Welder have you got? Looking for recommendations for a DIY type metal glueing machine. Not looking for a professional set up costing thousands, but something that works and preferably won't break the bank, either at first purchase or for supplies and sundries. Back in the day I had a SIP MigMate 150 that was OK, but a bit of a pain to get set up properly.
Not an expert - thing I considered on my purchases over the years. Single phase or 3 phase - if considering second hand. Flux core (easy to set up, good if welding outside) is hard to master in terms of no rework, and shield gas can be expensive.
Cebora , R-tech there are a lot of decent makes, you need a decent regulator , flow meter and Argon/co2 mix gas . You’d be wasting your time with a cheap gas less .
I got a £200 inverter welder off eBay because I was fed up with lugging a 35kg welder round the place - its little wheels didnt like being dragged long distances so I ended up carrying it. Complete with wire the inverter welder weighs about 9kG. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25428032...uid=EQOYZ9GYR8i&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY I use it with the size BOC Y Argoshield Lite (Ar/CO2/O2) gas bottles - 5 litres AFAIR , weigh 18kG full, with argon regulator. It did the front panel of my bus, and the chassis rails. Its rated for 60% duty cycle but I never had problems with it getting hot. It needed a bit of protective modification - adding a bit of plastic inside to protect the front panel low power display and knobs PCB from loose ends of welding wire falling off the spool and shorting out the controller. I also purchased a 3 metre earth lead for it as the original was a bit short. And hoses for the gas bottle to regulator connection. It also only takes 5Kg reels, so the small 1kg ones you get in Halfords (with e.g. stainless welding wire on them, using Argoshield Lite you can do stainless with it.. ) have to be put on a little stand that I made that sits behind the welder - they do provide a hole to feed the wire through though. Its a "synergic" welder meaning you set the current and the wire speed adjusts itself to keep the current constant: a bit strange, and leads to miles of wire firing out at high speed when you completely miss the thing you are welding. Handles 0.6 to 1mm wire, mine will do about 160 amps but I dont think I have taken it that high, as it will probably blow the 13 amp mains fuse.. It also has a very high open circuit voltage (around 60V) , so it will strike an arc almost without you having to actually touch the weld metal with the tip of the wire. It also has stick mode, scratch TIG and can use flux cored or fluxless wire.
Its one of these. https://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/mig-welder-r-tech-i-mig180 Think it was a bit cheaper when I got mine. I seem to recall it was about £600 with a trolley
Not yet. Not really had call to try it! My introduction to welding was stick though, so it is tempting to try it for old times sake. I doubt I have a steady enough hand these days mind..
I am sure it would do that nicely, although it doesn't come with a stick torch, so that would be extra. Its certainly a great bit of kit to have at hand for any fabrication projects you may wish to undertake.
My approach was to fit bits to my previous welder if they broke.. so by the end it had a Euro torch kit fitted when the original hardwired torch gave up. And an Imperial ball bearing race fitted in the wire feed mechanism where a shaft was sagging and there was a neat hole in the plastic moulding where there could have been a bearing. Just bought more Chinese stuff to fix it.
My welder is a Clarke MIG135TE, which was recommended on my course, I did get a better 2 gauge regulator from 'Welders warehouse' so I knew how much gas I'd have left. Pretty pleased with it.
