Recommend me a NOT too expensive MIG welder please.
 

Guys, I'm looking to buy a MIG welder. I have to weld reinforcement plates for a roll cage etc.
I know it has to be a 130-150A minimum. Any of ebay ones would be good ?

£150-160 mark.

Thank You

I don't wish to come across as an arse but if you need to be recommended a decent welding set I take it your new to welding , if so I wouldn't be starting my welding career by welding plates for a cage ,

Hi. I appreciate that mate I know what you mean. I did some welding in the past and know technique of doing it (will have to refresh first :-) )
It was long time ago and can't remember what equipment I was working on as it was at school's workshops.

I'm not STUPID to start welding practice without knowing how to do it especially on safety device as roll cage is.

Sensible advice above, you would need plenty practice IMO, I use a Clarke turbo mig, its still an entry level welder but it still cost about £280 iirc

Mick

Plus, a friend of mine is a professional welder so he'll be looking at my hands :-)

I too am a professional welder /fabricator ( 27 years worth )
And still hate welding cars ,I'm not saying your stupid at all mate , just that it's an important structural item and if not welded perfect or to a very high standard it's a little pointless
If your friend is a skilled welder and if he's gonna be watching would it not be better to let him do it , should be a better job in half the time ?

Btw ,I know it's a trip for you but if you really want a welding set I've got a couple kicking round if you want to borrow one for a couple of months , a 150a tig set ( wouldnt recommend that for you ) or an sip 195a mig set , I don't really use em but handy to have at home when I'm not at work , pm me if your interested

im just getting into my welding and fabricating, still have alot of work to do, i bought an sip tig arc and plasma cutter to mess around with :)

Some one will say he needs his asme 9 6g coding covers all positions to weld a roll cage next in either Tig or Mig .

No they won't , you wouldn't need 6g for the base plates anyway
The point is if your gonna start welding , an ideal starting point is not a cage ,
Ok let's say you have a hard shunt around the a or b pillar normally it's bad enough but if you've got a piece of CDS that's not secured properly at the bottom , where's it gonna go , bent into your legs , maybe the b pillar might get pushed into the seat , yes it's all ifs and buts
A poorly fitted cage could give a false sense of security and also become a danger in itself
It's a piece of safety equipment , btw my mrs is making parachutes , they should be ok because she did sewing at school ,

Thing is that I'm one of these people that wants to learn new things all the time. I'm not saying it's easy thing to do and you can learn it within few hours, but in the end it is not a "rocket science" IMO.
I don't like to rely on other people if I know that I can do the thing/job on my own if you know what I mean ?
Time taken ?! I don't really care if it will take 3 or 6 hours, satisfaction in the end is PRICELESS.
You said you're professional welder as well, right ? How did you learn how to do it ? By practicing with people standing above you and looking at your hands am I right ?
With my current welding skills I wouldn't go for roll cage tubes welding but reinforcement plates aren't extreme difficult task to do in my opinion.
Anyway, if he won't be happy from my job, I'll let him do it.
Cheers

VERY common thing on here !
You're asking for tools/equipment recommendation and people replying asking if you know how to use it ?!
If I wasn't sure or didn't know how to use a mig welder I will ask for it.
It's like asking for a best knife to buy and having people replies saying "Don't buy it, you may cut yourself"

I'm all for people learning new skills and have a lot of respect for people who want to get stuck in and do things for themselves ( like yourself )
You might be a cracking welder ( not literally I hope ) but I just have reservations about certain things , if your happy with your work then go for it
And yes you are quite correct I have had a lot of folk watching over me while learning
But only on bits of scrap for many weeks/months and then after that only given jobs that don't require substantial structural strength , and deffo not a roll cage as a trainee

toneh,
I really appreciate your advice and care mate. Thank You. From what you're saying you're skilled welder and definitely have more experience than I do.
You're absolutely right in saying that roll cage isn't the best start for welding, no doubt. I didn't say I'll do it myself 100%, I'll practice and refresh my skills on something similar before and if I and my mate won't be happy with results I'll simply ask him to do it.

