Hi everyone

[manny]

Thought id join cos the guy whos done the guide to MIG welding, I take my hat off to ya pal, a very very informative bloke, top effort and all done in laymans terms
Anyway am from an Engineering background myself , having previously been a welder, mainly Tig on Aluminium , Nimonics , stainless titanium etc, all for HM forces!
Done Mig and MMA but love Tig even tho i dont have a plant ( expense)
im looking to buy a good mig welder but for less than 250 pounds for car body works and a bit of thicker (4mm max) plate
Im from the northwest so would be intrigued where the person who started this forum is from as he also is from near me!
Anyway thats me and hello!

 

[Alex]

Saw an ad in the paper today:

A WOLF with a non-live torch! Amazing...............Avoid at all costs anyway!

The best for £250 is going to be a Clarke without a doubt.


Get either a 151TE or 160T. It wont be a mistake.

 

[malcolm]

Welcome to the forum and thanks. The site came about when I couldn't find a tutorial website on welding for a guy on another forum, and the forum came about as a way to stop people asking me questions by email. Of course the site has to be re-written quite a lot when all the people who know what they are doing joined in with the forum and complained.

I've been moving south all my life for the weather. Started off in Scotland and have made it as far as Bedford. Quite a few members from the North West - Weldequip is the most active on the forum (he's off sailing for the next week).

For cheap new MIGs we tend to recommend new Clarkes. Though there's a lot of used stuff on eBay, but the used MIGs often need a little sorting. For yourself you'll know if things are wrong with the welder so that's probably a good option - loads of real quality stuff on there. Might be worth thinking about a TIG - lots of DC TIGs on eBay for £250, though you have to wait a time for an AC TIG at less than £600.

 

[Alex]

Cant you weld Aluminum safely at 50Hz?

 

[malcolm]

Cant you weld Aluminum safely at 50Hz?

You've lost me there.

DC TIGs in the UK run off a 240V 50Hz supply but the output you weld with is DC only. The AC TIGs have an AC output, though with the electrickery that goes on inside those things it's not necessarily a 50 Hz output. The AC is to do with knocking off the oxide layer.

 

[Drains]

I think alex is suggesting using a straight unrectified output from a buzzbox into a tig torch. Alex, you should start a thread on that one and see if anyone can answer!

 

[manny]

seen in machine mart a clarke 135t for less than 200 quid inclusive of VAT
seems like a good un
am i right in thinking that the bottles of co2/argon mix are readily available?
cheers

 

[Alex]

Thats what I mean Simon.

The Clarke TX TIGS use 50Hz for the AC selection.

But most inverters are usually variable upto 400Hz.

 

[lorenzo]

Welcome to the forum Manny....

 

[Drains]

seen in machine mart a clarke 135t for less than 200 quid inclusive of VAT
seems like a good un
am i right in thinking that the bottles of co2/argon mix are readily available?
cheers

If you want the disposables you can get them in Halfrouds or M/M, but blink and their empty. If you have any amount of welding to do, get yourself down to BOC or Air products, who will happily take your money off you!