14 replies to this topic

[dale.lavender]

Basically im really interested in learning to weld, ive done some research on tinterweb but i just want to get on with it now and do some practice welding.
Where im stuck is there's so many different welders to pick from and i don't have a clue which ones are good or bad and what all the specifications mean.
can anyone give me some advice on an affordable but good mig welder?

cheers

DL

[Burnard]

whats your budget?

The clarke range at machine mart are all very good.
I have a 150EN which copes well with pretty much anything i throw at it

[joe90gt]

agree with burnard on this one although you can find the clarke 150 a lot cheaper on the net, its a good hobby welder and is powerful enough to cope with anything you'll throw at it.
Also get an auto darkening mask - between 40 - £50, so much easier than the traditional type

[Miniowner123]

i only started welding a short while ago and i bought a really cheap welder for £90, knew someone who worked for b&q and they got it at discount, made by rockworth, and i gotta say it was complete s*** .

shortly after i decided a new mig was needed so i bought myself a clarke 135te and straight away found it 100% better to use, cost around £220 but came with everything needed to get started (even gas). i find the clarke disposable gas cylinders even last ages so i've just stuck with these, cant fault it

[dale.lavender]

yeah i was looking at around £200 mark, so that one is probably abit over budget but the 135te pinhead mentioned is about the right sort of money. Ill have a gander round at the best prices, cheers for the help.

DL

[Miniowner123]

probably about the cheapest you'll find ***CLICK***

was interested to see how much i actually paid so i dug my receipt out, turns out i paid £250 so £220 is a good deal

[ricky_mini]

pretty sure the 1 i have is this

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item3f03039bc6

ive got no complaints about it!

[Timinichelsea]

Buy the best you can afford, avoid all these gasless ones and try and get one which will accept a decent gas bottle preferebly Y size or bigger, having wheels and a euro torch connection are also very nice to have.

I started out with some piece of crap welder that was about £150 if i remember right, i used to think it was ok - i was so wrong, but then i decided to go for a meatier machine so i have a butters amt 181. quite a decent piece of kit, its very easy to use.

It has an industrial wire feed motor, this helps because you have a lot more control and means that you can use a lot more power without risking blowing holes. I can quite happily use 120amps on 1mm steel, and even using 120amps on 0.6mm steel is quite do able just takes a bit longer.

[DAVEY_C]

Basically im really interested in learning to weld, ive done some research on tinterweb but i just want to get on with it now and do some practice welding.
Where im stuck is there's so many different welders to pick from and i don't have a clue which ones are good or bad and what all the specifications mean.
can anyone give me some advice on an affordable but good mig welder?

cheers

DL

yes i agree, go for a clarke mig, i use a sip 130 and since buying it new i had nothing but problems, because of their design i had to modify the welder to get half decent welds which aparently everyone has to do to the hobby sip's...... their not worth a s**t. the clarkes are an excellent machine, i had 1 and sold it because i needed the money at the time, worse thing i ever done but i didn't know at the time.

another good welder is the cosmic (although made by sip their not built the same) the internet has alot of stories of others experiences so maybe a simple google may help.

[Chris C]

I've had a little Miller 135 for about 4 years now and it still works flawlessly. I'm not sure what the availability of Miller products is like overseas but I've heard only good things about the Clarke welders, as this thread can show.

Even though it's more expensive I highly recommend getting a bottle of c25. It'll make learning to weld easier because the puddle isn't obscured with flux. Don't be too worried about an auto darkening hood, I used a crappy one for years and when I got serious about welding about a year ago I dumped it for a basic glass-shade non darkening hood. A lot of those auto hoods are set for shade 11's when they flick on, but personally I think that's way too dark and a shade 9 is more appropriate for sheet metal welding. That being said I absolutely love my new Optrel.

Good luck!

[Carlos W]

I've heard people say the disposable bottles are rubbish and hardly last any time at all

[sonikk4]

I've heard people say the disposable bottles are rubbish and hardly last any time at all

Don't even go there with them, they are expensive for what they are and last 15-20 mins if you are lucky. I have a contract bottle of Argoshield light from B.O.C, expensive to start with but its cheaper in the long term especially if you are doing a lot of welding like i have been.

I currently use a Clarke 135TE turbo mig and its fine for everything you need to do on a car. I have had to change my welding technique slightly when using the Argoshield light against the plain co2 but nothing major.

Its all down to practise practise and more practise. Be careful what you weld cleanliness is everything when welding plus a good earth as well.

[joe90gt]

probably about the cheapest you'll find ***CLICK***

was interested to see how much i actually paid so i dug my receipt out, turns out i paid £250 so £220 is a good deal

good auto mask on there as well, for a a lot of welding a large refillable is good , i had one for two years but now I only do bits an pieces i go with the disposables as i didn't want to pay the rent

[Timinichelsea]

That is the downside of having large gas bottles, about 50-60 quid for a refill isn't too bad but the £80 i spend on the rental is a bit of an arse. Especially beasuce at the moment i'm in a welding lull, one priject has mostly finished and others have yet to start.

[superman]

pop a long to the mig welding forum, very good site will help you loads

Edited by superman, 15 September 2010 - 06:05 PM.