Advice needed on first MIG setup

[The67rubyredbugdude]

Hi everyone, I'm Eliott and I'm 20 from Mansfield. I've been lurking on the forum for a couple of months and now I've finally made a account because I've now eventually got the money together to buy my first welding setup and before I do I could do with some advice. I'm wanting to be able to weld so I can carry out work on my 1967 VW Beetle and my brothers 1983 Mk1 VW Golf which are both in need of panel replacement/repair, I'll also be needing it for other various projects but I really doubt that I'll ever need to weld anything 6mm+. I've recently completed a evening welding course (city & guilds level 1) at Worksop college and I really enjoyed it! I had 14 3hr lessons and every week I was bringing a different car part to repair or modify eg engine lid, spotlight mounts, pedals etc. I was mainly using 3 & 6mm mild steel but I did dabble a little bit with thin stuff when I brought pieces into class so when I've got my setup sorted I'm going to be practicing loads on it. I'm wanting to buy a quality hobbyist set-up that'll last me a good few years and I'm considering getting a Portamig 185 because everyone seems to rate them and they're English built opposed to Chinese machine mart/ebay stuff. As for the gas im thinking of getting it from a rent free supplier so advice regarding this would be really helpful. And then im looking at getting all my PPE and consumables from weldequip so that's the entire setup I've got in mind so any advice/guidance on it would be awesome!
Here's my build thread on volkszone: http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=811878
Heres a picture of my bug

And heres one of my brothers Mk1 barn find

Cheers Eliott

 

[CRB]

Welcome Elliot.

That Beetle looks proper nice, and I am sure the Golf will too.....eventually.

VolksZone BOC deal is the go to gas place.

A bit bigger than yours, but a VW nonetheless.....mine is on the right hand end.

 

[tflnemesis]

Hi, I am from Mansfield Woodhouse, I get my gas from a place on Southwell Road that's behind the chip shop. Pretty good little place, does welder repairs, consumables and various types of gas, Co2 and argon mixes. Think I paid £35 for my 20l Co2 bottle and £20 for the gas, after first buying bottle he just swaps you for a full one and you pay for the gas. Argon mixes are a tad more expensive but I don't do a lot of welding so this works better for me than rentals.

 

[The67rubyredbugdude]

Welcome Elliot.View attachment 47635

That Beetle looks proper nice, and I am sure the Golf will too.....eventually.

VolksZone BOC deal is the go to gas place.

A bit bigger than yours, but a VW nonetheless.....mine is on the right hand end.

Thanks dude Nice! I'd love a lt for camping

 

[The67rubyredbugdude]

Hi, I am from Mansfield Woodhouse, I get my gas from a place on Southwell Road that's behind the chip shop. Pretty good little place, does welder repairs, consumables and various types of gas, Co2 and argon mixes. Think I paid £35 for my 20l Co2 bottle and £20 for the gas, after first buying bottle he just swaps you for a full one and you pay for the gas. Argon mixes are a tad more expensive but I don't do a lot of welding so this works better for me than rentals.

That's awesome! I'll make sure to pay them a visit this week, am I right in thinking that the place is called S & M Welding Supplies? Thank a lot dude

 

[Bill Edwards]

Go for an argon/CO2 mix rather than straight CO2.

Do a search on here for the BOC Volkzone offer. It may be that you'll use such a small amount of gas that rent free is better, but price it all up first. The BOC offer is very good valve, particularly as they use a 20l cylinder that's filled to 230 bar. Some rent free suppliers appear cheap because they only fill to 137 bar!

 

[CRB]

Thanks dude Nice! I'd love a lt for camping

Join us on BrickYard

 

[Jan]

If you keep a VeeDub camper for any length of time you'll be needing all the shielding gas you can shake a stick at! That's why there's a Volkszone deal.

I doubt that there'll ever be a similar 'Rolls Royce/Bentley' deal!

 

[Monkey Harris]

Go for an argon/CO2 mix rather than straight CO2.

Do a search on here for the BOC Volkzone offer. It may be that you'll use such a small amount of gas that rent free is better, but price it all up first. The BOC offer is very good valve, particularly as they use a 20l cylinder that's filled to 230 bar. Some rent free suppliers appear cheap because they only fill to 137 bar!

I read about the gas being at a higher pressure ...
So surely your not buying 20 litre in a 20l bottle....?

I can see myself having a bottle for years, so suspect rent free' will be best....?

 

[Bill Edwards]

A 20l cylinder would hold 20l of water, and a LOT of compressed argon.
If you will use the same bottle for years then yes, rent free is best. Rough calculations told me that if you go through one bottle per year then you're best renting.
Of course, it isn't always easy to know just how much you'll get through. But when you're dealing with old VWs...

 

[Maker]

Go for an argon/CO2 mix rather than straight CO2.

Do a search on here for the BOC Volkzone offer. It may be that you'll use such a small amount of gas that rent free is better, but price it all up first. The BOC offer is very good valve, particularly as they use a 20l cylinder that's filled to 230 bar. Some rent free suppliers appear cheap because they only fill to 137 bar!

I think only 9 litre tanks are filled to 137 bar and even that lasted me (with tig) about a year.
BOC fill to 230 bar on most tanks but now they also do 300 bar tanks.

A 20l cylinder would hold 20l of water, and a LOT of compressed argon.
If you will use the same bottle for years then yes, rent free is best. Rough calculations told me that if you go through one bottle per year then you're best renting.
Of course, it isn't always easy to know just how much you'll get through. But when you're dealing with old VWs...

20 litre * 200 bar tank pressure = 4000 litres of argon.

 

[tflnemesis]

4

That's awesome! I'll make sure to pay them a visit this week, am I right in thinking that the place is called S & M Welding Supplies? Thank a lot dude

Not sure what its called, not been back for a couple of years, thats how little welding i do . I just know that for what i do they gave me the best price.

 

[The67rubyredbugdude]

Go for an argon/CO2 mix rather than straight CO2.

Do a search on here for the BOC Volkzone offer. It may be that you'll use such a small amount of gas that rent free is better, but price it all up first. The BOC offer is very good valve, particularly as they use a 20l cylinder that's filled to 230 bar. Some rent free suppliers appear cheap because they only fill to 137 bar!

Ok thanks for the info, I'll have a ring around and weigh it all up

 

[The67rubyredbugdude]

Any objections for me ordering a Portamig 185 tomorrow? I've read a lot of good reviews about them on here but just wondering whether there's any other better new machines for similar money??

 

[Monkey Harris]

i would ask the question in a new thread ....

 

[The67rubyredbugdude]

i would ask the question in a new thread ....

Yeah your right that'll probably be better

 

[Monkey Harris]

your welcome ....