Hi all
Does any one on here know how to mig weld
I would like to learn how to
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Pin
Dats what i does , but you would be better learning how to MMA /Arc/stick whatever ya wanna call it . Once you can stick it with a stick the mig mastic gun for metel is easy , however with mig you get the weld you pay for . Mig welders are like stereo , you can buy an all in one tape deck cd radio with built in speakers and it will make noise and will play tunes… but its **** and the results it produces are also **** … , or you can buy a proper Hi Fi with the components all seperate … And it will play the tunes properly and deliver a quality result …but it costs you .
Mig you need to be able to run some mega amps so you get proper penetration , you must be 3 phase , you want big numbers like 500 stamped on it and price tags bigger than £3000 .
Arc however you can get away with much much cheaper unit .If you can run 150 amps at 100% duty cycle you can burn all you need for serious hobby welding , you can also run off a normal 240v house supply and still turn out a weld that will pass a code .
Would something like this be ok
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-250-AMP-ARC-ELECTRIC-WELDER-WELDING-MACHINE-/250658199545?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3a5c6497f9
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Pin
For good stick welds using up to 3.2 rods at home all you would need is this …Get a 16amp 240 socket put in your garage …good to go .
But you need like this for reliable mig welding , actually a very good price that although its an older set it was probably a good £5000 + when new .
wot he said,
stick first before you get to play with the electric glue.
if you can get a kit, bring it over and i’lll show you how to use it.
That , is a never heard of it brand … And its really wanting 400v input .It’s all about quality of the boar onboard … You want it dedicated to 110 32 amp plug -240v 16amp plugs . I use Gysmi for my arc sets , I have 2 of them , one portable I run from 32amp 110v for on site and one workshop unit that gets the full 3 phase . This seems quite a good beginner purchase …
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GYS-160-AMP-INVERTER-ARC-WELDER-WITH-ELECTRONIC-MASK-/190887886153?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c71cdfd49
there it is cheaper … Hunt around . You want a reasonable quality … something you have heard of . Miller , esab , gys , foronius ,lincoln ,kemppi …
at some point in the next year i plan to do one or 2 lv’s of welding at college. might be worth a shot its about £300 for a 10 week course last time i looked and you get a qualification and all sorts not to bad i don’t think
What college were you looking at?
from me in south east London they wear all like 15-25 miles away there was north west london, richmond upon thames college, waltham forest college (east london) and there was one in gillingham but i cant remember the name of it now
Great thanks Ross
nps fella
face palm
Used a MIG for years, OK I now gone TIG even better for Bike type work and will do all metals (no I don’t do Magnisum)
Happy to teach you how to set up use MIG
but look on here, the Forum part LOTS is welding information and tutorials
Happy to help I shown a few how it is done
Dave
PM me if you want to chat and I pass on phone and Email details
just bought a Clarke 100 mig box myself, teaching myself how to do it. have been using that site for it’s tutorials a lot.
I wanted to go to college but nowhere local to me does it.
oh dear, the thought of home school welding is frightening!
Mian, pm me and i’ll come and give you some pointers, and a couple of horror stories to keep you on track
Just bought a 160N Clarke from MachineMart myself
I did a 10 week partime course at Richmond College… not comprehensive but ot covered the basics.
I got a home set up, so nothing special, but as hobbies go its awesome.
Not graduated ot Mig or Tig cos I missed those nights.
That said this electric thing doesn’t really interest me. I am so in love with OxyAcetylene… I know its old skool but I can make that pool dance with a proper flame… that said, its pricey and fiddly and cumbersome. THat’s what I am aiming to set up with tho… its just exquisite
I thought you weren’t allowed to have Oxy-Acetylene at home…? I know my dad did, but he was very twitchy about it. Perhaps it was nicked? 
I did ARC, MIG, TIG & Oxy-Acetylene as part of the workshop module in my degree, I mainly use Arc these days because my mig gets used so infreqently that I spend more time getting it to feed properly etc than the actual job takes… My MIG Welder is a Snap-On one, however, it probably came out of the same factory in China as “Clarke”… It’s a bit of a PITA as the wire etc is imperial, so you can’t just get it from Halfords (haven’t looked lately mind you). That said, the nice people at Snap-Off have replaced the trigger a couple of times under warranty and had it nearly 20 years…
Best advice for any would be welders is practice lots on scrap stuff. Law of welding #1 is that the best weld you ever do will be welding that clamp to your work (ok perhaps it’s just me that’s done that}.
I am looking to at some stage build a custom… I’ll probably invest in better kit for that, welding frames is not something you want to risk poor penetration with at all!! <goes off to search eBay for 8th day of the week>
that’s the big thing… if you have bottles at home, you have to put signs up, you put signs up, you can’t get insurance… so I am actually looking for a garage where work isn’t awesome and they got a bit of spare space… I can join ANYTHING steel with flawless gas welds, the leccy thing is too aggressive for me,… if I can set up as a service in a garage somewhere that doesn’t have bodywork cvovered, they benefit, I do too, and they’re already work insured so bottles is an additional as opposed to a NEW danger in a residential enviro#
Hi all
Thanks for the replies
It looks like getting a bit more cash together
Buying a stick welder then taking you up on your offers
I’m only going to use on cars thin gage I think
What size rods will I need
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Pin
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PS nick has said she will babysit the Bengal KTM while you show me how to weld