Welding.

[treequip]

Great, thanks for the replies. Looks like I'll have to up my budget and get this then. What d'ya reckon? Complete package for under £300.

 

Clarke MIG Welder (Turbo) - 151TE - Machine Mart

 

Not a bad choice but I would go with this if you can bag it

CEBORA 130 TURBO MIG WELDER on eBay (end time 12-Sep-10 20:05:17 BST)

 

The model has been around for a long time, tried and tested. It also comes badged up as BOC and Snap on.

[waz77]

Tip if your struggling to fill holes that have blown thru... Clamp a piece of copper or ceramic to the back of the plate,fill the hole,unclamp copper/ceramic and gring flush

[Catweazle]

Some good advice on this thread Mick, those buzz-box stick welders are difficult on most metal, impossible on car bodywork. I gave mine to the scrap man.

 

A quick and dirty way is to mig it, you get a lot of weld onto it without blowing too many holes and the gasless type save you having to mess with the 5 year bottle rentals for your gas. Mig will make a strong weld and nobody will refuse to MOT a migged repair.

 

You might be better to hire a welder for a few days, in which case you could get a TIG set, which is Rolls Royce welding and much easier than stick, mig or even gas. With a TIG set you can literally weld a razor blade to a boat anchor, but it is slow. Pro welders will sometimes put the root run, the part of the weld where the metals are thinnest, with a TIG then fill the rest with something faster.

 

I've got a couple of excellent reference books on welding if you want to borrow them, covering all the methods here and many more ( Explosive paste welding sounds like fun ! )

[Catweazle]

That MIG looks ideal.

 

One little tip, dump the noddy earth clamp and make your own from a pair of mole grips and some copper sheet, you'll notice the difference a really sound earth connection makes.

[brewx1]

I bought a clarke 135te and have been pleased with it. There is a good forum for welding giving lots of tips etc. Put Mig Welding Forum into your browser and you should find it. Very useful.

[bones]

the 151 t is a cracking little welder

i have used them to build truck bodys cope well upto 3mm strugle abit after that tho

 

stick is better for the bigger stuff but you will strugle on body panells

 

as said the cebora 190 are very good

 

buy biger it will live longer and serve you better

 

stay cleare of snapoff . utter shite in my opinion

 

and cold teabags for the arkeye

[waz77]

Proxymetacaine for arc eye...what welders dreams are made of

[Charlieh]

i bought a generic £99 mma inverter off ebay, upto 200amps, nice and easy to learn with, having no prior welding experince, and for the amount of time i use it, its ace.

 

done bits on the chipper, trailers etc and its fine

[waz77]

Proxymetacaine for arc eye...what welders dreams are made of

 

 

And Tree Surgeon's come to think of it if you get a branch in the mince pie

[bones]

stumbling round the bedroom at 2 in the morning eyes streaming and feeling full of splinters

 

not pleasant