New to Welding

[arh1a]

Hi everyone,

I am getting annoyed with the amount of welding I've had to pay for over the years (joys of owning an old car i guess) so have decided to learn myself. I have only just signed up but have been reading threads on here for a few week and am starting to slowly get my head around what welder would be ideal for my use.

I have decided on Clarke for the make (seem to be recommended on here for diy welding) but am stuck between the MIG 151TE and the gasless (can be converted though) MIG 160EN.

Anyway looking forward to learning more about welding in general but mainly MIG and getting some hands on practice when i finally make my decision which one to buy.

Looking forward to reading up more on here as there is so much great info on here

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Welcome what is your budget ? And is it only car bodywork your planning to weld ?

 

[arh1a]

Thank you About £300-£350max. Car bodywork and car chassis aswell, probably use it for other things but no metal thicker than 4-5mm.

 

[Jim_gsxr1000]

Some of the Clare's are good hobby machines, the 135 the gets a good write up, perhaps a good used machine ? Dose it have to run from a domestic 13 a plug ?

 

[arh1a]

Didnt think about the Clarke 135, seems good specs apart from a small bottle (disposable) as im sure you can get a 1000g one with the others (I suppose I could just get a bigger bottle of co2/argon). I would rather go new so I got warranty just to be on the safe site, would it be worth spending that bit extra and getting eather a 151 or 160? I would be using it on a domestic 13a plug.

Is the 135 built in Italy like the 151 or build in China like some of the others?