Assistance prior to purchase

Hi guys/gals ..

I am requiring some assistance in the shape of some information prior to purchasing a welder

any suggestions/thoughts will be greatly appreciated

Something like ............ http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Clarks-MIG-Welder ... 913.c0.m22 .........will be well big enough for your needs.

carl

i find a mig welder is good tool

as they dont do to much heat damage when welding near paintwork

I was thinking more on the lines of This

Not controlable enough for bodywork & limited use on chassis

Budget and experience :wink:

Depends on what your welding, a good all rounder for cars and light fab work you should be looking at a 180amp mig

Am looking to do fab work ...(got a few ideas up my sleeve)

Is it to be used inside or out ?? what thickness of material ?? have you welded before ??

outside mainly ........

the last time i used a welder ...i was about 17 ....(so a few years ago now...that was a gassed mig ..bloody thing kept jamming the wire in the gun)

Are you in a hurry ?

the welder was going to be my b'day pressy from anna

Carl, that was an arc welder mate. If its just for the car you need a mig. Ive got one of these and they are great and reasonably priced.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/categ ... ccessories

Thanks Keith .....

as i am on a very tight budget ....i think they are a little too much

For bodywork you can get away with anything you can control, but for fab work and anything thicker than tin you need penetration. For that you need amps. Stick will be the best compromise, but will take a fair bit of practice.

Anywire wire based welder will need to be looked after extremeley well, especially the consumable or it wont feed right and jam a lot (more than normal)

Another benefit of stick is the the rod, you can vary the rod quickly to change its behaviour ( a good set will let you cut with it, very handy for getting nuts off), with wire its limited especially if you dont have the cash to have various types on the shelf.

What thickness metal are you thinking of using Carl?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-SIP-WELDMATE- ... .m14.l1318

This is what I have got Carl, it covers all my needs and is very easy to use. It was the model suggested to me by my local metal fabers when I was seeking advice before buying. Always a few 2nd hand ones knocking about and might be a better buy to get a better model at the price of a new hobby welder.

I dont like the comment "will weld up to 6mm steel" We get a good 1.5mm penetration running 415v 32amp 1.2mm bare wire (3,500celsius) and up to 3.5mm penetration with 1.6mm flux cored at 13,000celsius.

What will it do to 6mm plate? glue it together?

As I said, 240v, dont hope to do much with wire, run a stick welder and learn the hard way to weld.

If you want to see the difference, popup and see us at work. We are the largest independant fabricator in the UK.

The chassis is 3mm box, welding anything larger to it, or welds bigger than 3mm in throat will actually result in damage to the chassis in accident rather than the part. Most shackles are more robust than the chassis, most bull bars too.