Hi,
Has anyone any experience with the cheap electric welder advertised in Toolstation (£48)?
TIA Colin
This is an arc welder. Arc welders are really not suitable for thin sheet work (unless the intention is to make holes in the workpiece). A mig is a far better option, and much easier to learn on than arc.
What would one use an arc welder for?
Colin
Repairing metal from 5mm thick or so upwards. In general a small MIG welder will work well from 1mm or so up to maybe 5mm, thicker than that and you need an arc welder (or a bigger MIG). It's probably easier to make good welds with a MIG than with an arc welder at all thicknesses, it's just that a MIG for welding thick plates is much more expensive than an arc welder for the same thickness.
Apart from blowing holes in sheet steel? Welding big stuff, 6mm or thicker angle iron for example. I don't like them much.
Can you recommend a low-end mig please.
Colin
Have a look at the clarke range sold by machine mart
Regards Jeff
Not really, most low end migs aren't great. The biggest problem with them tends to be the quality of the wirefeed. I have a Clarke 150, which is perfectly usable, but doesn't compare too well next to non-hobby migs.
It's OK, but issues are a) the kit that comes with it, i.e. the earth clamp will go sloppy, and the electrode holder is a bit delicate, however you can improve these with pliers, wire, and inner tube! The mask is pants, so you should buy a better one. It's fine for "repairing lawnmowers, etc" except that you need to be aware that it's not easy to weld stuff thinner than 1mm, and that some mower parts are made of cast iron, which needs pre-heating and careful cooling plus the use of a special filler (stainless rods will do) to have a chance of welding (and it helps if the weld is a simple one!). If you use this machine to weld using high currents, it will overheat on you after a while and cut out - an ordinary fan blowing air through the louvres on the case helps a lot. You will be able to weld thick stuff with multiple passes.
I also have a Clarke 150 which I picked up through eBay. I tend to use it gasless: more expensive wire but cheaper on gas, also gas tends to blow away outdoors unless it is very calm or well sheltered. Much easier for a beginner than MIG. Think about an auto-darkening helmet, about £100.
If you shop around you may be able to get an 'automatic helmet' for quite a bit less than £100. I got mine for £69 after a fair amount of googling.
On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 19:17:46 +0100, "Newshound" wrote: hobby migs.
Can you recommend a brand of gasless, flux cored, 9mm wire? I have been very unimpressed with the little reel I tried. AJH
Eh??
That must be one hell of a mig!
Have you tried gas mig? It's much nicer and cleaner than gasless.
It's all pretty much the same IME - did you have the polarity set right?
Sorry I meant 0.9mm.
Yes my mig set has sockets for earth and wire and I did swap them. I am quite happy with its performance with both CO2 and (preferably) coogar. I just wanted something to tide me over when the gas runs out.
AJH
workpiece). A mig
I used arc on 2mm with no problem, and I would expect one could do
1.6mm easily enough, and maybe less. Its a question of technique really: it is certainly easier to blow holes in metal with an arc than with a nice wire feed. But that doesnt mean you have to blow those holes, it is optional.If youre popping holes with an arc, it means youre overheating the workpiece. There are 2 possible remdies: 1 reduce the current, 2 play the arc so the same heat spreads over slightly more area.
NT
I'd agree with that.
I treated myself to a SIP 140 arc welder a month or so back and have been teaching myself to weld in the garden.
I've been able to weld 2mm sort of OK and I'm only a beginner! In the distant past I have done a bit of gas welding and I'm using the same technique of weaving with the stick that I was taught to do with the gas torch.
Saying that I'm still not up to production quality but I reckon it'll come with practice.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.