New Welder help : SIP-05266

[osianbw]

Hi All,

First of all thanks for reading.

I'm trained as a furniture maker and have some hazy experience of welding during an apprenticeship 5yrs ago. More and more I've been working on exhibition design work and I'm looking to add metal work to my skill base so I can offer more versatile designs.

I'm looking for a welder to put together the following projects.

mild steel hand rails from 4mm - 5mm flat bar

mild steel frame from 2-3mm box section

4mm - 5mm bent sheet table legs

5mm angle frames for tables

I don't know if i'm being ambitious expecting to find a machine that will do it all but that's ideally what i want

Initially I am thinking about using an arc welder as some of the work may be outdoors and I'm not looking to welding less than 2mm. Having read the tutorials I was keen to buy a machine that could be used for TIG if i ever needed/wanted to branch out.

this is the machine I'm looking at, it comes with tig and arc accessories

http://www.sipuk.co.uk/tools/info_SIP05266.html

So any thoughts or opinions on

a. the machine

b. my choice of welding type for the range of projects.

Thanks everyone

 

[wheresmejumper]

i used to own one of those machines.was well impressed by how it welds,cant say anything bad about it,on stick or tig.
i think mig might be a better process for what your doing,even if its sometimes outdoors

 

[cumbriasteve]

I also think MIG may be the better option, easier and cleaner than arc and faster to get good results, MIG is often the machine of choice for that reason, not just for the thin metal capability.

I think it depends how much of the work will be outside and if the work pressure means you won't have the option to choose the day you are outside, a blustery day can make mig/gas difficult to work with, I usually manage fine on anything I have to weld outside by upping the gas flow a bit and most days are manageable.

I see TIG as an option where you want visually finished welds on stainless for example, though that is a greater learning curve to achieve that standard of weld, if you check out the projects section you will see some of the amazing TIG welding some of the members here manage..I am not one of them

 

[osianbw]

Thanks for the prompt replies chaps. I suppose I leaned towards arc welding because it looks like it will be easier to get started with and there's no scary gas!

Could you recommend a mig welder that would be suitable for my needs?

I'm looking at this now but it only has a duty cycle of 10%

http://www.sipuk.co.uk/tools/info_SIP04796.html

 

[osianbw]

I'm now looking at the clarke 160 tm but wondering whether it's worth going for the 160en as it offers both gas and gasless and is cheaper!

thanks

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Stick isnt a bad thing atall, still find myself using it for important welds

 

[cumbriasteve]

Personally that SIP is not one I would rush out to buy.

Your budget is the main criteria plus the amount of welding you intend to do at 5mm thickness.

The Clarke 160 (actually 150amps) may do you but not if you are doing a lot of 5mm, you really require a few more amps to be sure of good penetration and not running the machine flat out all the time.

There are many good migs around the 180 to 200 amp range, the portamig keeps being mentioned because it is a popular well built machine at a decent price, quite a few members own them.

In fact there was one going in the for sale section, not sure if its been grabbed yet.

Don't worry too much about duty cycles, you spend more time setting up and adjusting the metal than actual welding.

 

[the repair man]

Hi, I bought that exact same machine a few months ago, it has been superb, I can't fault it. In fact the only weak point in the welds is me!
Whilst mig is an easier option. Arc is good, quick and very strong, also cheaper because of no gas, and tig is capable of beautiful welding, and welding countless different materials.
I have a Mig and the Sip tig. If I was only going to have one welder, I would defo get the tig.

 

[osianbw]

Hi, I bought that exact same machine a few months ago, it has been superb, I can't fault it. In fact the only weak point in the welds is me!
Whilst mig is an easier option. Arc is good, quick and very strong, also cheaper because of no gas, and tig is capable of beautiful welding, and welding countless different materials.
I have a Mig and the Sip tig. If I was only going to have one welder, I would defo get the tig.

