Complete Novice Intro

[Ad28]

Hi chaps, totally new to this lark. I work with pricing steels but never actually tried my hand at welding.

I've decided I want to learn MIG, a few mates can do so but I wanted to get a few opinions on kit etc.

The sort of thing I want to have a go at are a Garage work bench, maybe a motorcycle trailer and definately will need to do a few things on the Landrover at times.

My questions are:
- Which welder (My budget is £200 - ish but I want to be able to do thicker steels with this too aka 5-6mm for the work bench)
- Which mask / kit and where you go for it?
- Any tutorials or useful info you found on this as I'll be semi self taught sort of thing?

Thanks in advance
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[shenion]

Welcome to the forums

You'll need to double your budget for a usable MIG, gloves and mask. Then there is gas, that may require rental.

Check out the weldequip link at the top of the page, the Clarkes are a decent starting point.

5-6mm is probably 4x your price range. An arc welder would be cheaper. but won't do bodywork easily. 4mm is doable with the Clarke 150A MIG machines.

There are tutorials on this site, use the MIG link at the top of the page.

 

[Ad28]

Hi, cheers for Info. Didn't explain myself v.well lol. £200 budget for just the MIG (Although if I need to spend more to get spec I want so be it).

I've had a little look through ebay and noticed a Clarke 151 En (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-CLARKE-23...569?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item25638ec3c9)
Does anyone have experience of this?

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[keith19]

The Clarke 151EN is decent kit. I've had one awhile.
It will take on 4.0 mm steel okay at the top of its range, but won't do 6.0 mm unprepared in one pass, that's just advertising hype.

But it comes with gasless wire on board. That's flux-cored wire you don't need to use gas with. Gasless is a bit tougher to use for a beginner, especially with thin steel like 1.0 mm and below.
Do a search in the site box for 'gasless migs' or 'flux-cored wire' to get lots of threads with information for and against.

Some of us use it, some use it for car bodywork even, which is pretty skilled, and takes some practice. Gasless is good if you have to work outdoors and can't rig up a good wind-break.

Gas is easier to start with, and it's what you'd use on a college welding course. You can get all the kit to use gas with the 151, but you have to check out which gas you'll be using first, because the regulators are different. The main two are CO2 and Argon/CO2 mix.
If you are only doing small jobs, you can use little bottles from car shops like halfords etc, but these don't last long, only around 10 minutes of actual welding. Read the Welding Gases section to get some idea of what's involved.

The advert in your link says it needs a 30 Amp electricity supply. This is them covering their backsides. In actual fact you can use a 13 Amp socket, so long as the socket lead and plug are in good condition, and you're not welding constantly at 140 - 150 amps, when it might blow a fuse or two. Most of us on here who have them run them on 13 amp plugs.

Enough for you to think about for now; the 151EN is a decent enough welder, but you have to factor in the expense of buying extra kit to use with gas. But having the choice of both gas and gasless makes it very versatile, you needn't worry about carrying big bottles about if you can use gasless instead.

 

[wavestarved]

i have a Clarke 151 en and like has been said it won't do anything above 4mm without some prep but I love mine and am really pleased. Its my first welder and feel that I have (with plenty of help and advice from here) managed to produce some decent welding.
I bought mine from a company called Kaylo on ebay (just under 200 quid January 2011) and would highly recomend them, absolute pleasure to deal with, even arranged for me to pick up from their home as it was awkward for me to get to them in open hours. Their number is 01902 895799 and they're based in Wolverhampton. If you need gas look into Bratby gases in Shrewsbury who do co2 with no deposit or rental for about 20 quid for a pub size bottle. Weldequip shop on here stock all the regulators etc.