Think I've made up my mind.. Maybe?

[bibbonio]

Hello, I'm looking for a welder to use in my garage mainly doing Land Rover chassis work but other odd jobs may arise.

After reading through the threads on here I think I've decided on the Clarke 161TM machine and was on the verge of ordering from 'weldequip' only to see it is now out of stock. I'm probably going to nip to MM tomorrow to pick one up.

Just thought I'd use this time to ask for advice - have I chosen a decent welder?? I've only heard bad reviews on Clarke machines until I started searching this site and the general consensus on here is that there are some well built Clarke machines and some that are not so. Which category does this fall into??

Should I be considering any other machines with a budget of £300-£400(ish).

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

The 160tm is a very good machine from what i have heard/seen. I've never heard of the 161tm. I think it's a bit more industrial than 151en and the 160te? It has the bigger torch and will carry a proper gas bottle and includes a proper regulator.

 

[bibbonio]

Sorry my mistake, I meant the 160TM!!

I also need to decide which gas to go for - I've narrowed it down to Hobbyweld where it sounds like I'll get £40 back when I've finished with it; or do I go for the Volkszone offer which is similar in price to set up. I'm guessing the BOC offer gives a larger quantity of gas but the drawback being you don't get £40 back when you've finished!!

Is it just a case of usage i.e. bigger bottle is better for those that use more gas or is there more to it?? Is BOC gas better??

Sorry if this has been asked a thousand times, please point me in the right direction if its already been answered.

Thanks

 

[defender dan]

Hi & welcome. I also opted for the clarke 160tm from weldequip for doing my landy & also done the girlfriends Ka (sill patch for M.O.T) + a table & other odd jobs. I received the welder the next day & opted for the small 2 litre bottle from BOC, Two bits of advice for you 1, I did`nt realise as a newbie that welders don`t come with a mains plug already attached & 2, get a small gas flow gauge (I also got this from weldequip as it attaches to the nozzle & you can set gas flow with the welder turned off) otherwise the small 2L bottles of argoshield don`t last that long . As far as I know it does`nt matter wich gas supplier you choose to use as the quality should be the same, it`s just about finding the best deal/bottle size to suit your needs.

Regard`s, Dan

 

[Lawnmowerboy]

I would personally go for the Volkszone deal if you are using less than say, a bottle a year. But rather than the teeny tiny one I'd go for x or y size.

 

[bibbonio]

All sorted now, I bought the 160tm from MM and arranged my volkszone gas contract aswell!! All set up within a couple of hours and now the real work can begin!!

Will probably post photos of the project on here if I manage to do anything I'm proud of!!

Thanks everyone!!