Buying my first gasless mig

[switchguy00]

Hi im new here but I have a passion for welding.

I worked at a steel plant in my apprenticeship (electrical) and picked up arc welding with mild steel 5mm and upwards.

I am hooked on welding, for me its therapeutic, something about it really interests me.

I am planning on buying a gasless mig welder. Gasless because I dont want a welder too complicated, just something to help me transition from arc to mig.

I only have limited means, which means it needs to be relatively cheap. I have lots of time to learn though. I guess I will only be using it for mild steel around 5mm thick. I like to fabricate my own custom tools for my work and also like playing around with small projects around the house.

This is what I am looking at: http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...uring-metalwork/welders/auction-558353399.htm

My cousin who is a stainless steel welder said the only thing not great about this is the duty cycle (no 100% cycle) but he did say for my needs it should suffice.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated as this is kind of a new venture for me and I dont want to buy a welder that is essentially a dud. cheers.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Duty cycle only becomes an issue for the welder who requires a machine for a lot of welding at a time, for most hobby welders it makes little difference because you spend time setting up and tacking between welds, the actual weld time is often a lot less than you imagine.

My advice would be not to limit yourself to gasless, if you buy a machine that will do both then at least you have the choice in the future.

My next bit of advice is buy the best you can, instead of in 6 months time wishing you had bought something different...even if it means saving for longer.

Can't really advise on the model of machine, not sure what is available to you and don't recognise the ones that are.

 

[Wozzaaah]

This is what I am looking at: http://www.trademe.co.nz/business-f...uring-metalwork/welders/auction-558353399.htm

My cousin who is a stainless steel welder said the only thing not great about this is the duty cycle (no 100% cycle) but he did say for my needs it should suffice.

Two things:
1.UGH! It has a very limited range and at 55A minimum it would be useless if you ever needed to weld anything thin.

2. Welding 5mm steel with a 120 mig amp welder is a pretty tall order.

Your cousin could build nuclear submarines but if he knows anything about welders he should tell you to steer clear of that one.

My recommendation would be to put the money to one side until you can afford something a bit better. Look for something with a range of around 30-150 amps, that should do you well.