MIG Welder

[Colonel Mustard]

Colonel Mustard (my saffron yellow Stag) paased the MOT recently . But there was one advisory note about minor corrosion on the inner sills. It was nowhere near the seat belt points so they didn't fail it.

I have just serviced the car ready for the summer (summer...ha ha) and decided to have a good poke around and see how bad things were. With more than a little trepidation and fearing the worst I prodded and scraped. To my relief it is actually pretty sound. There is however a small amount of welding required to repair it properly (the final inch of the near side front outrigger was made of glass fibre resin )

I've never learned how to weld, but fancy having a go. I'll practice on scrap metal before attempting to repair the car. There is a bewildering choice of reasonably priced MIG welders for sale.

Anyone with some experience got suggestions as to which type to go for? Some don't use gas...they are cheaper but are they any good?

Chris

[Andrew S]

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/tutorial.htm

[Ian Durrant]

In the "hobby welder" range you really can't go wrong with a Clarke. Make sure the one you buy can go as low as 30 amps and as high as you need it. I have been told avoid sip and if you read the stuff on the link Andrew has supplied, particularly the forums, you'll see they all avoid SIP too.

Gasless is OK (I use it) and great if you have to weld outdoors (no shielding gas to get blown away) but its harder to weld this car body steel with it. The hobby cannisters of gas are close to useless though so If you go with gas its best to buy a bottle from one of the suppliers that don't charge a yearly rental.

[XFSTag]

Hi
I recently bought a Clarke 151 Gas/No Gas welder in a VAT free promotion from machine mart. So good value. I then got myself a full size Argon/Co2 cylinder and regulator. I did try it with the no gas wire first to practice but frankly the difference the gas made was astounding. I have a floor and new outriggers to do hence kitting myself up after not having welded for some years. I had toyed with a welding course before starting but having done a fair bit not is not rocket science and if you take it slowly you achieve very good results. But IMHO gas is required to make a decent job of "thin" metal. I have been told Machine Mart are having another VAT free day around Easter so a good saving can be had with that, get registered if your not. One other thing is invest in a good auto darkening helmet, they are brill!
I have another weekend sorting mine out and am aiming to be back on the road for May
Hope this helps
Cheers Glyn

[Ian Durrant]

Seconded on the auto darkening helmet. I couldn't get a good weld going using the stitching technique for thin steel, until I bought one, then it came rapidly and easily.

[Stagdad]

Seconded on the auto darkening helmet. I couldn't get a good weld going using the stitching technique for thin steel, until I bought one, then it came rapidly and easily.

Thirded,can't believe i took so long to get one.Been watching some of the videos on this site,A lot of tig stuff but thats what i want to get,also videos on mig and stick,really interesting stuff.

http://www.weldingtipsandtricks.com/index.html

Cheers Steve

[new to this]

i use a sip 150 and great welder ( its not gassless i use the big gas bottles )

dave

[stagmuffin]

all the advice re the 150 clarke migs is good except dont start with gasless it will drive you nuts your welds (i use this term loosely) will look like s**te and be as strong as wet tissue and you will give up quickly .when you get the m/c take time to understand its functions and practice on plenty of scrap sheet metal, clean material is the key.plenty of gassuppliers around now like adams gas offering cheap deals by post no rent and one off payments use 0.6mm mild steel wire and an argon /co2 gasmix.wire speed and current will require practice to get the settings right a nice crisp cackle is a sound you should get familliar with and as you are progressing write down your settings for each thickness and position ie vertical up horizontal overhead etc. be well protected as arc eye hurts as does the arc rash /burn.it is all a matter of time and practice no two machines ever seem to run the same so master your own .the more comfortable you are with your tools and attire and the position in which you sit stand kneel whatever will be reflected in the quality of your work.you dont need to understand the science matalurgicaly just what works for you and thats it simples.
steve...........