Spec me a welder?

If you're on friendly terms with the landlord of the local, ask him for a bottle of CO2 - much cheaper

[northwind]

All good stuff, cheers folks.

Would not even look at a Tig if you are planning on welding "old" metal.. eg your VW etc, Tig is only good for very clean metal with no rust/paint/dirt etc. Best to stick to mig for someone that has not done any welding before, it's a dam sight easier
If it's just small jobs, gasless 90 amp ish machines are ok, but quite messy, you can get flux cored stainless wire but it costs a few quid.. and not good to work with! If you plan on doing panel repairs an the likes you are better with a 130+ amp with gas, but then you have the cost of the small cans or bottle rental to pay for

If you want to learn the basics come through for a coffee/Beer sometime an i'll show you the ropes.. Got a mig in the garage you can play with. Apart from that.. it's been a few years since i had an apprentice