Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an early
VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever going to pass
an mot.
So what do i buy, what would be the easiest to learn too use by a
complete novice.

Thanks

--
Oz

On Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:32:42 +0100, Ozie wrote:


Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an early
VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever going to pass
an mot.
So what do i buy, what would be the easiest to learn too use by a
complete novice.

Thanks



Well for a range of opinion from people who've used them then register on
migweldingforum.co.uk & read a bit & watch the videos. It depends on how
much money you've got (or the extremely low chance you've got 3ph from
your storage heating), personally I really like the tiny R-Tech mig welder
I've got, whatever you buy think carefully about the gas, the little
bottles get expensive very fast.

On Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:32:42 +0100, Ozie wrote:


Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an early
VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever going to pass
an mot.
So what do i buy, what would be the easiest to learn too use by a
complete novice.

Thanks

People will give different advice about brands etc, but simple advice
I'll give is "get one with a Eurotorch ".

I have a SIP Migmate 130 (which many won't recommend, but I find it a
distinct improvement on my previous Clarke). When the swan-neck failed I
found it had to have a whole new gun at £60! (Clarke MIGs and
Eurotorches have replaceable swan-necks at about a tenner). For a few
£££ more I got a Eurotorch conversion - this transformed the usability
of the welder and gives the added advantage of a 4 metre pipe so I don't
have to keep moving my welder.

I'm more than happy with the modded SIP, and I do a lot of welding (my
VW camper is the only car I haven't had to weld yet but I do need a
gearbox!)

Have a look he http://www.welduk.com - he's local to me, so I go to
him and he knows what he's talking about. Competitive on price too.
--
asahartz woz ere

On Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:32:42 +0100, Ozie wrote:

Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an early
VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever going to pass
an mot.
So what do i buy, what would be the easiest to learn too use by a
complete novice.

I had a mig (170A, IIRC) which served me well enough. I think it cost me
about 70 quid (s/h), and possibly something similar for the gas/rental (I
got a big tank to use with it). Easy enough to get to grips with on
heavier stuff; welding thinner material took more practice.

Main gotchas were my having a mask with a fixed screen (offer welding tip
up to material, then can't see a bloody thing until trigger is
pressed :-) and gaining enough access to the material being welded (sides
of vehicles a doddle, undersides not so much without a car lift or
inspection pit)

cheers

Jules

On 22 July, 15:32, Ozie wrote:

So what do i buy, what would be the easiest to learn too use by a
complete novice.

Search past posts, this has been done to death

You need a wire-feed MIG welder. Manual stick is cheaper, but no use
for bodywork. You can use gas too, but it's harder and much slower.
Handy for shaping though.

Cheap MIGs are grim, as their wire-feed is poor. Cebora or Butters are
about the cheapest you'd be happy to use. Murex have a Tradestig 141
that is getting a good reputation and is about the cheapest of all the
useful ones.

Gas needs to be an inert mix, not CO2. This means either disposable
(pricey!) or renting a cylinder from BOC et al. This is a real pain in
the UK 8-(

Get an automatic helmet. fantastic things. Also a leather jacket
(dirt cheap, really useful under vehicles) and a bright floodlamp.
Angle grinder, wire wheel, flap disks etc. & the obvious safety kit.
You can never have too many clamps.

Night school is good. You need to be "told how to weld" (5 minutes, a
book will do it) and then practice a lot. Don't practice on the
vehicle you're trying to fix. You need a wheelbarrow full of small
mixed clean scrap, then after you've welded that into a solid lump
you'll be getting the knack of it. Once you're half-decent, you then
need to start sawing your welds in half and testing them to see how
they really are. A good book on welding in general is Gibson's
"Practical Welding",
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/0333609573/codesmiths

The theory of wire-feed is vital to understand:

* Constant voltage, not constant current (so the arc length is self-
regulating and you can do what you like about wire stick-out).

* Transfer modes.
Spray transfer (very good, needs the power up)
Dip transfer (good, what you have to do with thin sheet, bit tricky
to get right)
Globular transfer (that thing with the pigeons that most amateur
welders favour, definitely bad)

You learn by winding the dials up and playing with spray transfer on
thick stuff, then learning subtlety (lower power and dip transfer)
later on.


Shaping replacement panels is another story. Fortunately Beetles and
campers are both nice thick steel, nothing too weird and have good
panel availability.

"Ozie" wrote in message
...

Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an early VW
camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever going to pass an
mot.
So what do i buy, what would be the easiest to learn too use by a complete
novice.

Thanks


Gas is very expensive and a good compromise is to use gasless wire. It does
spatter a lot more, but after cleaning up the weld is more than adequate.

Fredxx wrote:


"Ozie" wrote in message
...

Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an
early VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever
going to pass an mot. So what do i buy, what would be the
easiest to learn too use by a complete novice.

Thanks


Gas is very expensive and a good compromise is to use gasless wire.
It does spatter a lot more, but after cleaning up the weld is more
than adequate.

Its not that easy to use on car bodywork though as it tends to cut
through .

On 22 July, 20:43, "steve robinson"
wrote:
Fredxx wrote:

"Ozie" wrote in message
...

Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an
early VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever
going to pass an mot. So what do i buy, what would be the
easiest to learn too use by a complete novice.

Thanks

Gas is very expensive and a good compromise is to use gasless wire.
It does spatter a lot more, but after cleaning up the weld is more
than adequate.

Its not that easy to use on car bodywork though as it tends to cut
through .

eh? IIUC on thin sheet gasless MIG wire is worse than MIG wire with
seperate gas? - how so?

Cheers
Jim K

"Jim K" wrote in message
...
On 22 July, 20:43, "steve robinson"
wrote:
Fredxx wrote:

"Ozie" wrote in message
...

Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an
early VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever
going to pass an mot. So what do i buy, what would be the
easiest to learn too use by a complete novice.

Thanks

Gas is very expensive and a good compromise is to use gasless wire.
It does spatter a lot more, but after cleaning up the weld is more
than adequate.

Its not that easy to use on car bodywork though as it tends to cut
through .

eh? IIUC on thin sheet gasless MIG wire is worse than MIG wire with
seperate gas? - how so?


Its down to conductivity of the shielding gas. You can get differing ratios
of argon, CO2 and O2 depending on thickness of material and depth of weld.

I concede that the shielding gas is better than "gas" from gasless wire, but
its effect can be offset by using a lower welding current.

On 22 July, 21:32, "Fredxx" wrote:
"Jim K" wrote in message

...



On 22 July, 20:43, "steve robinson"
wrote:
Fredxx wrote:

"Ozie" wrote in message
...

Been thinking for some time about buying a Welder, i now have an
early VW camper which needs quite a bit of new metal if its ever
going to pass an mot. So what do i buy, what would be the
easiest to learn too use by a complete novice.

Thanks

Gas is very expensive and a good compromise is to use gasless wire.
It does spatter a lot more, but after cleaning up the weld is more
than adequate.

Its not that easy to use on car bodywork though as it tends to cut
through .

eh? IIUC on thin sheet gasless MIG wire is worse than MIG wire with
seperate gas? - how so?

Its down to conductivity of the shielding gas. You can get differing ratios
of argon, CO2 and O2 depending on thickness of material and depth of weld.

I concede that the shielding gas is better than "gas" from gasless wire, but
its effect can be offset by using a lower welding current.

....yebbut..... he is specifically referencing thin material (car
bodywork).... why do you and he believe it's *harder* to weld thin
stuff with gasless wire vs gas and ordinary wire?

Cheers
Jim K