starting out, purchase advice please

[holdeninthere]

Hi all,
Firstly thank you for the forum and webpage as it has already been a informative place to start.
My first question is which machine to buy?
From the other posts and buyers guide here are my constraints and goals.
Beginner welder
13amp supply
Mainly panel work, rust removal, some chassis work (maybe)
£400 ish budget for the welder. Obviously plus bottle, reg, PPE etc

Assumptions: Something that can go low amp enough for panel work.
R-tech seem amazing but are just a little outside my budget.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[eddie49]

Hello and welcome!

As well as R-Tech, there's Paton, BlackLine, StaticArc, Hitbox, Uptime, Bimson and Stahlwerk to consider.
A couple of recent threads on the same subject:

R

Thread 'Budget first welder'

Nov 3, 2025

Hi folks. Total newbie here looking to buy a budget machine to try out welding with.
U.K. based, running of 13 amp 240 home supply, welding outside 2 mm up to 6mm mild steel.
Cheap machine to get going I’m thinking.
If I get into it then I would upgrade later and if I’m terrible it can sit in the shed and I won’t feel to bad about it.

I’ve been looking at these 3 machines and would love feedback.

160A MIG/TIG & MMA (ARC/STICK) Inverter Welder | MINIMIG160i | Sealey

1 Year Guarantee - IGBT Inverter fan-cooled DC power supply for MIG/TIG and MMA/ARC welding applications up to 160A.

www.sealey.co.uk

...

• RabLamont
• Replies: 21
• forum: Buying a Welder

G

Thread 'Hello! Looking for intro advice'

Nov 17, 2025

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice on what type of machine to buy for my needs.

I’m brand new to welding, but consider myself on the upper scale of handy. I’m looking to make my own ‘stuff’ for the garden, initially starting with mild steel lawn/bed edging (3mm thick, maybe thicker), and may move onto other things like fruit cages, troughs, water features etc. I have zero plans to do any car welding etc, so I guess what I’m saying is, rough looking welds don’t matter too much at the moment, but if I can pick up the skill, there’s loads of things I’d like to make.
My understanding is...

• Gardenwelder
• Replies: 18
• forum: Buying a Welder

• 

 

[Smallfry]

Hello and welcome !

£400 plus bottle, which is getting on for £200 is a lot to spend if you are not sure.

Having said that, some of the cheap machines are dire, and could put you off for life. I have no experience of modern inverter MIG machines, as I have an ancient transformer machine that I am very used to, but spending more really does give a better result, although you will still need lots of practice before attacking a car.

I would suggest actually phoning R Tech to see if they have any ex demo or special offer machines, it IS that time of year. From what I hear you can't go wrong with them.

 

[Craig-S]

R-Tech has 10% i think currently, that seems to be their max discount regardless of sale or ex-demo/shop soiled machines.

Im not sure how you are planning to remove rust with a welder ?

 

[holdeninthere]

Hello and welcome!

As well as R-Tech, there's Paton, BlackLine, StaticArc, Hitbox, Uptime, Bimson and Stahlwerk to consider.
A couple of recent threads on the same subject:

R

Thread 'Budget first welder'

Nov 3, 2025

Hi folks. Total newbie here looking to buy a budget machine to try out welding with.
U.K. based, running of 13 amp 240 home supply, welding outside 2 mm up to 6mm mild steel.
Cheap machine to get going I’m thinking.
If I get into it then I would upgrade later and if I’m terrible it can sit in the shed and I won’t feel to bad about it.

I’ve been looking at these 3 machines and would love feedback.

160A MIG/TIG & MMA (ARC/STICK) Inverter Welder | MINIMIG160i | Sealey

1 Year Guarantee - IGBT Inverter fan-cooled DC power supply for MIG/TIG and MMA/ARC welding applications up to 160A.

www.sealey.co.uk

...

• RabLamont
• Replies: 21
• forum: Buying a Welder

G

Thread 'Hello! Looking for intro advice'

Nov 17, 2025

Hi all, I’m looking for some advice on what type of machine to buy for my needs.

I’m brand new to welding, but consider myself on the upper scale of handy. I’m looking to make my own ‘stuff’ for the garden, initially starting with mild steel lawn/bed edging (3mm thick, maybe thicker), and may move onto other things like fruit cages, troughs, water features etc. I have zero plans to do any car welding etc, so I guess what I’m saying is, rough looking welds don’t matter too much at the moment, but if I can pick up the skill, there’s loads of things I’d like to make.
My understanding is...

