Price of gas

[MM6CMC]

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide whether to get a mig or stick as my first welder. I'm equally amateurish with both, and will be working/playing mostly outdoors. I know the limitations of both and my projects will be suited to whatever I buy (not doing bodywork with stick etc...).

How much do you weekend welders spend on gas? Supposing I knock up a wee welding shack and go for a mig, how much would it cost me realistically to rent/refill as required?

Thanks again,

Chris

 

[breezer]

depends on whether you are planning on using C02 or Argoshield etc?

I Pay £10 - £15 for bottles of pub gas (own bottle refilled)

Jim

 

[MM6CMC]

I've only ever used argoshield before, so I'd probably stick with that...

 

[GrahamGKD]

Chris,
I've been using the argoshield light equivalent from Adams Gas (AKA Hobbygas). I could probably dig out the receipts but easier for you to phone them to get current prices - I think it was something like £80 delivered - rent free. The bottles are smaller than a BOC 'Y' size but moreover the rent free people do not fill their cylinders to the same pressure as the likes of BOC so it doesn’t last as long. For argon for my TIG I just signed up with BOC and it cost me something like £160 for a 'Y' size including a year of rental paid up front - argon is a bit more expensive than argoshield though, so an equivalent size of argoshield would be a bit less. It really depends how much welding you will be doing. Have a look at the spreadsheet on the shielding gas forum - it will show you the difference in gas volume between the Adams cylinder and the BOC Y.

Hobbygas is at http://www.adamsgas.co.uk/stat_ind_product.aspx?ctrl=argon

Hope this helps.

Graham.