13 replies to this topic

[Jupitus]

Folks,

I'm probably going to go on a night school course in September to learn to weld properly, but in the meantime I have some odd bits and pieces to do which a welder would help with, even with my basic skills, so I'm thinking about purchasing a cheap welding kit such as this:

http://www.frost.co....?productID=8349

Is that any good?

[Big_Adam]

Run the C**p away from that thing. They have all the power of a wet fart and overheat when you get going.

Get a good GASSLESS MIG welder or a gassed one.

Edited by Big_Adam, 02 July 2007 - 01:17 PM.

[Jupitus]

Even if it's just temporary?

Looks like an ebay job then

[mycoolmini04]

yer dont bother with that, plus arc welding isn't really what you want
if using it on a car. its a bit to messy.
stick with a gassed mig.

oli

[Jupitus]

Hows about...

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...1QQcmdZViewItem

[james105]

better, but you might want something with more then 80amps

[Ethel]

There's a good mig welding forum - sure google will find it

Get the biggest mig you can afford, just like cars you'll want more power sooner or later.

I like gasless as I don't weld very often it's much more convenient.

Forget the little disposable gas bottles you can buy in places like Halfords they last two minutes 'n will have leaked away before your next welding session.

Proper sized refillable bottles are the best setup if you can justify the outlay.

[Jammy]

www.mig-welding.co.uk Invaluable for anyone looking to start welding on a car. You really want 130amps for most jobs on a car, but anything above 100amps will do ya to begin with.

[adautobits]

gasless migs you might as well buy that stick welder you are more likely to get good results. Migmate 90 is ok but no fan so over heats and cuts out, so get one with a fan and get it with gas as it welds much better evan outside

[lee439]

i did all my welding with a gasless and i had a 130 snap on gassed found the gassles much better could you not stick gassles wire though a gassed welder using the correct tip and no gas of course.

how did you get enrolled onto the welding course i went to do one last year at lincoln college and they turned me away as the government had given them targets to get young uns in (im only 26) because of the shortfall in the trade and you had to have proof that you were going into a job in that particular trade !! ( asuming you aint a young un of course)

[Jupitus]

i did all my welding with a gasless and i had a 130 snap on gassed found the gassles much better could you not stick gassles wire though a gassed welder using the correct tip and no gas of course.

how did you get enrolled onto the welding course i went to do one last year at lincoln college and they turned me away as the government had given them targets to get young uns in (im only 26) because of the shortfall in the trade and you had to have proof that you were going into a job in that particular trade !! ( asuming you aint a young un of course)

Ta for the reply... I'm not actually on the course yet, the prospectus is on my desk!! I hadn't heard about restrictions etc and I'm almost 40 so fingers crossed!! I'll let you know if I have problems

[R1mini]

Buy a normal mig that can take 0.6 and 0.8 wire, then you can run gasless using flux cored 0.8 mig wire, or if you don't like it, CO2 or Argon mix with 0.6/0.8 mig wire. Gas is better but I've gotten pretty good results using flux cored mig wire(gasless), once painted, can't really tell the difference.

A good quality 130amp welder will do everything for the car and any household/garage jobs, but the smaller hobbymigs available would certainly be good enough for any car, but you may struggle to find a hobbymig that can run 0.8 mig wire, my murex tradesmig on car bodywork rarely goes above 40amps.

The hobbymigs are not best for quaility and or reliability so I've heard, I've never bought one but have used a few in the past to see how they perform, certainly good enough, found it quite easy to get nice welds, would be fine on a few home car restorations

Cheers
David

[Jupitus]

Hi guys!

Thanks for the advice etc etc... I have taken the plunge!!

For around £230 I will have a Gasless 150 amp Clarke unit with the necessary gas conversion items needed to run it with gas. I'll also be getting a BOC gas bottle (small sized) on rental for about 50 quid. The course enrollment has been fine... all done!

Meep meep! I must be mad

[Race Dave]

I use a 2nd hand 180amp with good results using just C02. Tried C02 argon mix from Boc before its not much better and costs a fortune. find yourself a company that refills C02 fire Extinguishers, The larger type have the same thread as pub type C02 bottles and cost a few quid to refill. The only thing i had to do was fit another sealing washer and find something to fasten the handle down whilst welding. Please don't forget to still use a regulator tho !!