Thanks a lot for your offer but you live a bit TOO far from me. Really nice from your side offering something like this.

You should look at night class's at college in a welding course to refresh yourself .

Hahahahahaha !!!
You are such a funny guy since you were born or recently took some lessons ??
You gave me advice so now I have one for you:
Looking at your post score in last 8 years, you didn't have much to say on here so KEEP IT like that instead of posting such a smart comments.

I don't think the comments were meant as sarcasm or smart mate
It is a very valid comment and a very good suggestion
We've obviously got the wrong end of the stick and you're an accomplished welder
Good luck with the cage

Cheers mate.

In the end I didn't get what I've asked for. VERY HELPFUL !!!
Did somebody actually read the thread title ??!!

Next time somebody on here ask "which STI model to buy?" I'll ask him if he got a driving license or if he's sure he can drive....

Hi m8 I am doing a lot of welding on my car this year and I have not done no welding for 10 years and I got a snap on turbo and spent a long time on scrap bets just to get back in to it just keep practising be for you go to the car mate

Thanks mate, I definitely will but have to know what MIG welder to buy first ?
That's why I asked for recommendations.

This is mainly a Subaru forum / cars
Yes there are folk that weld on here but I would imagine not that many welders
It's like asking on a welding forum " what's the best intercooler for my Scooby "

Ask your mate who's a welder , i use a lorch s5 with water cooling
Very nice set

I would ask him if he wasn't away ATM.
Cheers

I like my Clarke 135te welder. Make sure to get a big bottle of gas and a decent regulator whatever welding set you go for. It made a massive difference to my welding when I got myself a decent bottle / reg instead of the rubbish disposables.

Thanks a lot mate. This is exactly what I was asking for :-)
In fact, this is one of few on my watching list on EBay.

By saying big bottle and decent regulator, what size and what regulator do you mean ?

Anything that isn't one of those disposable bottles, really. I.e either a bottle from BOC or some other supplier.

Reg from here: http://www.weldequip.com/argonmix-conversion-kit.htm

Btw the Clarke welder is ok for hobby use. It's miles away from nice industrial units like murex etc (I used a lovely set at college whilst doing my c&g), but for hobby use I think it's ok.

Gas deals here: http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/s...ad.php?t=40809

I have a Clarke 151 EN Turbo, it was when I bought it about the most powerful that can be run off a normal house hold supply efficiently, you can also attach the various aerosol type gas canisters to it to weld just about anything.

At about £240 a few years ago from machine mart, it's above your budget but worth it, paid for itself the first time I used it and also had no problems welding up to 6mm steel when I made my garage doors and work bench recently.

Welding is like riding a bike, it's not really something you forget how to do, you just might have a bit of a wobble when you get back on till you get the hang of it again.:thumb:

look in your local machine mart. my local store in carlisle gets a delivery every monday with items that havent sold in other stores and also returns.
I got a 240v Clarke 152 turbo gas/no gas welder for £140 (book price £204, it was a return and all that was wrong with it was a wobbly wheel that needed tightened up ;-), dont think the welder had even been used as there was no marks/dirt/dust on it, no wire etc.
it can weld thin body panels (if your good at setting it up lol), iv welded 5mm plate no problem. cracking little welder

Thanks a LOT guys !
I've found Clarke 135TE Turbo DIY Semi-Pro MIG Welder second hand on eBay.
Item number 221283457553

Would this be any good with above regulator and bigger bottle ?

Thank You

I have 24 years welding experience to my name ie I don't boast about what I can do .In all three process's Mig mild steel, Tig ac alu dc mild steel ,stainless, Stick mild steel, cast iron .

Its not a case of some one watching your hands its setting up the plant what power settings for different thickness's of metal wire speeds as well .

Regards post score there is other forums to use was on sidc and on ss.net.