Hi,
Newbie here so be gentle . Been looking on and off for the last year or two at MIGS for use at home for an impending bare shell restoration of a Mk1 VW Golf.
The type of work I am looking at is mainly body panels and sills with some thicker chassis work. Also interested in fabbing up some of my own jigs and maybe a spit type rollover frame for working on the underside of the shell.
Last year I took a basic 10 week evening welding course at a local tech college, which concentrated mainly on gas and MIG and was geared towards car resto.
I am now at the point where I want to buy a MIG that will last me for a good few years, hopefully through the golf resto, and many more after that .
I am looking to get a good quality unit, although still at the hobby end of the market, and have had a good look round my local suppliers and the likes of MachineMart for the Clarke gear.
My budget is about 500 quid for the machine and any regulators / accessories I may need.
The best prices I have seen so far seem to be at http://www.migtigarc.co.uk/MIG_Welder/mig_welder.html, and they seem to have a good range.
Of the ones I have been looking at the following 4 stood out and seemed to get positive reviews when mentioned:
I was originally leaning towards the Butters, especially as its a UK manufactured machine so hopefully parts availability / support should be good. However when Googling I found a few people posting that the new lower end Butters machines were not up to the same quality internally as the larger pro units?
The Thermal Arc seemed to have a good pedigree and 3yr warranty, but doesn't include the torch, so stretching the budget a bit. Spares availability was also a concern as its a US based company, although I believe the Fabricator line have a lot in common with the Hobart machines of the same name?
The "wild card" is the MTA 181, which I am guessing is migtigarc's own brand model? Its evidently UK made with "industrial quality components", whatever that means. The interesting thing though is the range - it goes from as low as 20A up to 185A, with a decent duty cycle, so would be ideal for car bodywork, even quite delicate stuff.
I put the Cebora in because they seem to be well regarded, although I understand some of their cheaper models can be no better than average quality wise. SPares are also supposed to be pricey.
So after all that I guess I would be interested to know which one of the above machines would people recommend. Also if anyone has had any experience with these actual models or ones very similar in spec / age.
The problem with researching this kind of thing is that especially with more industrial geared companies like Butters, that their high end gear always gets good reviews. I'm just not sure that this always applies to the lower end models.
These days many companies use their name / brand to re-badge externally sourced products of inferior quality whilst still charging a premium.
Any advice / views / experiences welcome.
Thanks,
Chris
Newbie here so be gentle . Been looking on and off for the last year or two at MIGS for use at home for an impending bare shell restoration of a Mk1 VW Golf.
The type of work I am looking at is mainly body panels and sills with some thicker chassis work. Also interested in fabbing up some of my own jigs and maybe a spit type rollover frame for working on the underside of the shell.
Last year I took a basic 10 week evening welding course at a local tech college, which concentrated mainly on gas and MIG and was geared towards car resto.
I am now at the point where I want to buy a MIG that will last me for a good few years, hopefully through the golf resto, and many more after that .
I am looking to get a good quality unit, although still at the hobby end of the market, and have had a good look round my local suppliers and the likes of MachineMart for the Clarke gear.
My budget is about 500 quid for the machine and any regulators / accessories I may need.
The best prices I have seen so far seem to be at http://www.migtigarc.co.uk/MIG_Welder/mig_welder.html, and they seem to have a good range.
Of the ones I have been looking at the following 4 stood out and seemed to get positive reviews when mentioned:
- Butters MT 1800 Mig
- Thermal Arc Fabricator 200
- MTA 181
- Cebora Craft Mig 180
I was originally leaning towards the Butters, especially as its a UK manufactured machine so hopefully parts availability / support should be good. However when Googling I found a few people posting that the new lower end Butters machines were not up to the same quality internally as the larger pro units?
The Thermal Arc seemed to have a good pedigree and 3yr warranty, but doesn't include the torch, so stretching the budget a bit. Spares availability was also a concern as its a US based company, although I believe the Fabricator line have a lot in common with the Hobart machines of the same name?
The "wild card" is the MTA 181, which I am guessing is migtigarc's own brand model? Its evidently UK made with "industrial quality components", whatever that means. The interesting thing though is the range - it goes from as low as 20A up to 185A, with a decent duty cycle, so would be ideal for car bodywork, even quite delicate stuff.
I put the Cebora in because they seem to be well regarded, although I understand some of their cheaper models can be no better than average quality wise. SPares are also supposed to be pricey.
So after all that I guess I would be interested to know which one of the above machines would people recommend. Also if anyone has had any experience with these actual models or ones very similar in spec / age.
The problem with researching this kind of thing is that especially with more industrial geared companies like Butters, that their high end gear always gets good reviews. I'm just not sure that this always applies to the lower end models.
These days many companies use their name / brand to re-badge externally sourced products of inferior quality whilst still charging a premium.
Any advice / views / experiences welcome.
Thanks,
Chris