is this welder suitable?

[ben niblett]

Hi im new to the forum and new to welding altogther. Anyway ive taken on a little restoration project repairing an mx5. The sills are rotten and i plan on welding a new body panel on along with replacing some parts that make up the sill using the the good metal on the original panel i cut out. I was advised a mig welder is most suited to car body panels.
ive found this :
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/281488279967?nav=SEARCH

Would appreciate any opinions and advice
thannks ben

 

[500e]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/forums/wolf-powercraft.71/

 

[cumbriasteve]

I had a Wolf and was not impressed at all.

Clarke, GYS and Cebora are much better buys, if you are totally new to welding and know zilch then have a good read of the tutorials on this forum, decide on your budget and what machine you think you like and will do what you want then ask some more questions before buying.

 

[ben niblett]

Well i want something that has low amp output like 30ish and if possible with a gas sheild which this seems to tick both boxes.
why were you not impressed with your wolf?

 

[Bill Edwards]

No experience of the wolf, but what tends to let cheap MIG's down is the wire feed.

To produce good welds the wire feed needs to be smooth and quite controllable. Bad machines can leave you very frustrated as the wire jerks, jams, and tangles either for no reason or the slightest excuse.

Something to consider when buying gear for welding is that your budget needs to include grinders, and gas.
The gasless wire is not pleasant and poor for welding thin metal, and the disposable bottles that you see pictured with that welder are horrifically expensive as they run out in moments.

 

[cumbriasteve]

Well i want something that has low amp output like 30ish and if possible with a gas sheild which this seems to tick both boxes.
why were you not impressed with your wolf?

The build quality was in my opinion very poor, I bought a Portamig 235 and that was a 'real' MIG but of course there was a big price difference.

When I decided I no longer wished to weld as a money earner and wanted to revert to a hobby I sold the Portamig and bought a used Clarke 135 off here which I have used a lot more than I intended to and can only review it as an excellent very capable machine, much better than the Wolf.

Of course manufacturers update and change components all the time, it was nearly 5 years ago when I had the Wolf, perhaps they have improved the build quality in that time and I dare say someone somewhere will have had a Clarke 135 and hated it.

 

[Richard.]

Hi im new to the forum and new to welding altogther. Anyway ive taken on a little restoration project repairing an mx5. The sills are rotten and i plan on welding a new body panel on along with replacing some parts that make up the sill using the the good metal on the original panel i cut out. I was advised a mig welder is most suited to car body panels.
ive found this :
http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/281488279967?nav=SEARCH

Would appreciate any opinions and advice
thannks ben

Don't be pulled in with that eBay deal. There is no way on heaven hell or earth that machine was once the best part of £400. A friend of mine bought one few years back and I went to help him set it up. Never worked out the box. Total junk. I wouldn't pay £10 for one.
When they do work they are not great for low amp thin metal. Invest a bit more and give yourself a sporting chance. Avoid gasless wire also. If your just starting out and going into thin body work you def need all the help you can get and a solid wire with Ar mix will really make a difference.

 

[ben niblett]

I dont really want to spend any more on it as it only really for one job. Are these really no good then? what would you reccomend?

 

[Richard.]

Well what is your "all in" budget. By all in I mean everything needed to do the job . The welder is one part but for Mig welding cars you'll need consumables (wire) grinder, mask, gloves etc I recommend gas.
Yes the wolf welders are that bad. Or from my experience anyway. If your on a low budget look for a used Clarke 105,135 something like that. Similar money to the new wolf but a lot better built IMO

 

[Simon-]

Just have a look at the wolf forum section. Many treads have "problem" in their title. This would suggest that they may be a little more challenging to get the hang of. I've never used one myself BTW.

IMO you get what you pay for. A lot of members rate Clarke machines good well priced machines. It might be worth holding out and keeping your eyes on the forum classifieds for a decent used machine to come up.

 

[Richard.]

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/291396388927?nav=SEARCH
There is plenty of little lumps like this on auction. These are better IMO. Watch a few see what they go for.

 

[T0rnado69]

search ebay for mig welders and then select distance nearest.
and see if any will do the job you want and is fairly local.
you could then go and take a look at it and get them to show you it working etc.
also saves postage costs etc

 

[ben niblett]

I was thinking about getting some quotes but id like to learn the skill aswell .
how about this one?
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=201091270441&alt=web

 

[T0rnado69]

tbh your better off going for a mig that you use gas.
far better then flux core wire..
but if you don't want to get into a gas bottle to start with.
then go for a gas/no gas mig
atleast you can start off using flux core wire then change to normal wire and gas

ps search on ebay.co.uk
as on the .com one you get loads that aint in the uk

 

[T0rnado69]

i remember before i bought my first mig welder,
i was using an arc welder and got really good at it.
then i watched a neighbour that had a mig when i lived in scotland.
and i was like OMG, how cool and easy is that, compared to arc welding.
and he advised me to get one that you use gas.
and im glad i did. as when i moved down to essex.
i see a guy that live not far away, welding using flux core wire.
and what a mess it is compared to mig welding with gas.

 

[Jim Davey]

If its for just one job would it not be better to hire a set for a week?

 

[Richard.]

A week could turn into a month with a rotting car in which case hiring might not be that financially great. Id buy a cheap used Clarke then you've always got it to fall back on. Or get right into the extent of the job and grind everything back to clean metal then you will know if it's a few days work or a total nightmare.

 

[Richard.]

Thinking about it hiring a set for a day might not be a bad idea as you simply might not be able to do the job or you might hate welding in which case you won't be buying one so at least you'll get the feel of the job before committing to it with paid for kit. What's a rough daily hire charge Jim for a small set. I'd hire an inverter if your going down that route so your not limiting yourself to stepped adjustment.

 

[ben niblett]

This is the task basically grind and treat all rust then weld a new bodypanel over the top

 

[ben niblett]

Excuse the horrible tacky alloys they came with the car lol