Gas - Where to get it? what to choose?

[whycanismellburning]

Morning all, I have reicently dug my mig welder out of the dust at the back of the garage and i now need to get some gas as the jobs have started to pile up. I used to use BOC Argonshield but since i did not renew the bottle rental i have to go through the process again. Is there a way to avoid having to pay an silly amount of money on bottle rental per year or do i need to stop grumbleing and dust off my cheque book?

Also is Agonshield still the best option for welding black steel? Is there a better option now?

Hmmm whilst on the point what about filler wire? is there any very good compounds that have been developed?

FYI I mainy weld new steel of a minimum 4mm thickness

 

[English Steve]

There are a number of gas supplier options. A lot depends on how much you need to use and where your nearest distributor is. Have a look at this thread for a guide.

Edit: sorry, link isn't working. Have a look at the Shielding Gas and Equipment section. There is a sticky post called 'Gas price spreadsheet' - loads of info in there.

 

[weldequip]

If you have a fair amount of work to do I normally recommend the BOC Argoshield size "Y" cylinder. It's around 3 X the capacity of the smallest "X" size & the refill/rental cost is not that much more. It also means you are paying BOC's "fixed charge for collection" less often.
weldequip

 

[whycanismellburning]

I have just discovered that the gas regulator has decided that it likes retirement and does not want to do any work any more so i now need a new one..... When i spoke to my local welding suppliers they were about as helpful as a handbreak on a canoe ( the one i have is so old they don't do anything like it now...) Where to by and what to buy? any help?!!!?

 

[Archie]

PM the lad in the post above yours with a nice shiny welder as his avatar...

 

[Baz-Cem]

Feromaxx 7 is a nice gas to use and comes in 300 bar bottles.