Mig Welder for 16 swg Stainless Box Section

[Mase_00_7]

Hi all,

I'm new here and new to welding so please take it easy

I'm more of a carpenter than a metal worker but have long wanted to buy a mig welder to have a play around with. I now have a project that needs doing urgently and no skilled labour to do it, so I suppose i'm now in at the deep end!

Basically, I have ordered up 16 linear meters of 20mm square 1.5mm 316 stainless box section that needs to construct itself in such a way as to be able to hold and transport 8 pairs of skis whilst bolted to the back of my Land Rover.

I have ordered the stainless steel (arrives Monday) and now I need some equipment to weld it together.

I was hoping to get away with a Clarke gasless hobby jobby (will be welded indoors, no breeze etc.) but the more I read the more it looks like I need a proper gas setup.

Although I am using stainless I am not worried about corrosion resistance as the piece will be powder coated. Can I use regular mild steel mig wire for the joints aslong as they're protected with powdercoat?

If not, please can you advise on a hobby grade (read less than £250 all in!) mig welder, and any and all accessories I will need to successfully weld this steel?

Sorry for the long post but I thought I'd give a bit of background so you know exactly what I'm trying to achieve.

Many thanks in advance!

Paul.

 

[Tom Orrow L]

Hi Paul, sounds like a fun project. Just a few answers to your questions

Mild steel flux cored wire will be worse than useless on stainless steel of any grade. Preferably you'd be using 316L stainless MIG wire with a 5% Argon/CO2 gas mix for good results. AFAIK their is no mild steel wire that will give you a desired result of stainless.

You'll struggle to find a decent MIG welder with all the accessories for less than £250 unless it second hand. Keep an eye on the used equipment for sale section of this forum & occasionally check the bay, occasionally you'll come across some bargains. I believe their was a member selling a GYS Smartmig 162 with a helmet for like £200 not too long back, not sure if its sold yet though.

Hope you get on well with your project

 

[daleyd]

Not sure if this still available, maybe worth a message to the poster.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/gys-smartmig-162-with-parweld-xr936h-helmet.58256/

 

[Mase_00_7]

Morning guys,

Thanks for the replies, I've pm'd the poster selling the GYS (but far from me but might be worth the travel time) so we'll see what happens there

I have found this one on ebay, it's a Sealey SuperMig 150 with the regulator by the looks of it - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/mig-welde...805943?hash=item2a5b06e8f7:g:DmYAAOSwo0JWMPAs

How much do you think these are worth, and where can I get the bottle of 5% Argon/CO2 from as I can only seem to find 86% Argon / 14% CO2.

Cheers, Paul.

 

[Mase_00_7]

Also, what about a Clarke 135TE Turbo?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mig-welde...564191?hash=item43e4ed469f:g:iP4AAOSw5ZBWNKEG

 

[gaz1]

pdg you may have your opinion on certain types of machines others have theres everyone is different in which machine they buy

for a hobby the below will do as you get into welding you may want to improve your machine or have bought better in the first place its your cost not anyone elses

will a clarke do yes will a sip do yes but you may need to add an adaption to the machine to make it better

can you weld stainless steel and steel together yes you can but filler wire is much better to use using gas than gasless probably get a lecture on this advisement

id get this one for a newbie easy to sell on as well if you cant get used to it but is ample power upon it

https://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/mig151en-turbo-no-gas-mig-welder

also gives both usages gas and gasless

that gys is a nice buy though with the link on site

then its gas bottle and you can tollerate the mask but a auto darkening one is much better

for a newbie still id wished id payed a bit more than what i had done but cash amount was not high enough at the time
so i do wish i had bought a better welder but the clarke 150 and the sip is tollerable and has done all that ive asked for it and more that ive taken it through so far

 

[Mase_00_7]

Thanks for the negative post!

It's going to be bolted to the spare wheel carrier on my Defender in place of the spare wheel like the one in the attached pic. I would say that 40kg max would be about right, and from my drawings and cutting list I have figured that the rack itself should be around 8-10kg.

My welding experience is almost non-existent, although back in 6th form I did arc-weld a mild steel tubular frame, but that was a little while ago now I have ordered up around 8m extra box tubing to practice with so I won't be going into this blind! I also may have the option of a professional welder finishing the rack for me, so aslong as it is tacked together it should be ok.

I have all the necessary cutting equipment, steel cutting mitre saw, grinders etc so that's all good, and i'll be buying stainless mig wire and gas too.

My issue here is time. I run a ski chalet business in France and I was supposed to be leaving to get back on Tuesday. The guy we had commissioned to build us a rack let us down on Thursday, leaving me a few days to sort something out. None of the fabricators in the area can build one in such a short space of time, and I don't have time to scour ebay and gumtree etc. for the best equipment, I just need something that will weld 1.5mm stainless to a reasonable standard for this one off project.

I am watching a Sealey Supermig 150 on ebay, and if I don't get that I was just going to head out to Machinemart and buy a Clarke 135TE. To be honest as soon as I'm done the thing will probably be up on ebay, so longevity isn't really an issue here either.

With the above in mind, would a 135TE with the Clarke argon gas be suitable?

 

[Mase_00_7]

Sorry, forgot the pic

 

[Mase_00_7]

Thanks for the response Gaz, I was looking at the 151EN also but can't figure out what the difference is between the EN and TE (blue/red) versions...

 

[gaz1]

at the price at machine mart for a 150 clarke much better also a good resale value on them expect between 100.00 to 150.00 back on the machine as thats what ive seen them sold for on ebay

 

[gaz1]

Thanks for the response Gaz, I was looking at the 151EN also but can't figure out what the difference is between the EN and TE (blue/red) versions...

i believe the blue has a much better knock off time than the red one but i could be wrong

im using the blue one got it for a nice price and it was new at that just used once

ive watched ebay often so know there prices

also the 150 is much better than the 135 more things to weld with the 150 than the 135 and the 90 is for thin sheets the 150 is more for the 3mm too 5mm depends on preparation of the metal and things like that

with gas get a boc account or go for the hobby gas you can get from suppliers if your going into it forget the little disposables bottles there useless and cost alot 30.00 for a few bottles 30 mins or less to weld with compared to 70 or 80 2 hrs welding time with bigger bottle

 

[gaz1]

gas bottles
hobby weld

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/hobbyweld.57495/

boc

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/boc-and-volkszone-gas-offer.14605/page-33

cheap throw away ones

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-X-Argon...058066?hash=item5d5cfd3ad2:g:bREAAOSwd0BVw34f

remember its litres between the bottles

nearly forgot learn on 3mm thick steel sheet and get the right bead before you jump onto box section otherwise you will blow holes in box section often then learn to fill the holes

its fun to do been there done that