Well that sounds like a glowing reference! I must say I am leaning towards the sip05266. I managed to find it for £277.50 inc VAT which i think is pretty good.

what would i need buy in order to use it for TIG welding?

also any other knowledge about the machine you've picked up would be great?

sorry about all the questions

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Personally I wouldn't touch sip with a barge pole (its not good quality and the aftersales support is crap) tig is probs not the right road to go down, id say mig or stick, tig is very fussy and is much harder to learn to do well

 

[the repair man]

The tig he is looking at is arc as well, so he would have a good stick welder and the opportunity to learn tig. A lot of people are against Sip, but I like them, and tbh they are British, with with British support. Again, I have had no problems with the support. In fact considering 75% of what is available to day is made in china with little or no support, I rate sips support highly.
Re: more facts about the welder, I'm fairly new to tig myself so the welder is capable of far more than me. I struggled at first, but the tungsten supplied is a very small one, get a thicker one, maybe a 2.5 for learning. All you would need is argon and a mask and your ready. You don't even need filler rods as you can just fusion weld to learn.
With the arc side, all you need are some rods and your away.

My boss in work has one, whichis what inspired me to get it, he uses it professionally on a daily basis on stainless steel. It lives in his van and is trouble free.
I have now had 3 or 4 Sip welders and never had one fail. But, like anything maybe I have been lucky. As I recall, you have a 2 year guarantee from a british company. That was enough for me!

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

They are not british, mabey checked over here but they are definately made in the far east, they are cheap chineese rebadged units and the support isnt the best, just search the forums and youll see the problems that people have had, personaly if you want good suport and everything to work well speak to R-tech welding they dont hide the fact its chineese and the service is second to none

 

[PTvor]

They are not british, mabey checked over here but they are definately made in the far east, they are cheap chineese rebadged units and the support isnt the best,

I'd go along with that. In my experience, as soon as something is off the price list they want to pretend it never existed. It doesn't give the impression that they are anything but box shifters and rebadgers interested in the short term, or that they expect their stuff to last.

A few years back they used to sell Italian stuff, now they are shifting to Chinese.

 

[wheresmejumper]

SIP support is great here,any item is picked up from your door.3 dealers local to me if i want to return it myself.you cant take their cheapest migs as a benchmark for the rest of their range,some of their newer green range are in the same price and quality bracket as Rtech,having owned both.

 

[the repair man]

Sip aren,t made in the far east' your VERY wrong. They are made in Italy
In the same factory as Clarke. But they are British and support is great.
IMO its unfair how people judge them. Ask a merc owner what he thinks of ford, he will say bag of spanners. Ask a ford owner, they will say superb affordable and reliable. Sip are the same, they outclass the Chinese stuff, but obviously can't compete with cebora for 1/10th the price.

 

[Wozzaaah]

Some of the new SIP welders are most definitely made in china!

 

[the repair man]

Are they? well even so, I maintain that its a british firm offering a british guarantee, compared to other similarly priced stuff, that is good. Not everyone can afford a portamig.
I just don't understand the bad name they get, having had 4 now, I would buy another, they had wire feed probs, but they were easily remedied, but I've never had one break down. Horses for courses I suppose. I certainly don't consider Clarke any better.

I had a go on a geny-arc in work today, that was an education. We hired it, jeepers it was almost setting fire to brickwork. Whilst welding some 100 x 100 x 6mm box section at one end, it arced and fusion welded the other end, 18ft away. We had to turn it down a bit!

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Much better out there for the money and the other firms openly admit that the products they sell are Chinese and are tested in the UK, SIP try to pass their kit off as British, bunch of box shifters imho

SIP's best gear is Italian made but yet again much better out there for the money

 

[wheresmejumper]

what is out there for the same money thats better?
277.50 doesnt buy much these days

 

[the repair man]

I'd have to agree, all I could find for similar money was the likes of Giant and other Chinese stuff that don't even have a Uk office, and you get no back up what so ever with them. Rtech were close I recall, but only 1 years guarantee, 2 on Sip.