welding thick metal

[marcomerola]

can anyone recommend a decent enough welder capable of welding metal 6-8 mm thick. it wont be an everyday thing mainly just thin metal 2-4 mm on a land rover, cheq plate, chassis etc. But once or twice i will weld thicker metal for like a roll cage. would like to spend as little as possible but don't really have a budget.

 

[BrokenBiker]

if you don't want to spend much you are going to have to watch ebay with a close eye and wait for the right bargain to come up, and with a tight budget you may not have room to be picky about brands.

I would think a minimum of a 250amp machine would be needed, with a minimum setting of 30 amps or lower.

 

[marcomerola]

yes i want to spend as little as possible but when i say i dont have a budget its because money is not that much of an issue. Im a 20 year old working full time living with parents and saving. i would probably say around 4/5 hundred pound.

 

[MoreWellie]

you are also limited by your power supply, if you only have 13 amp sockets then you would be pushing it to get to 150 amp, you have more choice if you have a 16 or 32 amp single phase supply or for the larger welders 3 phase

 

[marcomerola]

yes unfortunately i only have i think a single phase 13 amp circuit, what about the sealey supermig 200??

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-SU...509?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5ae9b48125

 

[marcomerola]

or do you think i should buy like a clarke 151 for thinner and a arc for the thicker stuff?

 

[Bill Edwards]

A 150s MIG will be fine for most LR work (chassis, bulkhead). It'll also do the thicker 4mm stuff without a problem, though it is possible to overheat cheap basic welders as they have a poor duty cycle (you'll have to wait for it to cool every now and then). However, I can't imagine that this is going to be much of an issue, I struggle to see many times when you'll be wanting to use it at full power on a LR for any length of time.

As to the 6mm+ stuff a 150a is pushing things, but can you prepare the joints differently and do a few more runs? If you won't be doing it often then you might be able to manage. The alternative is to get a stick welder for these things if it isn't practical to build it up with more weld. Without anything higher than a 13a supply a bigger MIG isn't really possible.
It doesn't give the specs for it but I believe that the Sealey 200 you link to will require a 16 amp supply, not a 13. And no, it isn't considered good practice to replace 13a fuses with cut down 6" nails!

 

[brightspark]

if u shell out the money and hard wire u can go up to a 60 amp single phase supply welder no problem

 

[rich r]

For the 8mm stuff, why not pick up a cheap buzzbox and arc weld it? Then you can get a cheaper mig welder for the 2mm stuff rather than one capable of doing the thicker metal too.

 

[daleyd]

Have a look at the dual purpose arc/mig inverters - ifl and rtech come to mind.

The mig will do for thin stuff and the arc welder will do the thicker stuff nicely.

http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/Mig_Welder/240V_Mig_Welders/Mig_Welder_R-Tech_IMIG180

http://www.weldequip.com/ifl-170-mig.htm

 

[langy]

can anyone recommend a decent enough welder capable of welding metal 6-8 mm thick. it wont be an everyday thing mainly just thin metal 2-4 mm on a land rover, cheq plate, chassis etc. But once or twice i will weld thicker metal for like a roll cage. would like to spend as little as possible but don't really have a budget.

Roll cages are normally 3mm wall thickness

 

[MoreWellie]

Roll cages are normally 3mm wall thickness

true but the alrc specified mounts involve 6mm where it plates over the chassis