welders

[watson]

hi

im looking for a welder at the moment, any got any advise im thinking a sip 195amp mig, would this be ok for welding up roll cages and other structural work and is sip a good make???

as you can guess im fairly new to this and im only 15 so any help wuold be much appreciated

thank from watson

[LandyManLuke]

Is SIP a good make? that's questionable. I have heard of lots of people who have had problems with the wire feed mechanism.

Personally, i would want more than 195A for roll cage mounts etc. With welders it really is a question of 'you get what you pay for', a cheaper welder will be harder to use and give poorer results than an higher quality welder.

Have a look at www.mig-welding.co.uk, there is a helpful forum on the site.

[B reg 90]

Hi,

I've got a SIP 130 MIG. It's a pice of s**t, wire feed problems from not feeding wire to uneven wire feed rate meaning I could never get the hang of it. My brother who is an 'adult welder' and welds as part of his job, thinks it is so bad he refuses to use it when helping me in my garage. When I finally went on a welding course I discovered the majority of my issues were down to the guff welder I had. You get what you pay for......... My brother has a big Murex unit and things it's good.

Adrian

[white90]

I have a SIP topmig 196 and it is perfectly able to weld cage mounts

never let me down, ok for the money and all I need t weld.

And Mount Bures was a stones throw from when I lived in Sudbury

lucily you have some good members fairly local to you

Petergg being the nearest

[FridgeFreezer]

Hobby / semi pro welders can be OK-ish if they're bigguns, but having used different types an old industrial unit wins every time - they're made much better and often produce much better results with less hassle. The major difference is that they're more solidly built, have a higher duty cycle, and are designed to be serviced and repaired. I have an old (30 years) NBC and it's great, and thanks to expensive components omitted by newer/cheaper welders it does give a nicer weld.

NBC, Butters, ESAB, Murex, Cebora, Miller, Migatronic are a few makes worth looking at. I'm sure someone with higher welding-Fu will be along to break it down a bit more in a minute.

If you describe your budget and what you want to do I'm sure people will be able to point you in the right direction.

Whatever you do, make sure there's space for some blingin' neons underneath and chrome spinners oh and a GOOD auto-darkening helmet will improve your welding drastically, I don't know anyone who would go back to a non-auto one - and most people I know with Speedglas helmets would rather lose parts of their anatomy than swap for a different one. Me included.

[Les Henson]

Spend as much time getting a decent face shield - I learnt from experience that cheap rubbish ones make things really difficult. Speedglas are without doubt the best, but are also the most expensive unfortunately. I have a Parweld helmet and am happy with it. My MIG is a Butters 170 and It's very good.

Les.

[Coastcard]

a GOOD auto-darkening helmet will improve your welding drastically, I don't know anyone who would go back to a non-auto one - and most people I know with Speedglas helmets would rather lose parts of their anatomy than swap for a different one. Me included.

Note Fridges comments above and then note them again. I have just started welding and have a non-auto helmet - they are a PITA unless you are in optimum conditions. Contorted somewhere under or around a Landrover in the shade trying to align your welder and then flip the helmet down in a space that does not allow a helmet to flip is frustrating, matched only by then discovering you have missed the join and welded halfway across your replacement panel . Nuff said

[bishbosh]

I was faced with this dilemma about 8 months ago. The grown up advice I got was you are better off spending your money (however much you have to spend) on a second hand industrial unit than on an equivelently priced "hobby" welder from Clarke / SIP etc.

Strangely, I followed this advice ( completely out of character for me!! ) and got a Miller 165A unit for less than £10 / A including gas regulator from a decent chap who trades as Mobile Welding Supplies on ebay. (recommended by said grown up).

The machine has been faultless from the off and will weld 5mm to 5mm with no dramas.

What ever you get, make sure it has a euro torch.

[steve b]

Hi Josh ,

If you have 3 phase in your shed you should look for an industrial s/h mig plant ....you can always turn it down whereas a cl*rke130pos is just not really up to it . A good single phase 170 -200 a will be fine for everything as tony said....a good way of making a quick assessment of a welding plant quality is the heavier it is the better (nice transformer copper windings) ,a quick look at the wire feed will also show build quality- you're looking for a good size motor case no plastic mouldings. Butters/ Esab/migatronic are all good makes.....in reality most of the single phase migs are made by an Italian company whose name escapes me at the mo & and then marketed under different names.

having said all of that I started with a 130a backwhen i was 17, and used it for a couple of years before getting a 450a 3ph unit & now use a snap on 190a 1ph.

I'm sure we'll talk about it at Bures on the 23rd

seeya there mate

Steveb

[roguevogue]

What Charles said.

[Les Brock]

Just for once I also agree with Bish !

