Hi, my names Dave, I’m an ex coal miner and postman, im In my mid sixties now, I have very rudimentary skills at welding as in I’ve tried my friends welder under his supervision and did a couple of welds that were ok, more by luck than any skill of mine. my hobbies include motorcycle tinkering, repairing things and I’m hoping to learn to fabricate custom bits for a Vespa PX200 efl repair some old broken garden tools and see how it all goes from there, I can’t warrant throwing anything over £300 at a machine and that’s the top figure I don’t know if that’s a good enough background for anyone to give me suggestions of what would be best for me I can give more if I’m asked a specific question. I want to get the most reliable, user friendly kit I can, is £300 not enough? I would like it to run on a uk 3pin 13amp plug in my garage. Any help gratefully received
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finyuk2005
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sounds like you might be better with a mig welder as you might be doing some thinner metal especially on the vespa
AVI_8
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Welcome to the place where you can ask a question about anything and someone will know the answer.
With regards to your budget I’d suggest maybe a good quality second hand mig, possibly someone selling up whereby you could get a the necessary PPE, helmet etc included.
£300 is a bit shy of what you’d need to get something descent when you include everything else you’ll need besides the welder.
I’d steer clear of the cheap as Chips new gassless welders you see on eBay.
Have a look at the buyers guide section on here
With regards to your budget I’d suggest maybe a good quality second hand mig, possibly someone selling up whereby you could get a the necessary PPE, helmet etc included.
£300 is a bit shy of what you’d need to get something descent when you include everything else you’ll need besides the welder.
I’d steer clear of the cheap as Chips new gassless welders you see on eBay.
Have a look at the buyers guide section on here
It was a big industrial type welder, he set all the settings and shown me what to do, I’m afraid it’s been that long now I’ve forgotten what I learned I think
Appreciate the advice, i might have a bit of a wait for one to come available second hand but good. I’m used to waiting, it’s really got to be close by so I can view, hopefully try, and transport it home, which machine or machines should I look for? If you don’t mind me asking?
I think mig, but it’s only the way the stick sounds when people talk about it, I’ve never used a stick welder so I didn’t fully understand the differences
Dev
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Something else to consider is check if a local technical college does evening courses or workshop practice - basically you get to use their high quality welders, materials and gas for a modest fee.
It might not suit depending on your location and mobility but for an occasional welder for leisure is another option.
It might not suit depending on your location and mobility but for an occasional welder for leisure is another option.
Hah, inadvertently you have hit on my main problem, mobility , I can’t walk but a few steps and even sitting for anything over 10-30 minutes depending on the seat brings on pain that builds to nasty levels. I’m on daily quite high levels of morphine sulphate, and lots of other crap. I don’t want to talk about it, and try my best to keep trying and this welding is, at least in my garage something I can do. My wife has to help now but that’s by the by. The instructed course’s sound great. I would love to be taught now, boy have I changed. At one time I thought I knew it all! Lol thanks again for the advice
I think your friend's machine would most likely have been a MIG, in which case the business end would have been like a nozzle with wire sticking out of the end. As opposed to stick where the holder holds a rod that starts off about 15" long and gets consumed as you go.
MIG torches .. https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/welding-supplies/mig-welding-supplies/mig-torches.html
If so then reluctantly a MIG is probably what you want. "Reluctantly" because I was advised to go MIG when I bought my own welder, although my only prior experience was stick. I hated it, never got on with it. It was years later that I finally admitted it was a mistake, and bought a stick welder which is what I should have done in the first place.
I suppose the good news nowadays is that modern inverter MIGs usually can do stick as well. Whereas my transformer based MIG can't.
MIG torches .. https://www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk/welding-supplies/mig-welding-supplies/mig-torches.html
If so then reluctantly a MIG is probably what you want. "Reluctantly" because I was advised to go MIG when I bought my own welder, although my only prior experience was stick. I hated it, never got on with it. It was years later that I finally admitted it was a mistake, and bought a stick welder which is what I should have done in the first place.
I suppose the good news nowadays is that modern inverter MIGs usually can do stick as well. Whereas my transformer based MIG can't.
julianf
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£300 won't get you too far if it's for the whole setup?
I mean a bottle of rent free is probably half that budget?
(Which is still your most economic option, even if it doesn't seem cheap in the short term)
I'd imagine that a second hand portamig, on a good day, might be around the £300 mark? They're far from "port"able (easily) but my experience of them is that they just work, unlike the slightly more budget options that I've tried.
YMMV, of course.
I mean a bottle of rent free is probably half that budget?
(Which is still your most economic option, even if it doesn't seem cheap in the short term)
I'd imagine that a second hand portamig, on a good day, might be around the £300 mark? They're far from "port"able (easily) but my experience of them is that they just work, unlike the slightly more budget options that I've tried.
YMMV, of course.
AVI_8
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Personally I can’t give you much advice as to what machine to buy as I’ve only just started welding myself and the only machine I’ve used is the one I bought, keep a regular eye on gumtree and it seems now Facebook marketplace is getting to be a good place to get something second hand.
One piece of advice I can give you which I’ve learned from buying used items, check daily or twice daily because if it’s good and at a good price it’ll be gone by the end of the day.
Get a used Clarke - had mine for 20 years. Mine is the 230TE. I can use it on a 13amp plug at setting 5 out of 6 no problem which is about 180amps. On full it will blow fuses. I can weld 8mm easily and 10mm with a lot of prep. As you will be doing thinner stuff you won't need anything so powerful. I use CO2 which is a lot cheaper and no rental bottles or deposit. Don't get anything gasless. An argon mix is nicer especially on thinner stuff but many people use just CO2 and get good results.
I find mig is too fiddly with having to consider both the wire feed and gas as well as concentrating on the weld. I started with stick welding back in 1972 when my car needed the top struts repaired for its MOT. First try and it was good enough to pass the test with good feedback from the testers. This was when I was in Germany and in the RAF. I have never looked back. I bought the migwelder and bottle but it is still sitting unused. I have a spare stick welder and you are welcome to have it for free. I live in Stoke on Trent if you are interested.
sorry for the delay in answering you, Stoke on Trent is about an hour twenty from me with no hold ups. That’s a very very kind gesture and I would love to take you up on your kind offer. If you had spare time for say this coming Sunday I could come over and get it. Do you think you would be able to give me a little how to so I have a start base to practice from as I’ve never done a stick weld. It was a wire fed as described above, kind regards Dave
I don’t know if anyone is near Sutton in Ashfield? The problem I think is, people don’t know me, so, and I might feel the same , it’s a big leap of trust to have what is in essence a complete stranger come around to their place and see what they have. I can understand it in this day and age. I know I’m honest but that’s just my word. It is what it is. Thanks for asking though.
