Nick DV
"That's the only name they ever gave me."
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- 1,673
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- "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...."
I know this welder was reviewed a couple of years ago, but as I’ve just purchased one, I thought I’d give my views on the mig, as there are a couple of changes from the previous models.
A few months ago I decided I needed a welder which could weld up to 8mm steel as well as low as 1mm, so I needed something with more power, that was robust, had good support and would stand the test of time. I’ve nothing against them, but I didn’t want a multi process machine/ inverter.
After much research, I decided on the Oxford Migmaker 240-1, so I contacted Tom from Welding Supplies Direct. He who was extremely helpful, answered all of my questions, and gave me some great advice so I placed the order with him. I asked Tom to order it with the reverse polarity option should I need to use flux core, and he informed me that is now a standard feature which was a bonus. I also asked him to supply me with a 4m torch instead of a 3m one. Tom made me aware that the delivery time was at least 18 – 21 working days due to heavy demand.
The day after I placed the order, a courier delivered a box from WSD containing a regulator and a 4m Binzel Evo Pro MB 25 torch - or so I thought. The torch was light years ahead of my previous one, much larger but certainly no heavier and felt so much nicer in the hand. Wind forward a few days, and I realised it was an MB36 torch, not an MB25! I spoke to Tom who gave me the option of exchanging it or keeping it, so I decided to keep it.
On the 20th working day after placing the order, I had a call from a nice lady at Technical Arc who told me that my welder would be delivered the next day. I was off work that week so the timing was couldn’t have been better.
The mig turned up mid-morning and the delivery driver gave me a hand to carry it indoors. I believe a lot of people have had issues with their machines being delivered damaged due to the lack of decent packaging. As you can see in the photo, my machine was very well packed, and well labelled. Inside, the welder was packed in bubble wrap and polystyrene, none of which was inside the machine. All of this was attached to a wooden base.
Obviously there were a few things to do to complete the build, including the bottle shelf and rear axle which aren’t shown, but everything was straight forward and it was soon to be assembled.
As you can probably see from the next photo the latest version of the 240-1 has a different front panel with no socket for the earth lead, which now is hard wired to the relevant polarity terminal inside the welder. I prefer this to the plug-in option, no chance of it not being fully seated or put in the wrong socket! But that’s just me…….! The rotary switches are slightly different too.
Here you can see the terminals for the earth and power cables and giving you polarity choice. Also, as you can see, I have a 15 kg spool of wire, and even with my large hands, I found it easy enough to install the wire into the fed mechanism.
The build quality of this machine is very good. The gas bottle platform at the back is substantial and will obviously support a full-size bottle. I placed a piece of rubber matting on mine just to stop the bottle scratching the paint, and I also added some trim to the front edge of the lid as others have done.
I’ve had a good play on steel from 0.8mm up to 5mm welding various joints and laying beads, and I’m loving it already. I found the welder easy to set up and use. It’s so ‘smooth’ and so easy to produce a decent weld - I promise to get some photos next time! I’ve not had a chance to use it on full power yet as I’m still waiting to install a new consumer unit! All being well, I’m going to get the power sorted this weekend.
Anyway, I’ve probably bored you to death by now, so I’ll finish for now by saying a big thank you to Tom at Welding Supplies Direct for sorting the order and for the advice he gave me . I’ll also add that I’m over the moon with the mig and it's definitely the right choice for my requirements.
A few months ago I decided I needed a welder which could weld up to 8mm steel as well as low as 1mm, so I needed something with more power, that was robust, had good support and would stand the test of time. I’ve nothing against them, but I didn’t want a multi process machine/ inverter.
After much research, I decided on the Oxford Migmaker 240-1, so I contacted Tom from Welding Supplies Direct. He who was extremely helpful, answered all of my questions, and gave me some great advice so I placed the order with him. I asked Tom to order it with the reverse polarity option should I need to use flux core, and he informed me that is now a standard feature which was a bonus. I also asked him to supply me with a 4m torch instead of a 3m one. Tom made me aware that the delivery time was at least 18 – 21 working days due to heavy demand.
The day after I placed the order, a courier delivered a box from WSD containing a regulator and a 4m Binzel Evo Pro MB 25 torch - or so I thought. The torch was light years ahead of my previous one, much larger but certainly no heavier and felt so much nicer in the hand. Wind forward a few days, and I realised it was an MB36 torch, not an MB25! I spoke to Tom who gave me the option of exchanging it or keeping it, so I decided to keep it.
On the 20th working day after placing the order, I had a call from a nice lady at Technical Arc who told me that my welder would be delivered the next day. I was off work that week so the timing was couldn’t have been better.
The mig turned up mid-morning and the delivery driver gave me a hand to carry it indoors. I believe a lot of people have had issues with their machines being delivered damaged due to the lack of decent packaging. As you can see in the photo, my machine was very well packed, and well labelled. Inside, the welder was packed in bubble wrap and polystyrene, none of which was inside the machine. All of this was attached to a wooden base.
Obviously there were a few things to do to complete the build, including the bottle shelf and rear axle which aren’t shown, but everything was straight forward and it was soon to be assembled.
As you can probably see from the next photo the latest version of the 240-1 has a different front panel with no socket for the earth lead, which now is hard wired to the relevant polarity terminal inside the welder. I prefer this to the plug-in option, no chance of it not being fully seated or put in the wrong socket! But that’s just me…….! The rotary switches are slightly different too.
Here you can see the terminals for the earth and power cables and giving you polarity choice. Also, as you can see, I have a 15 kg spool of wire, and even with my large hands, I found it easy enough to install the wire into the fed mechanism.
The build quality of this machine is very good. The gas bottle platform at the back is substantial and will obviously support a full-size bottle. I placed a piece of rubber matting on mine just to stop the bottle scratching the paint, and I also added some trim to the front edge of the lid as others have done.
I’ve had a good play on steel from 0.8mm up to 5mm welding various joints and laying beads, and I’m loving it already. I found the welder easy to set up and use. It’s so ‘smooth’ and so easy to produce a decent weld - I promise to get some photos next time! I’ve not had a chance to use it on full power yet as I’m still waiting to install a new consumer unit! All being well, I’m going to get the power sorted this weekend.
Anyway, I’ve probably bored you to death by now, so I’ll finish for now by saying a big thank you to Tom at Welding Supplies Direct for sorting the order and for the advice he gave me . I’ll also add that I’m over the moon with the mig and it's definitely the right choice for my requirements.