Mig Welder

'92 Si VTEC · Post by **jjmartin349571** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:21 pm

Hi folks,

I want to learn how to weld, through necessity more than anything. I know nothing about the equipment though. What I want to be able to do is weld patches on to body panels mainly. From what I can determine I need a gasless MIG welder, but which one? I'm not looking to spend a fortune as who knows, I could be an incurably jobby welder

but at the same time I wouldn't like to put myself off with jobby equipment that makes me drokk up all the time and not be able to learn.

Any pointers? I thought I found a good one cheap locally, but after reading reviews online apparently it wasn't good and now I'm worried that I'll pick a turd

although apparently the bloke used it to rebuild a mk1 landy disco despite it apparently being a bad one

89 UKDM BA4 4WS (resto job!) · Post by **wurlycorner** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:38 pm

If this just to get the sirroco inner arches done, you'd probably do well just to call a local mobile welder and get them to do it? They can be surprisingly cheap and it'll be painless and quick!

'92 Si VTEC · Post by **jjmartin349571** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:42 pm

wurlycorner wrote:If this just to get the sirroco inner arches done, you'd probably do well just to call a local mobile welder and get them to do it? They can be surprisingly cheap and it'll be painless and quick!

My Prelude needs some work too though, and my Accord and another car I've got needs sills done.

My thinking is practice on the Scirocco and move on to the other cars. Rust seems to be a given with these old cars so it'd be nice to have to skills to remove rot and replace it with nice new metal

I can get sheet metal from my dad so just need to get the tools and skills together

Post by **DaveyBa8** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 7:44 pm

Don't buy unless you do some sort of welding training or course, welding body work is very hard, and ideally you'd want gas for panels, you'd want a good amp range on the welder, my hobbie welder goes from 30 to 150 amp good up to 5mm thick steel. The lower the amp the better for panels some go from 15amp up, using gasless at the lowest setting on mine (30 amp) is still very easy to blow holes, changing the polarity for gas seems ok at 30amps (doesn't blow a hole as quick)

Something like this Clarke 151 would be ideal.
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewit ... cmd=VIDESC

Post by **ADS1** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:02 pm

Welding is a very handy skill to have. Like you i would like to learn,and get a suitable welder to do bodywork etc.
I will be watching the answers to this post with great interest

Post by **Vtecmec** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:10 pm

I have a Clarke gas no gas portable, similar to the link above, had it for 10 years now and used it a lot and it's still going strong, so there a good bet. Get the gas attachments though, as no gas welds are a bit grotty.

TBH mig welding pretty easy once you set up the welder correctly for the job in hand, basically point and shoot. Really low settings for thin panel sheets, and 0.6mm wire works better than the usual 0.8mm.

Some really nice tips on this site.......http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/

Ted · Post by **Ted** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:13 pm

Gasless welders are crap, book yourself some evening classes on a course somewhere bite the bullet and buy a welder that uses gas and get a proper bottle of gas to go with it if you want to do it tidy.
If you do a course first and if your any good then odd jobs for mates will pay for it in the long run.

Post by **DaveyBa8** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:16 pm

That's a great forum in the link above, mig welding is the easiest welding, but with no knowledge at all with welding I'd get some lessons, or someone you know who does abit,

Watch the eyes, setting things on fire etc, you will need a full run down from start to finish, especially setting up the welder. Welding can get very messy very quickly lol. I wouldn't go near any of your pride and joys for awhile.

Gasless is fine I've done all my work with gasless.

'92 Si VTEC · Post by **jjmartin349571** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:32 pm

Cheers guys. Last time I checked there was a local college who did evening classes for welding. I'll have to see if they are still running them as this is a skill I'd really like to have. My mechanic mate usually does my welding but it's still more expensive than I like, and I'm the kind of person who gets frustrated at not being able to do stuff for themselves - I like to take everything on

With regards to the gasless welds being lower quality, is this because it's harder to see the pool of weld as you're going? Can you not just grind the weld back once it's finished, or is this taboo or something

Tbh there's a messy (imo) weld in the boot of the Scirocco already, so mine should look at home in there

My gf is out at the moment, will have to bounce that £200 one off of her first, or face all hell

in the long run I'm hoping it should be a cost effective investment though.

Post by **Vtecmec** » Sat Jul 06, 2013 8:51 pm

just know that gasless is crap, in weld quality and finish.

You'll also want a reactive mask, allowing you to see what your doing and keep both hands on the job.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Auto-Darkenin ... 19d41aedd7