welder

[lhd]

I have read a lot over the last few days about welders and it seems I have just about the worst you can get: SIP gasless handymate.

Have just read a post on a welding site where everyone was slagging it off and laughing at someones work saying that it was the welder and not his welding, the person then borrowed a clarke welder and produced some good results even though lacking experience.
I have used my welder many times but it just doesn't seem to penetrate and leaves pigeon crap everywhere, so I would like a recomendation on what clarke welder to get?

So the question is what Clarke welder would you recomend to get for a wide range of jobs including bodywork, I don't want gasless although I am willing to consider a duel purpose one.
Rob.

[CovKid]

I run a SIP migmate welder (with gas) and its fine. Good little welder although it sometimes overheats rather too quickly.

[jimpainter]

My first welder was a sip. I think it was a turbo mig 130. It produced ok results with gas. Took a little fettling to get it to work really well.
I have had a clarke. I still have it as a backup welder. Its a migpro 90. Awesome welder for the money. Very easy to use and set up, although not great on anything over 2mm.
So I upgraded to a cebora autostar 180. Totally different machine again. Its over 20 years old but welds so smooth, again easy to use and a nice long torch lead for access and on wheels as its really heavy.
But if its just bodywork and small sections of chassis work you can get away with a migpro90, although there are other size machines but I have never used any of them.
Jim

[New Kentish Campers]

Whatever you end up buying, do get one that uses Argon/co2 mix gas, don't buy one that uses disposable gas cylinders as they will cost you a bomb.

And also go off like one if put in a bonfire

[jed the spread]

Whatever you end up buying, do get one that uses Argon/co2 mix gas, don't buy one that uses disposable gas cylinders as they will cost you a bomb.

And also go off like one if put in a bonfire

Cant you just buy a bigger version of the disposable bottles?

jed

[jamesc76]

Cant you just buy a bigger version of the disposable bottles?

jed

Nope there only in that size! I have converted mine to run on full size bottles but I do a lot of welding so it pays off to have a massive bottle. the small disposable ones will last for about 15 mins of actual welding so there not to bad!

[jimpainter]

Same here big bottles last ages, plus the fact the little ones are about £17 from halfrauds

[lhd]

Where do you get the big bottles from?
Rob.

[Wychall]

Try this one.....

http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/Weld ... inder.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HarryMann]

Rubbish, whoever else also said the small hobby bottles only last 10 minutes... you must have a duff regulator, or turn the C02 up to a ridiculous (and totally unnecessary) level.

I find the hobby bottles convenient, light, handy and last ages and they are not £17 at Halfords, last time I bought one was about £12 and often they are sometimes on offer at around a tenner... the pub gas bottles are good, yes, but very heavy to drag around and its not pure C02 by any means. The small hobbies you can also get in Argon/C02 mixes for stainless (require quite different feed and power settings, less amperage requirement), very convenient.

...and if hobby bottles explode on a bonfire, what the heck is anyone thinking of putting any pressure vessel on a bonfire, duh! Hacksaw the top off and they make a very ood cylinder for all sorts of jobs... bonfire?

=========== anyway =============

to answer the question

A Clarke 155TE, or todays equivalent, perfectly satisfactory MIG, but have slighyly modified the feed mech for smoothness and reliability, a disc of red Scotchbrite between thrust washer and wire spool for instance, to reduce grabbing and sticking. Round off all edegs in wire feed mechanism and ensure all is well aligned.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... mig-welder

Was £175 at the time, now over £300

[New Kentish Campers]

Rubbish, whoever else also said the small hobby bottles only last 10 minutes... you must have a duff regulator, or turn the C02 up to a ridiculous (and totally unnecessary) level.

I find the hobby bottles convenient, light, handy and last ages and they are not £17 at Halfords, last time I bought one was about £12 and often they are sometimes on offer at a round a tenner... the pub gas bottles are good, yes, but very heavy to drag around and its not pure C02 by any means. The small hobbies you can also get in Argon/C02 mixes for stainless (require quite different feed and power settings, less amperage requirement), very convenient.

...and if they hoby bottles explode on a bonfire, what the heck is anyone thinking of putting any pressure vessel on a bonfire, duh! Hacksaw the top off and they make a very good cylinder for all sorts of jobs... bonfire?

I was making a general answer to what seemed a simple question from the OP. Gas is expensive. Argon +5 or 10% mix is the correct gas for mig welding mild steel. If you buy or rent a small cylinder then you will have enough gas on tap to do a full on restoration, and have some to spare, fact, because I've done it myself. I was simply pointing out that to save the chap some money.

Sorry if my sence of humour escaped you. The bonfire bit was a joke, actually. Any fool knows aerosols will explode in a bonfire, assuming that they take the time to read the small print where it warns you not to do it.

[HarryMann]

OK, was bit brash, I just think people knock the convenience factor far too much, and with many other things, am all for bulk buying and value for money and going the professional route...

..but I do think that advice to beginners to invest a lot of time and money in getting thoroughly geared up for MIG gas, when, whilst learning, often in situations where portability and low footprint maybe an issue, to always denigrate the convenience of hobby bottles can be counter-productive... I actually changed back from expensive, heavy and cumbersome gas bottles to hobbies for that very reason, although now pretty experienced and confident with MIG (a Johnny come lately gas welder), I'd need a pretty big project to re-invest and revert

Until you are sure this is going to be your thing, stick with the original hobby bottles would be my advice, if that's what the package came with!

just don't overdo the gas shroud flow rates, and make damn sure there are no leaks in those quick-fit connections and that you turn the gas right off every time! Do not believe this 10 minutes thing, have heard it all before and IMHO they last at least 11minutes.. OK. Also, there were deals when I bought a new Clarke for an extra 3 bottles at a decent price. You can also get a wide variety of gases in hobby bottles, some cheaper than straight C02 itself

[waltraud]

I always buy small bottles from machine mary, they do 300 bottles but for a couple of quid extra sell same size but with much more- I think double the size of gaz!! Works out quite reasonable and defo cheaper than Halfords. I have a 20 year old migmate 100 gas, it's always a pain but after about 15 years I got it working well and know its faults. Thd wire feed is crap, gas fitting broken etc but it welds fine. Can anyone recommend a non- windy day for welding outside? ......

[waltraud]

And I'll tell you for nothing that Machine Mary is nearly as cheap as Machine Mart!

[TeamSid]

I use a small SIP gas/no gas welder and after a bit of practice I'm finding it easy to use with good results. I'm using flux cored wire at the moment as I'm welding outdoors, and other than having to clean the work surface at regular intervals I'm fairly happy.