Need a small welding kit for basic jobs around the Landy - what should I be looking for, and how much should I be spending? Makes?

Clarke are pretty much the best of the DIY bunch, and you can get spares for them pretty easily. Machine Mart is not the best place to buy them from though.

The Forum Buyer's Guide is worth a browse, as is Mig-Welding.co.uk

With any welder, you need to look at the minimum setting, as well as the maximum, you ideally want to be able to get down to ~25A for thin stuff. Don't bother with the disposable gas cylinders, they are a waste of time and money.

WOW! I didnt realise that guide was there - superb. Thanks for the link!

For loads of welding of course this is right, but for odd jobs the little bottles last ages - depends how often youre going to use it - I reckon a little bottle has lasted about 5Hrs+ of welding time - thats quite a lot of weld bead for odd jobs

I've got a mig pro 90 which is good for anything thin and has always been reliable and was cheap to buy. On the other hand the little migs can't cope with thicker stuff (say 2.5+mm) without V-ing joints and even then I worry about penetration (so I use an old arc welder for those jobs). Trouble is to buy a bigger mig that will do it all you end up paying ££££s. And when you add heating to the requirements list as well I can't think of anything but oxy-ace that will do that - but these days I only use my oxy-ace for heating as the mig does all the stuff that it used to do.

So there you go -if youre not careful you end up with 3 lots of welding gear!

Wuntenn, if you're only looking for something for occasional small jobs, I have a 150 Amp hobby grade MIG unit that could be available for not much £. I have just bought a semi-pro 180 Amp, so the little one is largely redundant now. It will weld chassis thickness quite OK but needs a rest if doing long runs.

Where abouts in the country are you? I'm just a stone's throw from Gatwick.

Michael

Want to try your hand at ally welding?
I did, and was amazed at the results, a very professional and strong joint on an ally exhaust shield ( and it's not broken yet!) cost was about 15 quid for the kit and I used one welding stick.

You can make your own castings with it like repairing the 'ears' that break off clutch housings etc.

All you need is a blow lamp.
Have a look at www.frost.co.uk and find welding, buy the kit with the dvd, it's very interesting.

http://www.frost.co.uk/

Mines a clarke 151 te with a sealy refillable gas bottle for hobby welders. I had a disposable bottle but they were crap and expensive. The refillable one is a direct replacement, lasts ages and costs about £10 to refill - thats around the corner so may be cheaper elsewhere. I had to buy a new regulator for it though as the disposable one couldn't handle the extra pressure.. I paid £100 for the unit (used) and £50 for the refillable bottle. Just welded in new 3mm box section sills and thought it performed well, good penetration and good range of power for the thinner stuff... I run 0.6 mm wire but might try 0.8mm next time... just my 2p

Phil

I would recommend buying an OLD but good geavy mig welder, one that would have been expensive when it was new but only £150-£200 now. I bought one from my local welding shop a few years ago, paint peeling off it, dirty, PERFECT! It does absolutely beautiful welds compared to say.. a new SIP, (Junk!)

Most of the cheap new welders have plasticy mechanisms, flimsy cabinets , poor control over wire speed, (and unstable) and poor performance on thin metal like body panels.

Oh and buying an old machine means it will never depreciate either.