4 replies to this topic

[max-o-matic]

Hi,

my mini project involves a fair bit of bodywork, and as I can afford the quotes given to me by professionals, I've set upon the quest of learning how to weld.
I've done some research and have come up with this:

for bodywork (thin sheetmetal) the most adapted welder for a beginner would be a MIG welder, with the lowest amperage possible (20-25 would be ideal?), that takes 0.6 mm wire and uses a 75-25 argon-co2 mix.. Is that about right?

If so, i've read quite a bit about Clarke welders being one of the top choces for my kind of requirements, but as I live in France, I'm having doubts about plugs, and compatibility when it comes to power supply...

These are the welders I did find though:

-Awelco (italian brand) makes the Blue Mig 170, with an amp range of 25-160
-Guede (german brand) makes the 172/6W with an amp range of 25-135
-Telwin makes both the Telmig 150/1 with an amp range of 30-145
and the Bimax 4-165 with an amp range of 30-145

I have then found a post on a forum by someone who carries out maintenance on these kinds of welders who said that european welders did not compare in quality to american welders such as Lincoln, Miller and Hobart...

I found the Hobart Handler 140 meets my requirement with an amp range of 25-140...

all of these are more or less within the same price range, and I was wondering if there was truly a difference in quality.
would you recommend another that I haven't looked into yet?
thanks for your advice

[OllieTheWelder]

The common brads that people go for are Sealey, Clarke, Lincoln, Parweld, ESAB etc. If you go on this forum, copy and paste what you have said you will get a much better and accurate answer. Weldequip also does some good quality cheap welders. http://www.mig-weldi...forum/index.php.

Ollie.

[Bungle]

This question could become the new "what does the switch with the red light do"

how many times has this come up recently ?

just a few topics on this already


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[ANON]

This question could become the new "what does the switch with the red light do"

what does that switch do by the way??

[max-o-matic]

thanks Ollie, will do...