Hello all,
Been lurking round here for a while - any Google search mentioning the word "welding" has this site somewhere near the top of the results - and it was useful in me making some choices around my most recent purchases.
Quick summary of me/my stuff:
I work as an engineer,something I feel really blessed by as I do enjoy it, and apart from early starts it's generally not hard to get out of bed to do it.
Most of my welding interest originally came from wanting to/doing car stuff (remember when cars used to rust) - I had a history of Capris (and the old rear engined Skodas) that needed anything from the odd patch to significant sill/inner wing work, and did a Beetle based kit car. I had some fun with gas welding when doing A-Levels a fair while ago. I started my home welding with a cheapy £50 stick welder that got me out of a few holes (welding up exhaust holes for MOT's - I have no idea how I managed that.... but it generally started by creating a lot more holes than the original cause of the problem) - then went to the MIG (SIP) - that did good service knocking up floor pans for the kit car.
Anyway, fast forward a long way - the MIG was leant to a mate for a fair while - (he was/is doing a '70 Mustang we were given FOC) - and having bodged a few small jobs badly with the stick set I wanted a TIG set - so talked myself up to "might as well add AC as some ally stuff would be good" - and that's arrived the other day with some gas too to run it on. I had a play with a kind work colleague's DC set first, and made myself up a welding bench out of 30X30X3 box section and a floor stand for the bench grinder purchased in preparation for sharpening tungstens.
I was really pleased with the initial results, even if one of my test beads has led to much derision at work! (Like "I guess you've got a pigeon in your garage")
Anyway, got quite a few projects lined up to do, some for the garden, bit more for the garage, ultimately I'd like to get onto doing a turbo conversion on my old MX5, that might need some sill welding first... and there's plenty of other bits I'd want to fab up for that too.
Quick few supplier thanks:
Mackays of Cambridge - friendly metal suppliers that don't get upset with an idiot like me not sure of what he wants when he gets in, and happy to supply private customers with small quantities
R-Tech welding - seems like a nice machine at a nice price so far
Welding gases UK - for Argon supply, delivered next day like they said, and no bottle rent
UPS - for delivering the welder successfully, then delivering the welding rods a day later that had gone missing in their warehouse, been opened (why, it's just boring sticks of wire) then it seems left in the car park for a sponsored "drive the FLT over the parcel"-a-thon.
Been lurking round here for a while - any Google search mentioning the word "welding" has this site somewhere near the top of the results - and it was useful in me making some choices around my most recent purchases.
Quick summary of me/my stuff:
I work as an engineer,something I feel really blessed by as I do enjoy it, and apart from early starts it's generally not hard to get out of bed to do it.
Most of my welding interest originally came from wanting to/doing car stuff (remember when cars used to rust) - I had a history of Capris (and the old rear engined Skodas) that needed anything from the odd patch to significant sill/inner wing work, and did a Beetle based kit car. I had some fun with gas welding when doing A-Levels a fair while ago. I started my home welding with a cheapy £50 stick welder that got me out of a few holes (welding up exhaust holes for MOT's - I have no idea how I managed that.... but it generally started by creating a lot more holes than the original cause of the problem) - then went to the MIG (SIP) - that did good service knocking up floor pans for the kit car.
Anyway, fast forward a long way - the MIG was leant to a mate for a fair while - (he was/is doing a '70 Mustang we were given FOC) - and having bodged a few small jobs badly with the stick set I wanted a TIG set - so talked myself up to "might as well add AC as some ally stuff would be good" - and that's arrived the other day with some gas too to run it on. I had a play with a kind work colleague's DC set first, and made myself up a welding bench out of 30X30X3 box section and a floor stand for the bench grinder purchased in preparation for sharpening tungstens.
I was really pleased with the initial results, even if one of my test beads has led to much derision at work! (Like "I guess you've got a pigeon in your garage")
Anyway, got quite a few projects lined up to do, some for the garden, bit more for the garage, ultimately I'd like to get onto doing a turbo conversion on my old MX5, that might need some sill welding first... and there's plenty of other bits I'd want to fab up for that too.
Quick few supplier thanks:
Mackays of Cambridge - friendly metal suppliers that don't get upset with an idiot like me not sure of what he wants when he gets in, and happy to supply private customers with small quantities
R-Tech welding - seems like a nice machine at a nice price so far
Welding gases UK - for Argon supply, delivered next day like they said, and no bottle rent
UPS - for delivering the welder successfully, then delivering the welding rods a day later that had gone missing in their warehouse, been opened (why, it's just boring sticks of wire) then it seems left in the car park for a sponsored "drive the FLT over the parcel"-a-thon.
And I'm shamelessly copying a Sealey panel stand which retails at about £230, the metal for mine came to £62. Bargain!
wish someone'd drop one on me; I had a '70 a few yrs back, it was great fun after lowering & suspension & brake mods, great car.