turbo really rated it had it for a few years using it a few times a week,only sold it as I needed a more powerful machine,

If it was me I'd look out for a decent 2nd hand welder rather than a cheap new one, as a good machine will make all the difference best way the learn is to have a play watch some vids on youtube have a read on the mig welding forum and away you go, I was told f you can piss you can mig lol

 

Well, in that case ive seen alot of people that cant piss...