Welding

Seeing as my life is too easy and I don't have enough of a challenge, I want to learn to weld.

Tips/advice? What's a good baseline to start from?

Looking at 130A Mig Welders on ebay, they seem to go for about £70-80

Cheap welders are pretty crap tbh, I spent £200 on a sip topmig turbo jobbie and it's not brilliant if I'm honest.

Buy the best one you can afford, it will make welding so much easier.

That's torpedoed the plan then!

[Kenzie]

I did an 8 week night class to learn the basics. I bought a Clarke 130a gas no gas welder from machine mart.

Originally Posted by carpet monster

That's torpedoed the plan then!

They will do an ok job on small stuff but dont expect to win any welding competitions

Go to a class, buy the best welder you can afford and then practise a lot before going near anything of value/importance!

[yorkie_chris]

The little MIGs are alright if you're not doing owt serious.

Gasless is crap though, get a proper MMA welder if you want to do that.

And forget disposable bottles, get a pub cylinder.

[_Stretchie_]

I think you'll get the same advice over and over here, get the best welder you can.

I did a course at the local college last year and bought an old 180amp mig, I use pub gas instead of argon mix because you can get a big CO2 cylinder for £15 and it's not like I'm doing any fancy work or pretty work so I am happy to live with it.

I'll tell you what though, you'll end up just looking around for crap to weld, it's fun. Make a topgear sofa and get a picture up here

[yorkie_chris]

There are a few places about that will do you argon co2 mix for reasonable money, cheaper than a BOC rental anyway.

[dirtydog]

I've got a gasless mig and its ok for welding up the cars/van for the MoT, just need to grind the welds back when finished for a nicer looking job. But having used a decent gas mig welder I'd get a gas one next, much easier to use, less splatter and gives a better better finish