...as above, I worked for a year or so as an assistant to a friend while he fabricated the fences at football grounds in the 70's but never tried it myself, I now feel I should give it a go and as my son is still unemployed I reckon he should learn too! My bus (at the moment) is rust free, so not needed for the bus but would love to spend some time renovating a Beetle, so my questions are: - what type of welder should I buy (bearing in mind cash limited to DiY stuff - Machine Mart???) - any definite don't when it comes to kit? - any recommendations? Thanks all - B
The best bit of welding kit you'll get is a self darkening mask, they're only £30-40 on fleabay now and a HUGE bonus when learning.
As a 'learner' welder I would say buy the best second hand welder you can afford with a decent sized gas bottle, and practice, practice, practice..(not as easy as it looks to begin with!).
check out this website for tips and hints it got me started and many of the questions you have have already been answered on here. http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tig-tutorial.htm
Thanks guys, looking around there are "Gas / no-gas" MiG welders quite cheap (£150 ish) - if you can MiG weld with no gas what is the advantage of using gas??
The no gas welders use a coated wire which provides the same effect as a gas. I don't think "real" welders have much time for them.
No gas welder are practical for small autojobs.....they do what thay say ,but arnt all that powerful....u really have to dial the correct setting ,temper-mental.....i use one all the time for small jobs...until now ...i need to weld chassis a touch and know my no gas clarke150thing is not fit for job...ill have a go once,if dont work...im selling it and buying 2nd gas .....so buy cheap ,buy twice again .........get gas bro.....plus gas is easier to weld with ive heard...
I don`t like to but i`m going to disagree ,,,,, unless its an expensive decent make mask it will be either too light (damage your eyes ) or it will keep going light when you are welding especially out side !!!!!!
Mine does neither but it is adjustable for darkness shade 5-13 (gas, mig and arc), speed and lux level change point. Twas £40.+p&p.
ok, but for welding minimun darkness level should be 10 and yours goes down to 5 and heavey arc welding is greater than 13 .alot of people go lighter to see more but its not good for your eyes . The more expensive ones have 4 sensors as opposed to two ........
Bri- If you need, I've an SIP 130A Mig that you could borrow for a few months- I've another I've started using and I don't like getting rid of stuff. Needs the earth from the gun properly connecting but other than that it should be fine for learning on.
I'm working on it....me and the boy keep leaving pic's of single cab's around so that my better half understands which vehicle he needs when he passes his test!!
