Hi,
I've got to the point in my life where I'm sick of paying garages for welding that I am certain I could do myself with some moderately priced gear. Two years running I paid about £400-500 in total just for welding and associated labour, so I do not have an issue with spending the same amount of money on gear that will hopefully last a long time and get me going on welding for the rest of my life.
As a kid, I helped my dad restore several cars: a Land Rover Safari Diesel 5dr, a Lotus Esprit S2, a Lotus Europa, and some less exciting run of the mill family saloons/estates. So, I think I've probably got the ability lurking within lol. I've only recently started restoring a 1996 Micra (K11) but have made stuff like a headphone amp, modified a computer case into a 45kg watercooled monster with fibreglass ducting, and am fairly capable at picking stuff up and learning in general.
I've got most power tools, but nothing really weld related aside from an angle grinder, so I'd be looking to get a pretty much full kit of gear:
I've tried my best to do my research into what equipment I'd need, and what would be suitable for car panels, and the electric supply. On that last note, I've just checked the consumer unit in our house and it has an 80A RCD that protects:
As the garage is separate to the house (behind and to the side), it'd probably be non-trivial, but possible, to run beefier cabling to the garage. I could knock up a 13A plug to 16A socket adapter if the MIG has a 16A plug, as I'm sure the thin material welding I'll be doing won't require >13A input. Later when I need >13A, I could run heavier cable to the garage, fit a larger mini breaker for the garage and/or separate RCD for the garage.
I was thinking that as I'm a beginner, but looking to weld for a lifetime, and I have a fair bit of bodywork and repair sections to do on the Micra, that I'd go for a MIG somewhere in the 130-160 Amp range, and one that can work with a 10l refillable cylinder as I don't want to go gasless (thin panels) nor disposable (cost concerns due to extra gas needed for learning/bungling and costs in the long run).
Some of the Clarke welders are on my sort-of-short-initial list, like the 150, 151 and especially the 160TM as it comes "ready" for refillable gas, but in the manual it looks like it's only got a single gauge? If I have to buy twin gauges anyway, then the 160TM looks like it might not be such a good deal apart from that it has a cylinder step? I'm really not too arsed about that as I have about 12 steel shelf uprights (?) from a warehouse - they're basically ~40mm |_| cross-section, 3 or 4mm thick and ~2m long, so could get some wheels and castors and happily make my own cart...
The budget is quite wide because although I'd prefer to spend ~£300 for all the gear, I realise realistically that I wouldn't be able to afford even a half decent welder after buying all the other necessary kit. With a welder around £300-350, cylinder maybe ~£70, I can see the total with all the other bits and bobs heading towards £500 fairly easily, but as I mentioned before, I'm not too fussed as I can see it as saving me money in the long run on garage car repairs, and giving me a life-skill!
Apart from SIP and Wolf having a reputation for rubbish welders, I'm not really sure what my other options are aside from Clarke. Like, would a Sureweld, Parweld, or GYS be better for me? Ones like Portamigs seem like they'd be stretching my novice budget and probably slightly overkill for my usage. I'd almost entirely be welding for my car, and maybe fabricating some heavy-duty enclosures/furniture for the garage and house (e.g. 19" rack enclosures - I'm a SysAdmin so I have some rack stuff at home in a LackRack in the hall (Ikea coffee table lol) that could do with a silenced enclosure)
My head is literally throbbing after going round and round the Internet for over a week. Can anyone give me some alternatives to the Clarke 160TM that'd be better for my wants/needs/budget range?
I've got to the point in my life where I'm sick of paying garages for welding that I am certain I could do myself with some moderately priced gear. Two years running I paid about £400-500 in total just for welding and associated labour, so I do not have an issue with spending the same amount of money on gear that will hopefully last a long time and get me going on welding for the rest of my life.
As a kid, I helped my dad restore several cars: a Land Rover Safari Diesel 5dr, a Lotus Esprit S2, a Lotus Europa, and some less exciting run of the mill family saloons/estates. So, I think I've probably got the ability lurking within lol. I've only recently started restoring a 1996 Micra (K11) but have made stuff like a headphone amp, modified a computer case into a 45kg watercooled monster with fibreglass ducting, and am fairly capable at picking stuff up and learning in general.
I've got most power tools, but nothing really weld related aside from an angle grinder, so I'd be looking to get a pretty much full kit of gear:
- MIG welder suitable for thin sheet car body repair, but also some chassis/sub-body/etc.
- 10l refillable cylinder (CO2, Argon/CO2 or Argoshield)
- twin gauges
- auto-dim helmet
- gauntlets/gloves
- fire-resistant overalls (I've got by with old jeans and tshirts for car work 'til now!)
- fire extinguisher
- 16A socket / plug
- clamps
- wire, tips, etc.
I've tried my best to do my research into what equipment I'd need, and what would be suitable for car panels, and the electric supply. On that last note, I've just checked the consumer unit in our house and it has an 80A RCD that protects:
- 32A: sockets on ground and upstairs floors
- 32A: kitchen sockets and appliances
- 16A: combi boiler
- 40A: electric single fan oven (and probably the separate halogen hob)
- 16A: garage (double 13A socket + 2x 5 foot flourescent lights)
As the garage is separate to the house (behind and to the side), it'd probably be non-trivial, but possible, to run beefier cabling to the garage. I could knock up a 13A plug to 16A socket adapter if the MIG has a 16A plug, as I'm sure the thin material welding I'll be doing won't require >13A input. Later when I need >13A, I could run heavier cable to the garage, fit a larger mini breaker for the garage and/or separate RCD for the garage.
I was thinking that as I'm a beginner, but looking to weld for a lifetime, and I have a fair bit of bodywork and repair sections to do on the Micra, that I'd go for a MIG somewhere in the 130-160 Amp range, and one that can work with a 10l refillable cylinder as I don't want to go gasless (thin panels) nor disposable (cost concerns due to extra gas needed for learning/bungling and costs in the long run).
Some of the Clarke welders are on my sort-of-short-initial list, like the 150, 151 and especially the 160TM as it comes "ready" for refillable gas, but in the manual it looks like it's only got a single gauge? If I have to buy twin gauges anyway, then the 160TM looks like it might not be such a good deal apart from that it has a cylinder step? I'm really not too arsed about that as I have about 12 steel shelf uprights (?) from a warehouse - they're basically ~40mm |_| cross-section, 3 or 4mm thick and ~2m long, so could get some wheels and castors and happily make my own cart...
The budget is quite wide because although I'd prefer to spend ~£300 for all the gear, I realise realistically that I wouldn't be able to afford even a half decent welder after buying all the other necessary kit. With a welder around £300-350, cylinder maybe ~£70, I can see the total with all the other bits and bobs heading towards £500 fairly easily, but as I mentioned before, I'm not too fussed as I can see it as saving me money in the long run on garage car repairs, and giving me a life-skill!
Apart from SIP and Wolf having a reputation for rubbish welders, I'm not really sure what my other options are aside from Clarke. Like, would a Sureweld, Parweld, or GYS be better for me? Ones like Portamigs seem like they'd be stretching my novice budget and probably slightly overkill for my usage. I'd almost entirely be welding for my car, and maybe fabricating some heavy-duty enclosures/furniture for the garage and house (e.g. 19" rack enclosures - I'm a SysAdmin so I have some rack stuff at home in a LackRack in the hall (Ikea coffee table lol) that could do with a silenced enclosure)
My head is literally throbbing after going round and round the Internet for over a week. Can anyone give me some alternatives to the Clarke 160TM that'd be better for my wants/needs/budget range?
