I'm New & I Have A Few Questions!

[Mainess]

I'm 16yrs old, i've been working with ICT most of my life, i decided to take on somet new, witch is creating my own petrol 5hp gocart, but i've screwed most of the pieces together yet its not fully stable, so i've gatherd some funds up from selling an alienware d900t laptop on ebay, witch i'm gonna put towards a migwelder.

Now heres the problem.
I'm gonna be welding like 0.7m pieces of metal together and such, I have no idea what welder i need or what a decent one would be for this job.

I chose mig welder because my step-dad said its easier to use then an arch, plus an arch is much more powerfull or somet :P

Please reply quick, as i have the cash ready in hands to buy on ebay

 

[Damaged]

to weld anything that thin you certainly don't want an arc welder.

Be careful what mig you buy as a lot of the ones on fleabay will have a minimum output current of 30 amps or more which is too high.

You need to be looking at something that will do 20 amps or lower.

The experts will be along soon.

HTH's Mick.

 

[Mainess]

I'll have a look at some 20amp welders.
whats a flux weld by the way?

You sure its a 20amp welder.. i'm having trouble finding a 20amp output welder.. O.o

I have 150 GBP, Great British Pounds spending moneyz :P

 

[Damaged]

Yes you want 20 amps, not sure you'll get one for that money though.

At to flux weld I'm assuming it's fluxed wire, which enables you to weld without shielding gas, something else I'd avoid at that thickness.

Ypu should be looking for a gas / no gas or a welder only designed to run with gas.

Mick.

 

[Mainess]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-SIP-06501...=39:1|66:4|65:2|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

What do you think about this one..

 

[Damaged]

I've never owned one but Sip seem to have a bad reputation for crappy wire feed mechanism's etc.

Look for weldequip or diywelding in the members list, both are dealers and if you pm them I'm sure they will point you in the right direction. (I don't work for either of them they just have a good reputation on here.)

Mick.

 

[Mainess]

Thanks.

 

[fingers99]

I'd still go for gas over gasless. You'll get a better weld and far less chance of burn through. The little Clarke ones get a good write up.

There's a guy here -- Weldequip -- who is a Clarke reseller. Well worth talking to.

What's alienware?

 

[Mainess]

Alienware D900t?
Well its a 2grand laptop lol :P
Heres a pic
http://image.alienware.com/images/configurator_images/area-51_m9750/gallery_photo004.jpg

hmm
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CLARKE-PRO-90...39:1|66:4|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Thats powersettings 25 - 90amp
Yet i'm looking for somet under 20amp..
or am i looking for somet tottaly diffrent then the powersettings?

 

[malcolm]

Have you really been working with International Counter Terrorism all your life? You must be one scary dude.

eBay is not the place to buy a new welder - it really is full of complete crap that can barely stick metal together and the stuff on there might not even be capable of welding in the conventional sense of the word. Prices are attractive if you just want to look like you have a welder.

0.7mm (I'm asuming that's what you meant) is really thin. Most MIG welders will struggle with that. Up the thickness to 0.8mm or better 1.0mm and you'll have an easier time of it. 0.1mm increase in thickness makes a lot of difference for thin stuff.

If you want a light weight cart using 0.8mm steel go for a Clarke welder using shielding gas. The shielding gas will be expensive, though we can point you in the direction of cheaper suppliers. I've spent more on shielding gas than I have on welders.

Gasless is another option. It's cheaper for small projects like yours, but less easy to learn with. Takes a special wire that shields the weld as it burns, makes a lot of smoke and covers the weld so you can't see what you are doing Once again I'd recommend a Clarke welder but the EN spec (which can be converted to gas if you get fed up). You'd need to be working with 1.0mm sheet rather than 0.8mm sheet for gassless to be much use.

Certainly forget eBay unless you are looking at secondhand stuff.

Use the calculator to suss out what the bottom amps might do. There's not a lot of difference between 20 and 30, and the lowest available for cheap is 25.

 

[fingers99]

Like the laptop (should run Debian Sid nicely ). That little Clarke looks the biz to me. You'll find little or nowt MIG that will genuinely be under 25amps (and voltage is important, too). I'd have that over the SIP.

 

[Mainess]

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/pro-90-mig-welder

This seems good 25amp 5amp of don't seem bad

 

[fingers99]

Yep. But like I say, PM Weldequip before you throw your money at MM. And put Debian on that laptop!

 

[Mainess]

hehe

Lol!!
This was funny, got my welder today at my local machinemart, stepdad took me.. we looked at the clarke 85en welder.. the price tag was wrong, yet they had to sell it to us for that much 129pound so i brought some extra wire :P

My 1st time using a welder.. i pretty much crapped my self at 1st when sparks where fireing at me, but i got use to it..
My welds where poop.. there where like blotches, so i decided to try a higher speed, i attempted to do a straight line fast, came out alright.. 1 piece i burnt a hole thru, so i turned the speed down to 1, then sealed the hole, & it was a pretty good weld not exactly straight since i'm using 1 hand for holding the mask witch came with the welder.

So all i need now is a full mask, & my welds will be ok, not good or perfect i need weeks of pratice yet

Anyway you'll probaly hear from me in the future.
Also, how come after using the clarke 85en welder for a while, turning it off, having a cig, turning it back on.. the wire didn't thread.
so i started reading the manual tried it again & it worked?

Was this just a cooler.. from stopping it over heating.

Sorry for any of my mispellings/mistakes hope yah can understand what i'm saying, thanks all

Mainess - Luke Hall.

 

[Damaged]

Do your self a favour.

Take the mask that came with the welder to a secluded spot and beat the crap out of it with a 4lb hammer / stihl saw / jcb or what ever you have.

We learners would be safer closing our eyes than using that piece of crap.

Mick.

 

[Mainess]

i know a material that can only be seen thru, thru darkness or lightness, my mum has a load on her side arched windows, so i thought why not make my own goggles

anyway if it works i'll let you guys know :P

 

[Paul.]

i know a material that can only be seen thru, thru darkness or lightness, my mum has a load on her side arched windows, so i thought why not make my own goggles

anyway if it works i'll let you guys know :P

Very dangerous, Welding filters are specially made to filter out ultra violet and infra red radiation,, you are on your last set of eyes, dont ruin them to save a few quid on a decent mask.

 

[fingers99]

Don't try it. A half way decent mask will cost you around £15. Goggles (even with "propper" lenses) will result in arc burns (and probably spatter burns) to your face and possibly skin cancer (UV and IR radiation damage). Home made goggles or lenses, as said, will initially give you arc eye, which is excruciatingly painful, and ultimately result in permanent eye damage.

It ain't worth it.

 

[rtbcomp]

Have you really been working with International Counter Terrorism all your life? You must be one scary dude.

..

I took ICT to mean International Computers and Tabulators, a company I worked for more years ago than I care to remember