[watson]

I have a SIP topmig 196 and it is perfectly able to weld cage mounts

never let me down, ok for the money and all I need t weld.

And Mount Bures was a stones throw from when I lived in Sudbury

lucily you have some good members fairly local to you

Petergg being the nearest

yeah i no petergg quite well actually

cheerrs for the advise

[watson]

hi thankyou for all the advise ive got a budjet of about £500 max were is the best place to buy second hand industrial welders???

and what sort of money are they??

my main reason for a welder is that im taking the body completely off my rangie bobtail and puting a cage on it with simple body work and i want to make up the cage myself !!

if there is any who has done this before and has any advise it would be most aprecciated

thankyou

[LandyManLuke]

£489 gets you a Portamig 181, with 4m Euro torch, argon regulator etc. Brand New. Delivered.

Portamig are british built (In York), industrial style machines, they knock the spots of Sealey, Clarke, SIP etc.

Someone mentioned judging a welder by its weight, mine (a Portamig 211) is a heavy lift for two people.

£58 for my Parweld 9-13 adjustable mask, it's great.

[FridgeFreezer]

eBay is not a bad place to find old industrial stuff, you really want to see it working if possible before buying. Things do turn up in freeads too.

[G_Cam]

My 120 Clarke gave up on me (after 20 years) and i had the same dilemma of what to buy.

In the end i went for the Clarke 165TE - its a 'semi-pro' machine with good duty cycle and smoothing capacitors. It comes with a regulator etc... I use BOC Argo-shield.

I have found it to be an excellent machine for the money. I got mine at Machine Mart. A BIG TIP is to call your local Machine Mart and ask the Manager when the next 'VAT FREE DAY' is on. Normally all the Clarke stuff is (as the name suggests) Vat free!

Hope this helps

[mike4444244]

Another vote for portamig here, i have a 181, its about as good as you'll get in a non-pro scenario, I would definately recommend them, get one off a guy called 'weldequip' off the mig welding forum, very good service!

Mike

[LandyManLuke]

Great! someone else has seen the light!

Good aren't they?

I'd say they are semi pro, certainly beefier than any hobby/diy welder i've ever seen, in terms of the size and quality of the internals, and the thickness of the steel they build them out of! Steve is great, his customer service is outstanding.

[ciderman]

£ 500should get you something half tidy , Dont be tempted to buy cheap makes such as sealy /Clarke etc , They just dont stand up to every day abuse ,They are fine for light panelwork for the diy types , As Bish said go for a euro torch type which most are now .

I have two Murex welders a 170 amp for everyday use and find it plenty for cage welding , general fabrications ,etc, The other is a 300 amp remote mig which is 3 phase which welds happiliy up to 1.5 " steel plate which i have used for digger buckets , Trencher wheels etc , But its laid up at the moment as my current workshop is only on single phase .

Both welders are over 10 years old now and still perform like new, so I guess you gets what you pay for .

[SiWhite]

What ^^^^^ said..... get something ex-industrial and second hand, not from machine mart etc.

I battled for years with a gasless SIP 90a welder - it was a good start, but no matter how much I tried the welds were poor. I recently bought AstroAl's old 175amp Cebora, and it's a revelation. SOOOOOOOOO much easier and a pleasure to weld with - it really makes you smile when you knock out a pretty weld with good penetration.

As everyone else has said, get some good kit - a good mask (mine was under £50 and works well) and good gautlets and apron. You can get a really nice ex-industrial welder for under £200.

[mike4444244]

yep you definately get to see how well made they are when you have to try and shift them

[roguevogue]

If I had £500 to spend on a welder I would seriously consider this.

It will give you a lifetimes use and, if you keep it clean, you will get most, if not all, your money back when you sell.

[watson]

If I had £500 to spend on a welder I would seriously consider this.

It will give you a lifetimes use and, if you keep it clean, you will get most, if not all, your money back when you sell.

thankyou im seriously considering it

im trying to something similar to your truck on my truck have you got any advise???

and thankyou to any 1 who has posted advice but keep it comming

[watson]

does anyone know if cebora are a good make

if so is this worth thinking about http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cebora-Bravo-mig-wel...bayphotohosting

[Guest otchie1]

does anyone know if cebora are a good make

if so is this worth thinking about http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Cebora-Bravo-mig-wel...bayphotohosting

Cebora are the Italian firm who make a lot of MiG welders for other firms. The Cebora 130Turbo was rebadged under Taskmaster, SnapOn, Cebora & others with the only difference being the price. My Tasky is holding up nicely for 10 years but it's not Pro duty cycle. Enough for most stuff although I've never tried it on fat chassis plates.

Dunno about that Bravo.