Which Welder?

DO NOT tie yourself into a BOC or Air Products account - it's ****ing rip off. Trust me on this. I've been welding for years and it's ruddy expensive headache.

If you have a friendly pub owner, all well and good, if not, then get on ebay ( i know, scary but true!) and do as i originally said - buy a "rent free" bottle - £90 sets you up with a mid sized argon/co2 filled bottle for only £55 refundable deposit, and reasonably priced refills.

Gasless are ****e. And no f*^&%£$ good to learn on. You could have perfect metal, and a great earth - the results would still be pants.

b20wnx said:

will be down in colchester this week/weekend collecting some parts and a bulkhead that needs repairing - maybe i should just get you to collect it and fix then i come and get it engineer.. lol only joking, i do have an offer from someone on the forums who is going to show me the basics - one of my problems is i dont like borrowing equipment just in case i break it - i know i am in the catch 22 situation. i have taken the advice from people, cancelled that other welder, but i think i am going to have to go against what people say and look at used ones....

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If you give me a couple of weeks, then you can come down, i'll be waiting for a CNC Turret Punch to come down from manchester, so the whole unit will be empty ril then, always willing to help

Engineer1964 said:

i'll be waiting for a CNC Turret Punch to come down from manchester

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**drool**

b20wnx said:

yeah some good advice guys, thanks, i dont drink so dont know any pub landlords but not to worry. i am narrowing it down slowly but surely and trying to save to be able to get a really good one, problem is spending £200 on one leaves me with that money less to put towards the refurb plus if i dont use it again it would in my eyes be a waste of money. anyway i will keep looking....

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mine is a clarke 160T, £125 from machine mart bradford, slight seconds shelf. should have beed around £220, nowt wrong with it apart from reduced warenty.
it would be the one you play with when you pop over.

edit
re gas, i do run a big gas bottle tied into an account, pure argon which apparently isnt the best for mig (not tried mixed) but i also use it for the tig set and welding stainless.

nrgserv said:

re gas, i do run a big gas bottle tied into an account, pure argon which apparently isnt the best for mig (not tried mixed) but i also use it for the tig set and welding stainless.

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Mixed give a cleaner, crisper pool, and helps penetration (oo-er). Never tried TIG - always thought it'd be nice for the more finish-critical jobs I do sometimes.....

I used to run a Cougar bottle with AirProducts for ages, but when work tailed off, it was just sat there only being used once or twice a week, so not cost effective - I tried to cancel the account, they stung me for re-stocking and a 2 months in arrears.

Right!

Done a bit of research and I'm going to go for a Clarke 151TE! Found a pretty good forum on welding, and reviews are good - especially with the "turbo" fan addition to spec sheet.

In terms of a CO2 bottle, contacted landlord, he looked at me like I was a terrorist! Asked 150 questions and told me to bugger off! Guess I miss judged the Friendly bit then!

Used to work for BOC.....

....Will try and find "another" friendly landlord...

In terms of help, I was wonder if the offer of help open to me (at the risk of been thread-jacked!!!!!!!!!!) I'm based in Brum!

Thanks

MX

Thanks

pornstar .

i was in a similar position - i gave in in the end to the 151 turbo because its a land rover ..... a landy mad mate once told me

youll either buy a land rover then a welder to fix it ... or a welder and then a landrover to fix with it !

top drive said:

pornstar .

i was in a similar position - i gave in in the end to the 151 turbo because its a land rover ..... a landy mad mate once told me

youll either buy a land rover then a welder to fix it ... or a welder and then a landrover to fix with it !

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!!!!!!!!!!!!EFFING BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!


Deffo a state of mind.....

I just got myself an SIP 181 DT locally for £350

A but out of your budget, but a good make with a good reputation and I have to say it was just so easy to get along with.

I use a full size argoshield bottle, but it was bought from a friend and you can always share someones account to get your refills.

dirtyrhino said:

Mixed give a cleaner, crisper pool, and helps penetration (oo-er). Never tried TIG - always thought it'd be nice for the more finish-critical jobs I do sometimes.....
.

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so i've heard.
tig's a pain on owt that isnt new, unless its really cleaned up. tend to get impurities and parent metal jumping to the electrode. stuff i thought i'd cleaned enough, still have problems. best weld ive had from it was the disco electric window rack and arm where the spot weld had sheard. beutiful job on that but unfortunately didnt photo it.

pornstarmax said:

In terms of help, I was wonder if the offer of help open to me (at the risk of been thread-jacked!!!!!!!!!!) I'm based in Brum!

Thanks

MX

Thanks

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if you wanna travel from brum to shipley then yeah, fine!
might be someone closer tho!

nrgserv said:

so i've heard.
tig's a pain on owt that isnt new, unless its really cleaned up. tend to get impurities and parent metal jumping to the electrode. stuff i thought i'd cleaned enough, still have problems. best weld ive had from it was the disco electric window rack and arm where the spot weld had sheard. beutiful job on that but unfortunately didnt photo it.


if you wanna travel from brum to shipley then yeah, fine!
might be someone closer tho!

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wasn't on a britpart replacement one was it? i had one that sheered its welds on first application

just tried again to post the pictures for you neil, dont know what i am doing wrong but dont seem to be going to you.... will try something else tomorrow

G-man said:

wasn't on a britpart replacement one was it? i had one that sheered its welds on first application

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original from a 52 plate td5.

b20wnx said:

just tried again to post the pictures for you neil, dont know what i am doing wrong but dont seem to be going to you.... will try something else tomorrow

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replied to your pm. seen the pics, seems to be turning into an epic!
either crap and close, or reasonable condition and price but bloody miles away!