MIG for beginner doing car restoration ~£500

[Burdekin]

It’s worth saying as well both Rtech and Oxford/Portamig are British companies. Rtech stuff is made in the Far East and Oxford/Portamig made in Britain. Both offer very good aftermarket service. Rtech is probably second to none for their guarantee and service in the U.K., hence you pay a bit more for this but if buying a inverter welder it’s peace of mind they will sort you out no bother if something goes wrong. I had a issue with my motherboard with a faulty part, took it out sent to the Oxford folk and sent back in no time. Either of these welders will do all you ask, it’s flip a coin type decision and then just crack on doing some welding whichever you go for.

 

[SyncroMatt]

I have an Oxford migmaker 200 after years of trying to do stuff with an old sip 120. There's is no comparison. I love the Oxford, very smooth, and I'm not the best welder out there. I built a 6x4 trailer out of 4mm angle iron and box section, which I pulled all sorts in. Including firewood behind a quad across fields. I'm about to tackle 1mm bodywork with it, but have done thin metal stuff for my father in law. He brings me all sorts of crap from the farm to fix.

It just works.

One issue I have is the user manual is worth nothing at all.

I believe the portamigs are also made by technical arc.

Matt

 

[Richard Stowe]

One issue I have is the user manual is worth nothing at all.

Yeah my 180 manual wasn't great but they are so simple to use!

 

[tom2207]

i just welded a 20 year old lawn mower handle made from tube ,,, no prob and two settings to go lower if i needed it , the horrid steel tube was rusty inside and out and too thin to clean ,,, think thinner than the ham in a british rail sandwich , and it cruised it . I was going to braze it but just did it with the mig instead.

 

[hanvyj]

Went with the Lincoln in the end, I preferred the idea of being able to write settings down and go back to them. Although I thought it also had an amps readout when arcing - turns out that's only when you're stick welding.

My decision was ultimately - better display and finer controls are going to be easier for me to learn on. My main goals is a big project I hope I'll only be doing for a few years. If it doesn't last me 30 years and I can pass it on to my kid, like an Oxford will and breaks after 2 or 3 years, lesson learned and spending £600 when I'm a better welder and if I'm still welding won't be the end of the world. Hopefully I'll have the confidence to use a stepped transformer machine.

I have to say, super, super happy with it. Quality is leagues above the Clarke I had. Simple stuff like having a two stage trigger to keep gas flowing, and it automatically keeping the gas running a few seconds after a tack. The torch is just so much nicer to use. The wire feed is consistent and steady.

Most of what I've been doing had been going over to try fix the porous mess of my old welds, but I did a few inches I hadn't got round to with the Clarke - stitch welding with a series of spots on 1-1.2mm. It just worked! I pulled the trigger, a little blob of weld went where I pointed it, no pores, no mess. Feel it's a bit hot, turn a dial slightly, and it behaves how I expect, and how all the guides say.

Just hope it lasts many years!

I do wonder if something was wrong with the Clarke, the gas solenoid letting in air or something.

 

[Richard Stowe]

let us know how you get on with it! and pic's

 

[hanvyj]

Going really well so far. Feel much more in control. Still blow a few holes here and there, but I understand what I did wrong when it happens and can correct it, before I never felt in control. This thing puts the metal where I point it, it's not a porous mess, it's only a bit messy when I mess up.

I've been doing a fair bit of trying to grind back and go over some of my past welding, but did patch in a new piece of metal between two panels that didn't meet (lesson learned - if there's a gap between panels like this, it's better to cut off some more material and have a decent sized gap to patch in a new bit)

Grinding them down a bit, there's no porosity:

And the penetration looks good from the other side:

The thing is, it's easy. I mean, it's not easy to get them to look nice! But it works, and I feel like I can actually learn.

 

[Langley91]

Going really well so far. Feel much more in control. Still blow a few holes here and there, but I understand what I did wrong when it happens and can correct it, before I never felt in control. This thing puts the metal where I point it, it's not a porous mess, it's only a bit messy when I mess up.

I've been doing a fair bit of trying to grind back and go over some of my past welding, but did patch in a new piece of metal between two panels that didn't meet (lesson learned - if there's a gap between panels like this, it's better to cut off some more material and have a decent sized gap to patch in a new bit)

View attachment 281921

Grinding them down a bit, there's no porosity:
View attachment 281922

And the penetration looks good from the other side:
View attachment 281923

The thing is, it's easy. I mean, it's not easy to get them to look nice! But it works, and I feel like I can actually learn.

Thats looking very good. Wish i could get mine to turn out with that uniformity.

 

[Nick DV]

Thats looking very good. Wish i could get mine to turn out with that uniformity.

You will as long as you keep on practicing

 

[W.olly]

I have three mig rigs all inverters now but the R Tech 180 mig is cracking.

R-Tech 180 Amp Portable Inverter Mig Welder (240v)

Mig Welder R-Tech MIG180

www.r-techwelding.co.uk

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

The thing is, it's easy. I mean, it's not easy to get them to look nice! But it works

Thats basically the difference between a good and a bad machine...my Kemppi is the same...I feel totally in control of it and it's always consistent when I pull the trigger.

My old migmate...pull the trigger and it was like lucky dip each time. Its a lot easier to learn when the machine is consistent because you can really fine tune your technique to the welder...looks very good already I think. On the Kemppi I can basically polish the welds down into the surface and it all looks like surface....I think yours will be the same. I leave them proud for strength where they won't be seen like you've done