Which Welder

[woody paul]

If you get the right combination of welder and wire it's a lot easier , 

[Baldbloke]

My first mig welder was a three phase 250 amp British thing with a remote 110 v torch and wire feed unit. Made In 1967. Transmig pre Murex. If the basic circuit board blew you could do a repair by blobbing in a bit of solder. Wire feeds were replaced by using net curtain hangers[emoji3].

It produced a weld that was as good as I’ve ever seen. Did me 20 odd years until I moved somewhere without 3 phase so I gave it to the guy who bought the house. Probably still going

Took 0.6, 0.8, 1.0 and Aluminium spools. All 15kg

[Lazurus]

Now thinking mig or tig would suit my needs, anyone used an "Andeli" set up - also for DIY I think the no deposit gas bottles would be best, how does it work do you just buy one and replace when empty?

[Lazurus]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/INVERTER-DIGITAL-CONTROL-DISPLAY-ACCESSORIES/dp/B01M4HMZNT

 

 

[Lazurus]

Ok booked a basic welding course and Mig with gas will be what I go for, thanks for all the advice. On a side note how long will the small disposable bottles last for is a it a few minutes or longer. Again its for occasional DIY use only so I don't want to pay rental.

[fonzy]

https://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/boc-volkszone-offer.79928/

 

Portamig is a great machine.  

[doobin]

MIG and TIG are two very different animals, for different purposes.

 

For general fabrication of mild steel and repairs a MIG is the way forward. An inverter MIG as discussed will also do arc, although you may need to purchase a lead (only £20 or so). Arc is a good skill to learn, but to be fair it's rare that I can't do something with a MIG and the right gas, even outdoors.

 

Disposable bottles are hopeless. Personally I'd steer clear of BOC. Easiest way is to use someone like SGS gases or Hobbyweld. Pay a deposit on the bottle, use it, exchange it and only pay for a refill. When you no longer want to weld, return the bottle, get your deposit back. If you give your local motor factors a call they usually stock it. I have mine delivered- the savings on my time to go and get it more than cover the negligeable extra cost of the gas per m3, especially when you remove rental from the equation.

 

BOC is only cheaper if you are using the largest size bottle and refilling it at least twice a year in my experience. When you start getting into it, and needing bottles of argon, 5% welding gas and 15% welding gas for heavy stuff, plus oxygen, that's a lot of rent for bottles you may not use completely in a year.

 

Compare the colums in red below. The BOC totals assume, as per header, that you use just one bottle a year.

 

Hobbyweld Ultra at 300bar are the best value. Happy days if that's what your local place stocks.

Edited December 7, 2018 by doobin

[openspaceman]

2 hours ago, doobin said:

MIG and TIG are two very different animals, for different purposes.

Yes

2 hours ago, doobin said:

 

For general fabrication of mild steel and repairs a MIG is the way forward. An inverter MIG as discussed will also do arc, although you may need to purchase a lead (only £20 or so). Arc is a good skill to learn, but to be fair it's rare that I can't do something with a MIG and the right gas, even outdoors.

Yes I think you are right but I tend to use an inverter stick welder for convenience  as there's minimal equipment and preparation.

 

When I first started welding in a blacksmith's shop near Swansea around 1971 we only had a 180A oxford transformer and oxy-acetylene so I'm more comfortable with these but latterly at work a big 3ph mig did everything, the fitters use an argn CO2 mix as while it has less penetration than CO2 it gives a cleaner weld.

 

As I understand it TIG and stick welders use a constant current  and mig uses constant voltage, so I'm trying tig with my inverter stick welder but it lacks AC for welding aluminium but worse is, though I can start the arc with scratching the electrode, there's no facility to stop it without withdrawing the electrode and hence also removing the gas. A dedicated tig welder starts the arc without touching  and ramps down the current whilst maintaining the gas shield to  the hot weld.

[Lazurus]

Lots to learn methinks........

[openspaceman]

6 hours ago, Lazurus said:

Lots to learn methinks........

Yes but don't let that put you off, you've tried stick welding so know a bit about that, it's been pointed out that flux cored mig isn't as good as it first seems and Doobin has suggested the different ways to buy gas.

 

Unlike Doobin I have had trouble using mig out doors but that may well be to do with my dyspraxic hand eye coordination, just make sure the steel you are welding is clean of rust and oily marks.