Buying a mig

[ferris]

Im thinking of buying a mig welder, so i can try and sort out the rust on my sj. However iv never welded before so dont know alot about them, other than what iv read on the web. Been looking at a Clarke 150amp gas/gasles mig about £200.

Has any one used a gasless mig on there sj. I did read they might be a bit fierce for thin body pannels.

Any advice would be appeciated.

Cheers

[Henry]

IMHO gass is better.

If you can get a big bottel, then it will last a lot longer than the small things people use.

Personally i would buy the best you can afford.... it will serve you well im sure

[carnut]

sealey also do some nice migs,(for the money),, get the biggest mig you can afford. and dont get gasless, they really are poo!. what you really need, is argon gas from air products or BOC, (you know the one that blow up). Have a look in machne mart, or the tool shop in st johns road.

[rpats]

i got mine off ebay £10 and its served me well.
its gota be worth a look

[ferris]

The gas ones do sound better, the only problem is the cost. The mashines are more expensive and then there is the price of the gas. Also i will be doing all the welding outside, which is apparantly not ideal for gas welders. Does anyone know how much a gas bottle is from BOC? Maybe they'l have some fire damaged ones going cheap

I did have a look in mashine mart the other day they had some really good stuff, but i found them a bit to expensive. What st johns road do you mean? The one in Bedminster??

and rpats £10 for a mig!! Thats a bargin, my soldering iron cost more than that.

[ScottieJ]

ferris I will have a chat to me dad as he might let you have our old sip migmate 130 for a good price as i've now got my snap-on the SIP isn't the best welder in the world but i did a lot of my sj with it! IMO i wouldn't even bother with gasless welding as for the time it takes to put up a wind break you'll get a lot nicer welds with gas, I can also give you a few lessons!

as for the gas i find with body work argonsheild (argon/co2 mix) can burn a bit hot so you could just use co2 (get friendly with your local pub land lord ) i think there is a place on ebay that does gas bottles delivered for a good price with no rental, I also have a spare regulator to use the SIP with big gas bottles.

[4eye]

Sup ferris...with anythin you get what you pay for...we(work) only use co2 so thats what i'd get...we use argon for tig.

go gas mate...it'll cost a little more but worth it in the end!

[parrotveasey81]

gas will be cheaper then nogas as nogas wire is about £12 for 500g but i pay £21 for a 15kg roll(thats about a mile of wire) of wrie plus £7 a mounth for gas bottle rental,when i fill up it costs me £56(well last time i did,may of gone up now)and thats for a full size bottle.the gas i use is corgone 12 witch is 12% argon 88% co2.if welding thin metal co2 will be fine but for welding thicker metal you will need a mix,i think the range is 5% argon,12% agron and 20% argon.with a mix you will get a smoother weld and more penatraition.i got my welder from machine mart and its a clarke 160t and is realy good but wish i got a 185amp.
also if your only welding thin sheet then its best to use 0.6 wire as this does not need so much heat to melt so wont blow holes so easy,0.8 wire for thicker metal.
as scottie410 if needs be i can help you learn how to weld as thats my day job well welding is not teaching

[ferris]

Ok im convinced, gas is the way forward Im glad i asked now, i very nearly bought a gasless one last week.

You'll have to let me know on your old mig scottie i may be very interested if you are selling it.

My only concern is depending on how the welding go's, i plan on trying to make a bumper and maybe a roll cage. Would a 130amp mig be powerful enough for that?

And any help during the learning process would be much appreciated cheers guys.

[parrotveasey81]

130 amp is not big enough,even my 150 amp is on the limit plus it helps if you prep the metal right