Clarke 151EN or 151TE

[Jan]

Other than shielding gas, all normal consumables can be sourced for decent prices if you shop around. eBay can be useful, but a lot (although not all) of the cheaper stuff on there is cheap for a reason: It's crap! It's often better to stick to the larger bricks & mortar outlets - even BOC - as they're very definitely interested in repeat sales.

 

[marlinspike]

You can buy a kit from Weldequip to convert a gasless mig to gas for about £38, plus postage. Can't do a link but it's the Refillable Gas Cylinder Conversion Kit Argon mix.

We started with a gasless Clarke - great little welders but I think gas mig is the way to go if you want to make a neat job of it and not be frustrated at the quality of your welds.

 

[Alister]

I think this is what you are talking about.

http://www.weldequip.com/argonmix-conversion-kit.htm

 

[marlinspike]

That's it. Thanks, Alister. I can't seem to do links on my phone.

It can be a bit frustrating when you start welding as it seems like the actual machine is just the beginning and you are endlessly forking out for helmets, wire, regulators etc. However, it gets a bit addictive and once you have all the gear you really look forward to getting it out and welding stuff. The other thing is you probably wouldn't get much welding done at a garage for £200, so at least if you spend that and a bit more you will get your current repair done and still have the gear for next time or to sell on.

 

[Alister]

Called in to my local supplier today and bought a bottle of Argoshield Light. (At least that is what he said it was as the top is lime green and he said welders usually buy it).

The bottle is mine and refills are £27 + VAT. Will give it a try later but a little concerned when I saw this on the side

Hopefully just an old bottle being used for a different gas.
I also got a regulator, 5kg of 0.8 and 0.6 welding wire, some hose and various connectors for a total of £200 (The bottle was £120+VAT)
Maybe not the cheapest but he is local so easy to go back to, the bottle is mine and refills are not too dear.

 

[Jan]

Essentially that's a pub cylinder that's been refilled with Argoshield Lite (at least hopefully). The downside is that such cylinders aren't normally expected to hold anything close to the 230+BAR of the real thing, so your £27 refill is not as good value as the BOC Volkszone deal.

 

[Alister]

Yeah, that's what I was thinking . The regulator is showing 140 bar so pretty much the same as hobby weld I think.

 

[Alister]

Been doing a bit of welding last couple of days (making a trolley for the welder) and all seems well. I think the biggest issue is my lack of skill but now I have a decent welder hopefully that will improve.

 

[Alister]

OK, A couple of pics of the trolley

This was made with old stuff I had lying around. The wheels came off a lawn mower which had a busted engine. I had to cut a few inches out of the axles and weld them back together before welding them to the chassis.
The chassis came from a new Sun computer server, it was a support used for holding up the server during installation, so as it was being chucked out I redirected it towards my car. It needed a couple of inches cut out along it's length so I got a bit of practice butt welding. The whole thing was a bit too flexible so I found an old door off a small comms cabinet was exactly the same width as the newly narrowed chassis so it got welded to the bottom and now it is nice and strong (although not perfectly straight but hey ho)
The uprights came from an old trampoline and just got welded to the front and back for a handle and a support for the gas bottle.
It is far from perfect and is a bit wider than I would like but it is easy to move around and as the wheels are big it can easily be pulled over grass or stones. Really it was an excuse for some welding practice which I sorely need.