Right, I'm on the verge of buying my first welder, and spent a few hours on here last night, which has helped me loads. I just have a few questions before I spend my hard earned overdraft.
Here's what I need it for, a 1959 VW Kombi, good chassis but some ropey bodywork. Needs new sill on the cargo door side, cargo door bottoms need replacing, work on wheel arches, front panal, maybe replace a chassis outrigger.... nothing unusual for something this old. I guess the bodywork is thicker than most modern cars, but I would like to end up doing some tidy butt welding on the bodywork.
It lives in my garage, which is where I'd do all the welding, so having a portable or gasless welder isn't top of my wish list. (But what if I start helping mates out on their drives...)
The welders that have been looking at so far are the Clarke 135TE, or the equivalent Migmate. Both are under £200, and I can plug them straight in to the socket in my garage. I'm leaning more towards to Migmate at the mo, as it goes down to 25amp, the Clarke is 30amp. It also appears to have more power settings. Is this a benefit?
I'm also looking into getting a pub size CO2 bottle, found a few for sale but not sure where I can get refills. And is it easy to fit these? I guess you need to change the regulator? (Machinemart do trolleys for £30)
My worries are is a 130 up to working on my Kombi? Or should I go up a notch to the 150 range. The blurb says good for 5mm, which is more than enough, but peeps on here have said it's actually much thinner than that? And will I be stuck if I ever need to weld outdoors with a gas Mig? Should I just fork out a bit more for a DP? I'd be fitting a bigger bottle anyway rather than use the little disposables the gas only ones come with....
Sorry for all the questions! I should have told you to put the kettle on first
Here's what I need it for, a 1959 VW Kombi, good chassis but some ropey bodywork. Needs new sill on the cargo door side, cargo door bottoms need replacing, work on wheel arches, front panal, maybe replace a chassis outrigger.... nothing unusual for something this old. I guess the bodywork is thicker than most modern cars, but I would like to end up doing some tidy butt welding on the bodywork.
It lives in my garage, which is where I'd do all the welding, so having a portable or gasless welder isn't top of my wish list. (But what if I start helping mates out on their drives...)
The welders that have been looking at so far are the Clarke 135TE, or the equivalent Migmate. Both are under £200, and I can plug them straight in to the socket in my garage. I'm leaning more towards to Migmate at the mo, as it goes down to 25amp, the Clarke is 30amp. It also appears to have more power settings. Is this a benefit?
I'm also looking into getting a pub size CO2 bottle, found a few for sale but not sure where I can get refills. And is it easy to fit these? I guess you need to change the regulator? (Machinemart do trolleys for £30)
My worries are is a 130 up to working on my Kombi? Or should I go up a notch to the 150 range. The blurb says good for 5mm, which is more than enough, but peeps on here have said it's actually much thinner than that? And will I be stuck if I ever need to weld outdoors with a gas Mig? Should I just fork out a bit more for a DP? I'd be fitting a bigger bottle anyway rather than use the little disposables the gas only ones come with....
Sorry for all the questions! I should have told you to put the kettle on first
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