which welder

[decy]

i am interested in buying a welder for small jobs, gates railings repair work etc, even good preloved welder would probably be sufficient, is there any particular size or brand of welder that i should be considering

 

[Badbusboy]

I'd avoid sip, wolf if I wss you. A used Clarke would be ok.

 

[cumbriasteve]

For 'keep the dog' in gates and railing you would need a 180 amp machine as a minimum, you can get away with a bit less but it involves experience and preparation, ok for your own stuff but not ideal for customers if you get a weld fail that causes injury, the no win no fee vultures will be knocking at your door.

For 'I want the best on the street' gates and railings you need a much more powerful machine or an MMA inverter.

For both types of gates and railing you will probably need to up your electric supply if it is not already capable of running the bigger machines.

 

[decy]

thanks guys for getting back to me and for your advice, ive already the electric supply uprated, i bought a small cheap secondhand stick welder some time ago, its grand for hobby work but need to move on to something with a bit more grunt, if i were to go for an mma inverter what size make or type should i be considering or should i be looking more towards mig, i also wanting to set up my own sand blasting rig for small items, any advice guys would just be great also, decy

 

[123hotchef]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/camarc-200a-mig-welder.70380/

 

[keeny]

R-Tech 180 ok its mma

 

[arther dailey]

For 'keep the dog' in gates and railing you would need a 180 amp machine as a minimum, you can get away with a bit less but it involves experience and preparation, ok for your own stuff but not ideal for customers if you get a weld fail that causes injury, the no win no fee vultures will be knocking at your door.

For 'I want the best on the street' gates and railings you need a much more powerful machine or an MMA inverter.

For both types of gates and railing you will probably need to up your electric supply if it is not already capable of running the bigger machines.

So for migging gates n railings what amperage do you need? no bells and whistles ,but enough guts to do the job without releasing the special smoke which holds the special sparks in it..

 

[cumbriasteve]

So for migging gates n railings what amperage do you need? no bells and whistles ,but enough guts to do the job without releasing the special smoke which holds the special sparks in it..

I have made railings using a 135 Clarke, 25mm box frame with 12mm bars with no problems, now obviously the experts will say they are not welded to full penetration etc etc and I will agree 100%, I will also guarantee it would take a hell of a big hammer and a lot of sweat to break apart and it would bend long before parting.

I was pushing the limits with the Clarke but it was a favour for a mate after I decided to stop making gates and had down sized from my Portamig 235

For general gates and railings I would suggest a 180 set as a minimum and a 250 as even better, going even higher for top of the range heavy manufacture.

Something like an R-tech 180 would set you up to a nice sideline making stuff for the neighbours, once you are fully insured of course

 

[Daveville30]

A 180 amp mig will be fine gates and railings
they will be fine .I use a 400 amp 3 phase machine in work and it turn it down around 180 when doing gates.

 

[Arclikeharrypotter]

I could be wrong here, but going off my display on my machine when I'm welding 3mm box I'm only using approx 130A. I've broke test these joints and the parent material always gave before the weld. I think 180A or 200A would see you nicely. But if you have the means 250A gives you alot of options

 

[arther dailey]

Sounds good to me, thanks fo the good advice.