angellonewolf
Member
- Messages
- 8,667
- Location
- bristol england
my hoest opinon and been learking and asking a few questions on here for more than a few months / year i got the welding bug and just do odd stuff here and there (not that well my i add but now when welding its stay together)
mig is an easy way to start and yes agree with what most say on here buy the best you can afford but a thing from my experance and i did start with a P**s pot amount of money (only a few 10 pound notes) and only doing it as a hobby not to earn money so what i spent was just for enjoyment and a bit of saving money as not having to pay for repairs or replacing items just because of a broken piece of metal over my time i have saved a bit fixed a bed frame fixed a stool my gate posts at the end of my garden what could have cost a packet if i had to call a guy and a few other things and now starting on a new project a welding trolley hence me getting the bug
i would say to you mig is the way to go but what mig depends on what you want to do if its to just stick a few pieces of metal together get a mig that can do gas and gasless it gives you the option of both just to play around and dont want it to look great but solid gassless but remember gassless is rubish on thin metal and generly hard to do when starting
using standard wire and gas eg boc offer 1 year and you can exchange as meny times as you need for another bottle just paying for the gas will give you the best start but will cost a bit on start up but if you can afford the out lay the best way to go i do now have a clark 160en but started with a sip 100amp (very old that does not have the problem of the carp wire feed problem) i soon wanted the bigger mechine but it done me for a while and was a good mechine and sold it to help pay for my clark
if your just looking at sticking a few pieces of metal together bigger thickness you could go for stick ? not good for repairs round the house as most of the metal you will need to do it will just blow through but if you go and ask your local scrap yard for a few 2/3 mm of metal you will prob get it for beer moneyand get a good quality stick mechine for a lot less if you just want to play around
but be worned once started on any welding it soon draws you in and you start to want to do more and thats when spending more at the start pays
if you dont know what you are doing dont buy second hand unless you got someone that knows what they are doing its easy to pickup a mechine that does not work even if its sparks when it should does not mean it will do a good weld so if i cost you a few beers to have someone along to test the unit to say is ok knowing what i know now it pays( i have had a few problems with a few mechines over the months and the very helpfull people on hear are great one even said they would look at the unit just to help out ( you know who you are if your looking mate )i woulds say all the people on here are genuine and if buying a sencond hand unit from here would be a good idea most will prod be happy to show it working and for a good thanks and bit of beer money poss even add in a few pointers on how to start
dont for get a good helmet auto dimming can be got on the ebay for a small amount £30 ish and a good pair of gloves not the cheap 4 pound ones from screwfix or tool station they dont take the heat well (but i was using stick at the time)
please look at what i posted as info as there are a lot of people on here with a lot of experance but just giving my start in the welding just to try to help out and give you any help
mig is an easy way to start and yes agree with what most say on here buy the best you can afford but a thing from my experance and i did start with a P**s pot amount of money (only a few 10 pound notes) and only doing it as a hobby not to earn money so what i spent was just for enjoyment and a bit of saving money as not having to pay for repairs or replacing items just because of a broken piece of metal over my time i have saved a bit fixed a bed frame fixed a stool my gate posts at the end of my garden what could have cost a packet if i had to call a guy and a few other things and now starting on a new project a welding trolley hence me getting the bug
i would say to you mig is the way to go but what mig depends on what you want to do if its to just stick a few pieces of metal together get a mig that can do gas and gasless it gives you the option of both just to play around and dont want it to look great but solid gassless but remember gassless is rubish on thin metal and generly hard to do when starting
using standard wire and gas eg boc offer 1 year and you can exchange as meny times as you need for another bottle just paying for the gas will give you the best start but will cost a bit on start up but if you can afford the out lay the best way to go i do now have a clark 160en but started with a sip 100amp (very old that does not have the problem of the carp wire feed problem) i soon wanted the bigger mechine but it done me for a while and was a good mechine and sold it to help pay for my clark
if your just looking at sticking a few pieces of metal together bigger thickness you could go for stick ? not good for repairs round the house as most of the metal you will need to do it will just blow through but if you go and ask your local scrap yard for a few 2/3 mm of metal you will prob get it for beer moneyand get a good quality stick mechine for a lot less if you just want to play around
but be worned once started on any welding it soon draws you in and you start to want to do more and thats when spending more at the start pays
if you dont know what you are doing dont buy second hand unless you got someone that knows what they are doing its easy to pickup a mechine that does not work even if its sparks when it should does not mean it will do a good weld so if i cost you a few beers to have someone along to test the unit to say is ok knowing what i know now it pays( i have had a few problems with a few mechines over the months and the very helpfull people on hear are great one even said they would look at the unit just to help out ( you know who you are if your looking mate )i woulds say all the people on here are genuine and if buying a sencond hand unit from here would be a good idea most will prod be happy to show it working and for a good thanks and bit of beer money poss even add in a few pointers on how to start
dont for get a good helmet auto dimming can be got on the ebay for a small amount £30 ish and a good pair of gloves not the cheap 4 pound ones from screwfix or tool station they dont take the heat well (but i was using stick at the time)
please look at what i posted as info as there are a lot of people on here with a lot of experance but just giving my start in the welding just to try to help out and give you any help
