Welding recommendations

[ian]

Loking to buy a welder, do i go for ARC or MIG for light DIY use. please could you recommend a product and why.

Thanks

[Stuart]

Deffo a MIg -much easier to use .either get a gasless one or get a big bottle not those namby pamby little ones . Stuart

[Harry Bloomfield]

On 08/01/2004 ian opined:-

It depends what you want or expect to weld. For around 3mm upwards in thickness I use an ARC welder. If you want to weld things like car bodies then the only thing to use is MIG. An ARC welder will just blow holes in thin material.

I have both in my garage and the MIG only rarely gets used.

[Andy Dingley]

Definitely wire-feed MIG. Stick is fun, but pretty useless for under

1/4" plate.

You've got budget-related options:

S/H cheapie. Maybe £50. Gets you started.

New cheapie. Probably a lousy wire feed, but it works and will fix your rusty Escort. Disposable bottles are expensive if you're using it a lot, or intermittently (they don't store well once opened)

£300 - Cebora. Starts to be a really decent machine. Cheap too, because the consumable costs get a _lot_ cheaper once you're into this range. £500 - Gurt big Murex or something.

Avoid SIP.

Gasless wire is sometimes handy for outdoor use, but it's expensive wire to buy and you need a machine that can run it. Personally I don;t touch the stuff.

Gibson's "Practical Welding"

is a book well worth having, and so is an automatic hat. You'll also like a halogen floodlight, an angle grinder, and more clamps than you ever think you'll need.

Look at evening classes too. Often a good bargain and you get your hands on full-size kit to see what it's like.

-- Smert' spamionam

[usenet]

Just to keep things balanced there are those of us around here who have SIP MIG welders who are very happy with them. My £160ish SIP 130 amp welder works well for me and the wire feed seems reliable.

The SIPs (and others maybe) can be bought in 'dual mode' format which allows you to do both gas and gasless MIG welding with the same welder.

Yes, best thing ever for all sorts of welding is an automatic helmet.

Can't disagree with that either. :-)

[Mark S.]

I had the same answers when I asked. ;-)

These are crap, well mine's ok, those are crap, well mine's ok etc. etc. :-)

Mark S.

[Chris Oates]

MIG - if you can run a good bead with a mastic gun you can MIG weld - that simple

Arc - if you can draw a reasonable portrait with a pencil held at the wrong end you can Arc weld - can be very frustrating and some people never get the knack.

Want to build trailers = Arc Want to mend car bodies = MIG

Arc = sooo cheap to buy & use (£50)

MIG can be expensive if u use Argon mixes I use CO2 as I don't weld Aluminium = cheap

Some don't like CO2 cos of spatter but I don't mind cos the welds are either not on view or are ground flat anyway.

I use this

I've used things like this got metals to stick together

as everyone says you must get an auto helmet don't consider welding without one

[N. Thornton]

lol. Arcs are way cheaper but are not as easy to use, and leave a lot of hard mess all over the weld that has to be hammered off. Thats your basic choice.

One thing I would look out for is welders that go to low current settings. For thin metal sometimes that even the lowest current setting is too high.

Gasless wire is the simplest and nearest to idiot proof, but of course it costs if you use it much.

Finally you can make your own, but theyre so cheap that its usually not worth bothering.

Regards, NT

[PJO]

Buy a small (130amp) mig. It'll do most DIY type jobs. Make sure you never use gasless mig wire though cos the fumes are awful and can cause cancer. Use a gas bottle. You can but small bottles of CO2 or argon mix but at around £8 each they're expensive. You can use pub gas (CO2) but it's not brilliant as the bottle could contain water. OK for the odd job though.