Learning to weld

Hamish

Hamish

Hamish

Soldato
Joined
14 Apr 2003
Posts
4,950
Location
Deepest Yorkshire
I would love to learn how to weld but have only very little experience with welding and it's technique. I've noticed a lot of motors folks do their own welding and it looks pretty fun. So here's a few questions!

What kind of budget/models should I be looking at for a MIG welder for welding 4-5mm mild steel and is it best to buy second hand?
Are these "gasless" MIG welders any good?
Where can I buy metal from on the net?
Did you take any courses or get any experience or just get a few lumps of metal and teach yourself?

Any help appreciated!
 
What kind of budget/models should I be looking at for a MIG welder for welding 4-5mm mild steel and is it best to buy second hand?

I would buy second hand because if you are on a tight budget you probably wont get anything worth having. £150-200 will get you a good secondhand MIG welder.

Are these "gasless" MIG welders any good?

Generally no. I would only use them if you have to, ie you can't get hold of any CO2 or you are welding in very windy weather.

Where can I buy metal from on the net?

http://www.shop4steel.com/

Did you take any courses or get any experience or just get a few lumps of metal and teach yourself?

I took a course, but to be honest all they did was to give you two bits of metal and let you learn from your mistakes. The only way you can learn welding is by doing it and practising. However, It is handy to have somebody telling you what you are doing wrong and how to fix it.


Hope that helps a bit. Have a look here http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/ for some more info.
 
Just about to start teaching myself, got a mig borrowed off a mate and all the associated gear.

This is a good'un, tutorial and all sorts on there :)

*edit bah f355 beat me to it with the site :p *
 
Gasless are rubbish. You get a messy hard weld so avoid like the plague. You can get a 150A hobby MIG for about £200 new and it will last for ever. I have a Clarke 150 Turbo which I bought on recommendation and it's a cracking bit of kit, takes full size rolls of wire in 0.6, 0.8 and 1mm, and you can convert it to full size CO2 bottles if you don't want to use disposable bottles. You can get one from Machine Mart. Also get an auto dimming mask as it makes life so much easier. You'll need a pair of welding gloves too which will cost only about £5 but essential. Buy all new.

On the subject of gas you either use disposable bottles or get a bottle filled by the likes of BOC. Depending how much welding you do you might want to step up to a refillable bottle but it depends how much you actually weld. I do a bit here and there so I use the disposable ones but if I welded all day every day then they would work out too expensive. The problem is you have to rent the refillable ones and the bottle rent is too high for me to justify it.

Get steel from your local stockist or if there's a Metal Supermarkets near you they are really useful.

Basically see if you can get someone to show you the basics and then it's a matter of practice. Once you get the hang of it you'll wonder what you ever did without a welder :cool:

These are the guys to go to for all your kit: http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/
 
I have a gas/gassless MIG, and havig used gasless wire I would say it's far from usless, though does have drawbacks. On the plus side, it's about the only way you can get a decent weld if working outside if there is any wind. With the welder set up properly, you can make welds that are virtualy as neat as with using CO2. On the downside, the welds get covered in white flux residue which needs wire brushing off afterwards, and the wire itself is extortionately priced.

What I would say is get at least a 130Amp welder, and 150A is better if you are planning on welding anything thick metal. Avoid SIP welders, the wirefeed is very poor on them. The Clarke welders are actualy pretty good.
 
I would not go gasless, TBH I actually ran a bodyshop & used gasless for a few years & you really need to keep the weld hot ( ie dont stop welding ) to get a good weld, I wouldn't say they are useless but I think a gas mig would be easier to learn.
 
Cheers for the advice, the mig-welding site looks very useful as does the steel shop. Are there any shops that sell other metals such as patterned aluminium plate. Also i'm guessing it would be cheaper to find a local metal supplier in the yellow pages.

And welding masks... Auto-dimming ones seem to be the best bet, is it best to avoid the cheap ones or not? Don't fancy going blind or anything...

Hows this kind of thing: http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/150te-turbo-mig-welder/path/diy-mig-welders
 
InvaderGIR said:
For Ally I'm sure you need a TIG rather than MIG welder...but then I could be wrong.

InvG
Click to expand...

Yeh I recon so, I think you can maybe weld ally with MIG with difficultly. I probably wouldn't be welding the ally, just pop-riveting it to a welded frame :)
 
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