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[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I'm toying with the idea of buying a Mig Welder. Thinking of something cheapish, but good enough to be useable for a beginner.
Anyone knowledgeable on such things who can offer advice ?
Tia.

[Nick W]

Define cheapish? Small cheap Mig welders can do decent work, but with few settings, weak wire feed and low quality hose and gun, they're horrible to learn on.


You really need to spend at least £200 on the welder; a refillable argon/CO2 mix cylinder and regulator is going to be at least £100, and an auto darkening helmet about £50. You do already have a 4.5" grinder don't you?


Considering how well inverter Tig and stick machines work, I would be very tempted by one of the inverter Migs that have recently become affordable.


Like this one 
I should point out that I haven't actually tried it, but it certainly looks good. R-tech make some decent kit too.

Although it is possible to teach yourself to use one, a few minutes tuition will save you days of frustration and at least a reel of wire and refill of gas.

[Kevin Wood]

Yep, Your first spending should be on an evening course at your local college, IMHO.

I spent about £80, if memory serves, for a 10 week course, one evening a week. Each evening was 3 hours basically just playing on any machine we fancied - I tried gas, stick, MIG, TIG, spot welding, the lot.

I easily got through more than £80 worth of consumables, metal and so on practising and I had an instructor there to give advice whenever I got stuck. The machines were all top of the line 3 phase jobs that just worked, eliminating an important unknown from the start. Much better than just buying a machine and heading off, never knowing if the machine is set up right, or just not that good, or if it's your skills you need to work on.

This assumes you're a beginner to welding, of course. You haven't actually said...

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I did a bit of oxy / acetelene welding at college in 1975. Does that count ? 
Lots of good info & advice there Nick & Kevin. Many thanks.
I think I will look at something around the couple of hundred quid mark, plus essential equipment, as simply buying the cheapest thing I can find will probably result in toys and dummy scattered all over the floor. 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Im seeing adverts for gasless MIG welders. Wassatallaboutden ? 

[Nick W]

Im seeing adverts for gasless MIG welders. Wassatallaboutden ? 

They're not worth buying. Hell, they're so bad you should stop looking at the adverts

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Thanks.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Does this one look ok for a bit of car body welding ?
https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/pro-90-mig-welder/

Or maybe this one ?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mig-150-Amp-Gas-Gasless-Welder-Turbo-Fan-Air-Cooled-9325T-2-Year-Warranty-150A-/401118162448?hash=item5d64816e10:g:xNwAAOSwGYVXAkn-

[TheBoy]

I've had 2 of the Clarke 135 ones, can't really fault it.  I've added a bigger argon mix cylinder, which probably all in came to nearly £150 more, and obviously the mask and gauntlets.  I must get some body protection though...

[Webby the Bear]

Like TB I have the Clarke 135. Tis quite good. 

Completely agree with kev. I bought a welder and it's taken me a couple of YEARS of trial and error to get reasonable. That's not everyday welding mind, and I am a slow learner  but there were some times on my own I had had enough. Got through it though and I can now mig two bits of metal together relatively satisfactorily. 

Also one lucky thing is I have an excellent metal supplier near me. Get all different thicknesses to practise on. Start with thick 3-5mm stuff first though 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Well, I took the advice on here and bought a Clarke 135. Unpacked and assembled it yesterday, and it looks impressive and very shiny. 
Just got to learn how to use it now, so I can reconstruct the o/s/r lower corner on my 190D before the MOT runs out in February. 

[tidla]

The clark welders are quite good. Ive had two in the past. Occasional use it'll be fine.

[Nick W]

First, find someone who can make decent weld with your machine. This will save you having to wonder if you've set it up correctly.
Your second job is to get a supply of the thickness metal that you will be making your repairs from.
Get the supplier to cut some 300mm squares. Use 3 or 4 of those to practice running weld beads until you can repeatedly make a decent bead across the whole length of one of your squares. This is boring, but saves loads of frustration with real workpieces.
Once you can do that, butt weld your squares together.


Expect to spend several hours getting to this stage. Don't be tempted to miss either of these steps and move to a project, as you will end up redoing them. Using thicker material costs more, takes much more effort to cut, uses more consumables, and won't help you learn the technique required for the job you bought the machine for.


You do have the appropriate PPE don't you? An auto darkening helmet should also be on your needs list.

[Andy B]

...


You do have the appropriate PPE don't you? An auto darkening helmet should also be on your needs list.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Spoke to a mate today who usually does my welding. He is going to come over in the next week or two and do some welding on my car and show me the basics.
I can then do the practising / learning part.
Got gauntlets and a basic helmet, but am going to get an auto darkening helmet next week. 

Although Andys version looks much cheaper, so may give that a go.