• Gardenwelder
• Replies: 18
• forum: Buying a Welder

• 

thank you. I'll start to do some research

 

[holdeninthere]

Hello and welcome !

£400 plus bottle, which is getting on for £200 is a lot to spend if you are not sure.

Having said that, some of the cheap machines are dire, and could put you off for life. I have no experience of modern inverter MIG machines, as I have an ancient transformer machine that I am very used to, but spending more really does give a better result, although you will still need lots of practice before attacking a car.

I would suggest actually phoning R Tech to see if they have any ex demo or special offer machines, it IS that time of year. From what I hear you can't go wrong with them.

Thank you. With a phone call to start the ball rolling

 

[BrokenBiker]

ive never gotten too hung up on lowest amp settings on a mig...i do all my panel work with 0.8mm wire so will never get anywhere near the lowest settings the machine could do...if you found 0.8mm wire was too hot on the lowest settings, just get a spool of 0.6mm wire...technique will overcome being slightly too hot for the most part.

anything with 160ish amps will do for most all car work, its the duty cycle that comes into play more than the amps with a cheaper machine. ive got a 250 amp (on paper) mig now but i started my journey into car bodywork repairs with a 100 amp gasless mightymig and it worked just fine. ive welded land rover chassis' with a 160 amp inverter and it worked just as well as a 200 amp transformer and ive done sill repairs with both welders too, no idea what the lowest amps were meant to be, just set it til it worked.

as for the bottle, you will likely want rent free, thats going to run you about 80 quid in gas for a 20 litre bottle, possibly as much for the initial hire of the bottle but then after that its just the gas costs as and when.

a mask can run anything from 15 quid to 500+, depends what you want from it. i used cheap chinese for 15 years, only recently got myself a good mask and it genuinely is a game changer, even the lower end of the good masks are better than the upper end of the cheap masks. i got mine off a member here and its an R-tech speedmaster PRO clone but takes the same consuambles and just works...

i have a hitbox 250A semi synergic inverter, i love it, i know some think they are cheap useless junk, but i have some off cuts from 1-5mm in the shed, if you wanted to see what it can do i could run some beads later on when the shed has thawed out.

 

[tom2207]

Im the same as a few here and own a Rohr , now Hitbox , or something else I cant remember ,,, on paper its lowest amp setting is too high for cars ,,, Ive done everything from new minis at 0.8mm through to land rover chassis repairs 3mm with it ,,, no bother at all ,,, and ay way better than a cheap transformer machine with only 4 power settings ,,, but you need gas for one of these to work well enough to be happy with the results and be fast enough to make it worthwhile ,,, and if one of these welders blows up ,,, then its time to decide what you actually want out of a welder and spend money on that ,,, or just buy a cheap one again and keep going .

 

[BrokenBiker]

Im the same as a few here and own a Rohr , now Hitbox , or something else I cant remember ,,, on paper its lowest amp setting is too high for cars ,,, Ive done everything from new minis at 0.8mm through to land rover chassis repairs 3mm with it ,,, no bother at all ,,, and ay way better than a cheap transformer machine with only 4 power settings ,,, but you need gas for one of these to work well enough to be happy with the results and be fast enough to make it worthwhile ,,, and if one of these welders blows up ,,, then its time to decide what you actually want out of a welder and spend money on that ,,, or just buy a cheap one again and keep going .

100% agree with this...my last mig was a 200 amp transformer with 4 voltage settings and a wire feed, 2 was too hot for panel work, 1 was too cold no matter what you did with the wire feed. it was doable on 2 with fast tacks but the hitbox is so much easier to set...

i treat welders like consumables, when they die i buy another cheapo...always been the same

 

[Smallfry]

I have had my Telwin 40 years. Can't kill it. It is supposed to be 100 amps max, but I have no way of measuring it, and use it most things.

Twenty years ago I bought a brand new Migatronic 230 something or other to do bigger stuff. Its like a bedside cabinet on wheels. I always end up using the little Telwin though. I don't think I have used the Migatronic any more than half a dozen times. Certainly never run a whole reel of 5kg wire through it. Will be a gift to the house clearance people one day !

 

[tom2207]

I have had my Telwin 40 years. Can't kill it. It is supposed to be 100 amps max, but I have no way of measuring it, and use it most things.

Twenty years ago I bought a brand new Migatronic 230 something or other to do bigger stuff. Its like a bedside cabinet on wheels. I always end up using the little Telwin though. I don't think I have used the Migatronic any more than half a dozen times. Certainly never run a whole reel of 5kg wire through it. Will be a gift to the house clearance people one day !

sell it to the op ,,, job sorted and everyone wins