My wife asked me "what do you want for your birthday" today. I answered "a welder". She replied "Oh yeah and where do you get those from" rather than "no" or "you're not having a welder", so its sorted then. maybe.

So recommend me a budget MIG welder that isn't a waste of space but is cheap. I won't be making a chassis with it, just learning to weld and fixing things and probably welding anything that I can see that is steel that isn't painted that isn't my wife's.

Feck knows why I don't type my answers on a webpage:-

http://www.carbuilders.info/pages/MIG_Welder

[Edited on 18/6/07 by andyharding]

The concensus is, Clarke (Machine Mart) welders are about the best for "hobby" welders. According to the people who know their onions on The MIG welding site their wire feed and torches are better than their competitors.

My brother (Roadkill) got a Clarke 151TE for his birthday from his missus S'not fair, I get socks.....

i must admit, im rather keen on the idea of getting a welder.
having never done it before and seeing all these cool custom built cars, i'd like to give it a go. a start small.. go kart?

Clarke do 3 MIG welders that are just outside my budget What's the difference?

Clarke Pro 90 £153
Clarke 110E £176
Clarke 100E £176

The spec sheets read exactly the same, except that the 90 is a 90A welder whereas the other 3 are 100A welders, despite the name. the 110E is red, the others are blue but the 100E has tw switches labled 1/A and 2/3 but the other two have 1 switch labled 1/2

what's it all about?

little bit more dear, but if you wait for a vat day you might be able to strech to one of these:

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/160te-turbo-mig-welder/path/automotiveindustrial-mig-welders

this is the bottom of the industrial range, so better features and solidarity. I bought one for £210. It has a space for the large bottles on the trolley, good solid wheels, and (slightly) more options with your settings. Still can use the small bottle as well, but really needs 5kgs rolls of wire.

I've bought loads of stuff from Machine Mart over the years, they have my address why don't I get invited to there VAT free days?
I don't remember insulting anyone?

Cheers
David

no idea, i only get the invites cos i went with gaz and added my name to the list! Just ring them, the moment you mention loose purse stings im sure they'll start talking!

so what's the extra switch for then? and is 10 extra amps worth the extra money? and whats the 110E about if there is no more current, it has less switches but costs the same?

Id recommend the 160T, perfectly adequate for welding the chassis up and some thicker stuff with carefull preperation.

i couldnt tell you whats the differences between the two switches, even though ive had a 135te for 3 years! Im sure someone knowledgable will know, for me i just chose opposites on each, because having both on full blows holes in things!

The quality is much higher on the industrial ones, the amps arent essential - as said, on my 135 full power on both switches melts 16g tube too fast. However, more power is good because then the welder isnt stressed at lower settings.

I can vouch for the clarke 175TEC.
Bought it on a machine mart vat free day, will weld ali , steel.

Yet to exceed setting 4 (out of 6) on power.

Had a hobby from B&Q,it was poor, wire feed motor wasn`t up to the job.

Darren

Clarke Pro 90 £153
Clarke 110E £176
Clarke 100E £176

Would not bother with these....... Friend got 100E last year, he asked me to weld a bracket as he was stuggling, it was hopeless so had to resurrect my old one a 20 year old Clarke 150te.

Had to upgrade the diodes and replace the fan, and fit a decent earth lead, its been really good. However being so old its copper wound, I think the newer ones are ali wound so maybe not so strong.

Regards Mark

i got the clarke 151te for my haynes roadster build and can honestly say it was worth every penny. i get great welds(practice at the minute) and it is just as good as any of the industrial units i have used before (just not as strong) i didnt think the wire feed etc would be as good as it is as`it is a hobby mig but i'm glad i picked this one

i've got the 135te,which has been fine for 8+years of abuse any bigger than that, and you can;t(safely!) use it on a 13a plug.

Ray

Clarke ------

Don't even consider a SIP or a Cosmo

Another vote for Clarke 151TE.... best £200 I've ever spent on a tool.

quote:

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i've got the 135te,which has been fine for 8+years of abuse any bigger than that, and you can;t(safely!) use it on a 13a plug.

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i've used my 151te at full power as well just for short welds to see what it can do and it hasnt blown a fuse or tripped the breaker in the house

I'm in the same boat at the mo, most likely going to go for a 151TE or a 160TE. The 160TE as has been said is like the bottom of the range industial MIG from Clarke, I want to run a large bottle and like things to stand up to abuse so would probably go for the 160TE.

That said, the 135TE should be adequate to weld up a locost chassis, but I do occasionally have the need to weld thicker stuff.

These VAT free days, how do you know when they are on? How often do MM have them?

quote:

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Originally posted by Hallsy
These VAT free days, how do you know when they are on? How often do MM have them?

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can't wait until then

slightly off topic - I'd not purchased anything from machine mart before but requested a calalogue online early this year, submitting my home address and email and have had a couple of the vat free invite thingys come though so far. Fairly likely that this is how they send the invites out.

I didnt use the offers to get a welder but did treat myself to a breaker bar and new socket set

you could spend a fortune on the vat free days

keep an eye out at a few branches, they all do their days independantly. I only get invites to the bradford store even though thats not my local one.